Dave Dale

North Bay’s ‘paucity’ of Cassellholme congruence is riveting … but not in a good way

One quip is about how our mothers used to chastise us if we didn’t finish our plates, saying there were starving kids in Africa or China – and now they just point to the homeless in North Bay.

The Probity Report was made public this week as we learned the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care approved the $122-million Cassellholme reconstruction and expansion project, despite fairly vigorous objections from municipal partners.

I really don’t want to be the skunk at the garden party, but ... maybe tone down the slush fund celebrations. We're not there yet.

The price tag of the facelift will probably be higher than anyone anticipated, like all the projects conceived before the COVID 19 pandemic. It could be too much to swallow for the 2022 budget.

Personally, I’m concerned about the potential for extreme censorship at the government level — social pressures are a different worry — but I believe it boils down to good taste and reading the room, on top of taking some care about your actual intent

Without going into the weeds for the 100th time, it just doesn’t seem like the Cassellholme board and municipalities are watching the same movie. Or its like two people in the front seat of a car going off a cliff fighting over the steering wheel.

Like many of the beaver dams in the region that are swelling beyond capacity, the Cassellholme situation needed Ontario’s $65-M stick of dynamite in a bad way.

Why cancel the Downtown North Bay Christmas Walk as the curve flattens? Even the school boards are bracing their wobbly spines enough to allow parents to attend outdoor sporting events before the football season ends

I’m not sure what’s being planned to celebrate the city’s centennial in 2025 but it’s still not too late to mark the 130th anniversary of electing it’s first mayor or the 140th anniversary for the Township of Widdifield in 2022.