Penage Road Community Centre
968 Panache Lake Road / Regional Road 10 P0M 3E0 Whitefish, ON, Canada

This is just wonderful.....please take a peek, share on your page for all to see!!!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR - Wednesday, December 21st @5:30-7:30pm for our Christmas Concert Community Event.

The CP Holiday Train is making it's way back to Greater Sudbury, November 29th at 8:50pm. Bundle up and bring the kids, it's going to be a great time! The Odds ...will be performing live and that spirit of the holidays will keep you warm and snugly! 2016 schedule Station Address Event Time Sudbury VIA Train Station, Elgin Street 9:15 PM - 9:45 PM Volunteers will be on hand to collect food and cash donations for the Sudbury Food Bank.

https://www.sudbury.com//lively-chelmsford-high-schools-to

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM PEOPLE WHO HAVE APPLIED FOR VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER POSITIONS AND BEEN DENIED Councillor Michael Vagnini (Ward 2) and myself, Councillor Rob...ert Kirwan (Ward 5) have been made co-chairs of a special Task Force that has been "mandated to present a report to the Emergency Services Committee consisting of a strategic plan of action designed to improve the recruitment, retention and training of volunteer firefighters required by the City of Greater Sudbury". The Task Force will consist of Councillor Vagnini and myself as well as the Fire Chief and up to 5 management representatives, plus the Volunteer Firefighter Union President and up to 5 union representatives. Our first official meeting will take place as soon as the current round of negotiations has been completed and the rationalization plan is completed. In the meantime, Councillor Vagnini and I are inviting local residents to send us your own suggestions on how we can improve the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters. We are hoping to hear from anyone who has applied for a position and been unsuccessful, or even anyone who has perhaps been a volunteer in the past. We are open to any suggestions you may have. Please send your notes and comments to one or both of the following email addresses with the subject line: Volunteer Task Force. You can also send me a personal message if you prefer. Councillor Robert Kirwan : [email protected] Councillor Michael Vagnini : [email protected] We will be compiling all suggestions into a summary report that will be used as a baseline document to begin discussions when the task force holds their first official meeting. We will also be meeting with Volunteer Union Representatives on December 8, 2016 in order to conduct a preliminary review from that group. When we begin meeting with the Fire Chief we will have a good foundation to examine and hopefully our report will be ready to be presented to the Emergency Services Committee some time in the Spring of 2017. Thank you for your assistance in helping us with this very important task.

PRE-BUDGET CONSULTATIONS IN SUDBURY, DEC. 13TH Pre-budget consultations in Sudbury are taking place on Tuesday, December 13, 2016. They will be held at the Holi...day Inn Sudbury, 1696 Regent Street, Sudbury, ON P3E 3Z8. The meeting times will be determined following the deadline for requests to appear. In order to be considered to make an oral presentation, individuals or organizations will need to provide the Clerk of the Committee with their name, mailing address, phone number, and email address before noon on Monday, November 28th. Alternatively, if they wish to submit a written submission, instead of making a presentation, this must be submitted to the Clerk by 5:00pm on Friday, January 20th, 2017. The Clerk’s contact information is: Eric Rennie, Clerk Room 1405, Whitney Block Queen's Park, Toronto, ON M7A 1A2 Telephone: (416) 325-3506 E-mail: [email protected]

NDP MPP Speaks out Against Northern and Rural School Closures QUEEN’S PARK Today in Question Period, NDP MPP for Nickel Belt, France Gélinas questioned the Mi...nister of Education on the proposed closures and consolidations of northern and rural schools in her riding. Today, residents from Sudbury and Nickel Belt are at Queen’s Park. They made the long journey down here to protest the consolidation and closure of twelve schools in our area, she said. I have seen this movie before and it does not end well, Gélinas said. It ends with four-year-old kids having to be on a bus for three and a half hours a day when the roads are good and longer than this in the winter. It ends with communities being gutted and unable to attract young families with children. It ends with grocery stores and businesses closing. The possible closure of Levack, Dowling, Chelmsford and Lively schools are the direct result of your funding formula, which works in favour of big urban schools at the expense of smaller rural and northern schools. Minister, she demanded, will you put a moratorium on any more school closures until the review of your funding formula and the effect it has on northern and rural communities? I have gone to see the minister at least four times about this review, added Gélinas. She promised follow-up, but none came. I hand-delivered her a letter from three municipal councillors wanting to meet with her, but no response. I handed her financial analysis showing great discrepancies, and still no follow-up. Meanwhile, she continued, the kids in my riding in Geneva Lake will have to be on a bus for a three and a half hour minimum if Levack and Dowling schools close. It’s hard to imagine how 4 - 5-year-old can learn after they spend so long on the bus. It’s hard to leave and come home from school in the dark. It’s hard when you can’t participate in school sports and activities, because you spend so much time on a bus. After Question Period, Gélinas joined Andrea Horwath, Leader of the NDP, Lisa Gretzky, NDP Education Critic, and other members of the NDP caucus in addressing demonstrators from across the province who had gathered in large numbers outside of the Legislature. They all want a moratorium on the closure of rural schools. See more