A northwestern Ontario MPP says a recent announcement to improve road safety in northern Ontario is a re-announcement.
The province is promising to hire more Ministry of Transportation inspectors and accelerate plans to four-lane Highway 11-17 between Thunder Bay and Shabaqua.
It includes the hiring of more Ministry of Transportation inspection officers and electronic road signs.
Thunder Bay-Superior North MPP Lise Vaugeois says it sounds good, but they are really measures the government has promised before.
“These are re-announcements, so it’s not actually anything new, but it does show that they’re feeling the heat,” says Vaugeois.
There was no mention of staffing for an inspection station in Shuniah.
Vaugeois says there may be some action taking place.
” I heard… that 21 people are in the pipeline being trained for Shuniah. I’m hoping that they are coming from the region because the MTO has had a habit of sending people up from southern Ontario, and they get some training, and then they leave.”
The government’s announcement also offers no mention of plans to improve truck driver training.
Vaugeois says it is something the industry is looking for.
“I’ve met with many of the drivers; they want that training,” says Vaugeois.
“They want the industry regulated. They want to know that they’re safe on the highways.”
The NDP has put forward a separate private member’s bill addressing training.
It is before Queen’s Park, awaiting second reading.
Nova Scotia Power has made good on two commitments it promised after last year’s cyberbreach.
The utility says all social security numbers have been permanently deleted from their systems and meter connections have been restored, with customer billing returning to normal.
However, Nova Scotia Power warns it may take a while for this to be reflected on your bill.
The utility gave itself until March 31 to deliver on both.
It follows a massive cyberbreach from March 2025 that gave hackers access to personal information of 900,000 customers.
Nova Scotia Power has been under fire since the attack with many questioning its reliability, including Premier Tim Houston who called it, “out of touch”.
The utility was just approved for a rate hike of 3.8 per cent in 2026 and 4.1 per cent in 2027. They had applied for 8 per cent over two years.
There has also been a leadership change. Former CEO Peter Gregg stepped down only weeks ago to be replaced by Vivek Sood, who promises to rebuild trust.
The Ford government has rejected a motion to reverse changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program.
The NDP forced the vote, but the governing PCs used their majority to reject the motion.
Northwestern Ontario members Greg Rickford and Kevin Holland were among PC MPPs standing in opposition.
“We told Doug Ford to do the right thing: scrap the OSAP cuts and the interest on student loans,” says Stiles.
“The Premier decided to send a crystal-clear message to Ontario’s youth: he does not care about their future.”
The NDP’s Colleges and Universities critic Peggy Sattler calls the outcome a disgrace.
“Doug Ford had a chance to give our youth a desperately-needed lifeline,” says Sattler.
“He used that chance to bury them under a lifetime of student debt. This is a heartless move that will disproportionately affect low-to-moderate-income students and their families.”
The opposition and students have been vocal about the changes that will see the grant portion of funding provided to post-secondary students reduced from 85% to 25%.
Students have held protests across the province, including two mass gatherings on the steps of Queen’s Park.
Cyrielle Ngeleka, chair of the Ontario chapter of the Canadian Federation of Students, says the move only makes post-secondary education more inaccessible for many young people.
“The increase of loans and the reduction of grants will undoubtedly impact thousands of current and future students across the entire province, locking them out of their education and narrowing who gets to access it in the first place,” says Ngeleka.
Students say that with high youth unemployment and the cost of living, they are already struggling to make ends meet.
President of the Ontario Student Trustees Association, Carter Peios, says the government is not looking out for the best interests of students.
“We cannot fully invest in a province socially or economically when it does not fully invest in us,” says Peios.
“OSAP is the bridge between today’s dreams and tomorrow’s accomplishments that students have, and students will need to rely on now more than ever.”
Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn stands by the government’s argument that under the previous formula, the program was not sustainable in the long term.
“In 2017, the Auditor General made it very clear. A desperate Liberal government trying to hang on to power increased our grants to an unsustainable level of 85%, which was not in line with any other jurisdiction across Canada,” says Quinn.
“We have aligned our grants to loan ratio right in line with every other jurisdiction across Canada, including the federal Liberal government.”
The opposition and students are not planning to give up.
The Liberals have indicated plans to bring forward a similar motion in the future.
Stiles says they will also continue to do everything they can to get OSAP back to what it was.
Five southern New Brunswick entrepreneurs took home top prizes at the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation’s Breakthru Startup Pitch competition.
More than 140 entrepreneurs across 80 companies took part, with NBIF awarding three companies during the live finale on March 19. Two of the winners were led by entrepreneurs from the Saint John area, Moncton and St. Andrews.
NBIF’s Breakthru connects entrepreneurs with capital, mentorship and exposure to help scale startups in the province. The competition’s winner receives $100,000 in equity investment, while the two runners‑up each receive $50,000.
This year’s grand prize went to Infralytix, founded by Saint John native Ethan McLeod. According to an NBIF news release, the company was recognized for its technology that measures the weight of vehicles travelling over bridges.
In an interview with Acadia Broadcasting on Tuesday, McLeod said the technology also measures how the bridge itself is performing.
“That information can be used to extend its service life, hopefully, and to make sure everything is performing how it should be,” he said.
McLeod said winning the competition was validating. He has been working on the technology for eight years and said it still feels “a little surreal” to see his research moving toward commercialization.
He said the idea began during a summer internship with the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, where he was tasked with determining how heavy trucks were crossing a rural bridge. That work later evolved into his PhD research.
He added the research would not have been possible without the department’s support and said he hopes to continue working with them as the province’s infrastructure ages.
“I think it’s a time where we really need to be looking to innovation to help the government make the best decisions they can,” he said.
Infralytix also received the $2,500 Viewer’s Choice Award after earning the most in‑room votes during the finale.
McLeod said the company plans to use the prize money to make its sensors smaller, easier to use and easier to ship to clients.
While no official deals have been finalized, McLeod said the company has been in talks with the government about adopting the technology. As Infralytix transitions from research to commercialization, he said the potential deal remains in progress.
“We look forward to continuing those conversations,” he said.
The first runner‑up was Urai AI Corp., led by Shanthi Shanmugam and Vagmi Mudumbai, for its programmable AI platform designed to make AI agents simple, interpretable and cost‑effective for “AI‑forward” companies.
Golf training technology start‑up wins second runner‑up
Golf training technology company Mulli Swing Solutions took the second runner‑up prize.
The company — led by Alex Khosbakhtian of St. Andrews, Matt Ryan of Rothesay, and Brycen Munroe and Ethan Belliveau of Moncton — won for its custom sensor‑embedded golf grip that allows golfers and coaches to measure how players interact with the club.
The four engineers met at the University of New Brunswick. According to CEO Alex Khosbakhtian, the product was born during their capstone design project, when they decided to pursue their own idea instead of selecting one of the recommended projects.
(Left to right) Matt Ryan, Ethan Belliveau, Alex Khosbakhtian, and Brycen Munroe. PHOTO: ALEX KHOSBAKHTIAN/SUBMITTED WITH PERMISION.
Khosbakhtian said some team members played golf, and while researching the market they realized there was no training technology that measured the inputs of a golf shot.
He said many existing tools, such as simulators, track the outputs of a shot, but not the inputs.
With their product, he said, they hope to help golfers understand the forces that determine where the ball goes.
“They are actually determining where their golf ball is going,” he added.
Khosbakhtian said the team was excited about the win. Like the first runners‑up, Mulli Swing received $50,000 in equity investment, which he said will help set up their next steps.
The team plans to use the prize money to get the technology market‑ready and available for customers.
Three municipal units in Shelburne County want the facts around amalgamation.
A steering committee featuring members from the towns of Shelburne and Lockeport and the Municipality of Shelburne was formed last year.
They’ve been continuing the conversation around what shared services may look like, including amalgamation.
The committee heard presentations from a successful amalgamation in Windsor/West Hants, and from Pictou County where it was talked about, but didn’t happen.
The committee chair is Lockeport mayor Derek Amalfa, who says all three units face similar challenges.
“Rising service delivery costs, aging infrastructure pressures, staffing recruitment challenges, and regulations that are getting passed down to our units,” said the mayor.
The committee asked the province for funding to explore things like tax consideration, representation and infrastructure.
Amalfa says no decisions have been made, but they remain open minded.
“Right now we’re exploring the concepts of amalgamation, now we’re looking for the facts to see amalgamation can or can’t be supported. We need to look at better and different ways of doing business.”
He says the Town of Lockeport is a passionate community.
“They have a lot of questions, like we do. There is some hesitation because they don’t have the information yet. That’s up to this committee and councils to get the information and take it to residents, so we can make a decision.”
Amalfa says the committee is taking its time to make sure the best options are presented.
Committee meetings are held the first Wednesday of each month at the municipal office in Shelburne, the public is welcome to attend.
Local bookworms have a chance to give back to the Thunder Bay Public Library during Library Giving Day on Wednesday.
Thanks to local business sponsors, all Library Giving Day donations will be doubled (up to $4,500).
“The generosity of businesses like Lowerys, Jones Insurance and Thunder Bay Truck Centre makes it possible for us to keep doing what we do best,” said Richard Togman, CEO of Thunder Bay Public Library. “On April 1, your donation gets doubled. That’s a pretty good deal.”
Library Giving Day is an international campaign launched in 2019. It has raised over $16,000 since its adoption in Thunder Bay in 2024. This year’s goal is $10,000. Funds will help the library introduce new free programs and collections, from innovative children’s programming to research services.
The library received glowing praise from the initiative’s business sponsors:
“Thunder Bay Public Library is a resource that touches every corner of this city, and we’re glad to help make Library Giving Day a success.” — Dave Mack, President and General Manager of Thunder Bay Truck Centre.
“The Library serves everyone, and that’s exactly the kind of institution we want to support.” — Shawn Christie, Vice President of Lowerys Office Supplies.
“Thunder Bay Public Library is a place where community comes together. It supports learning, sparks curiosity, and creates access to opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds.” — Jeff Jones, President of Jones Insurance.
