The Legion Branch #63 in Dryden hosted their first annual Children’s Wish Foundation Mixed Doubles dart tournament March 14 to help raise money for the charity.
Players from Fort Frances, Ignace, Oxdrift, Dryden and Wabigoon competed in the tournament.
Danny Bird and Anne Watson of Fort Frances earned first place and Gary and Heather Connor of Dryden took second place.
Third place ended in a tie between Katie and Tony Ryan of Dryden and Kevin and Cindy Richards of Ignace.
The tournament raised approximately $900 to be given to the Children’s Wish Foundation to help grant a wish to children with severe diseases.
Casey Gould and Michael Arnold, two 16-year-old boys of Dryden were both granted a wish through the Foundation and were present at the tournament to share their stories.
Gould was diagnosed with Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy and was granted his wish in 2002.
He traveled with his family to Dover Delaware to watch Nascar and meet Jeff Gordon.
Arnold was born with a transposition of the great vessels in the heart, meaning the two main arteries in his heart were backwards.
He suffered his first heart attack in 2006.
He was granted a wish and traveled with his family to Ireland in March of last year.
His wish was to stay in the most haunted castle in Ireland. Instead, they stayed in three haunted castles and toured others during their week long visit.

Domestic disputes and assaults
Dryden police had a Sioux Lookout woman in custody on March 10 following a call to a domestic dispute at 3 a.m. at a hotel. There was no assault as a result of this incident, however, the female was found to be on conditions not to consume alcohol and to abide by a curfew. She was subsequently arrested and held for bail court on March 10.
A Keejic Bay man also appeared in court on March 10, following a domestic assault on March 7. Officers responded to a call from the local women’s shelter, after a female reported an assault by her partner. The 28-year-old was held in custody pending a bail hearing.
A 52-year-old Dryden woman was in custody following two breaches of her conditions on March 7 and 8. She was charged with domestic assault on Jan. 11 and as a result of these incidents, was charged with breaching a non-communication condition, as well as failing to abstain from the consumption of alcohol.
On March 7, the victim in the assault returned home to find the accused in his residence. On March 8, the accused was arrested in the downtown area in an intoxicated condition.

Shoplifting
Police have laid shoplifting charges in two incidents this week. On March 5, officers were called to a local grocery store, where staff had detained a female. The 21-year-old of Dryden was charged with theft under $5,000 and is now prohibited from entering the store. Total value of the items stolen was about $25.
Officers were called to a downtown clothing store March 8 around 4:30 p.m. in regard to a theft from the store. A staff member had followed the accused and jewelry valued at about $15 was recovered. A 17-year-old youth was charged with theft under $5,000 and will appear in Dryden court April 12 to answer to the charge.

Impaired driver
Dryden police arrested an 18-year-old male of Dryden on March 12 after checking a vehicle in an apartment parking lot just prior to 10:30 p.m. The vehicle was running and upon speaking with the male, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, it was noted that he had been drinking.
He was subsequently taken to the Dryden Police Service for a breath test and it was determined that he was over the legal limit. He was charged with care and control of a motor vehicle while impaired.

Bad behaviour
Officers arrested a 20-year-old male of Dryden the morning of March 13. A 911 hang-up call was received from a local gas station and upon attending, officers located the male who had caused damage to the outside payphone at the business.
At that time, it was also found that he was on probation and on a condition to keep the peace and be of good behaviour. He was charged with mischief under $5,000 and breach of probation.

False identity
On March 13 around 2:45 a.m., a 21-year-old male of Dryden attended the Dryden Police Service for assistance. At that time, he was with a youth who gave a fictitious name to police.
Investigation revealed that the male was on conditions not to communicate or associate with the youth and both were subsequently arrested. The male was charged with breaching the conditions of his recognizance and the youth was charged with obstructing police by falsely identifying herself.

Swearing at passing vehicles
Dryden police arrested a 42-year-old male of Dryden on March 13 around 8 p.m. after a complaint was received of an intoxicated person on King Street.
Officers arrived to find the male yelling obscenities at the vehicles that drove by him. During the arrest, the accused began to swear at and fight with the officers. As a result, he was charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest.

Drunk and resisting arrested
On March 14 at about 4 a.m., a 29-year-old male was charged with resisting arrest after a request was received to have him removed from a residence due to intoxication.
Initially, the male was compliant, however, upon being taken to the cruiser, he became angry and began to fight with officers, swearing and attempting to break free.
While being lodged at the Dryden Police Service office, the accused then threatened to kill one of the officers. Charges resulting from this incident include resisting arrest, uttering threats and two counts of  breach of probation.

A health care milestone for the Kenora-Rainy River District was reached on Tuesday, March 9th at Dryden Regional Health Centre.
Dr. John Porter gave Gary Rumpel of Kenora a “new knee”. Gary is the 1000th patient to receive a knee arthroplasty through a northwest regional tri-hospital joint replacement program.
The orthopaedic surgical program started in Dryden in 2002. Riverside Health Care Facilities in Fort Frances and Lake of the Woods Hospital in Kenora joined the program in 2005.
Since that time, 569 knee replacements have been done in Dryden, 237 in Fort Frances and 194 in Kenora. There have also been 2559 arthroscopies, 98 major ligament repairs and 13,880 patients seen in consultation.
The result has been service closer to home for thousands of Kenora-Rainy River District residents.
The three hospitals worked together to develop common processes, share surgical equipment and develop a common wait list.
In an effort to accommodate personal schedules, patients are given the option of having surgery in any one of the three communities regardless of where they reside.
Moving orthopedic surgery into the regional hospitals has increased the surgical capacity within the North West LHIN, supporting one of the priorities set by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care under the Wait-Time Strategy.
When Dr. John Porter first came to Dryden in 2002, the wait time for a knee replacement in Thunder Bay was three years. The wait time in the northwest region is now two months.
The increased funding attached to the joint replacement program has made a positive contribution to the surgical services and acute care services at all three hospitals.
The statistics for Dryden Regional Health Centre show that local residents are not the only ones to benefit from this access to surgery.
In the years 2007 – 2010, 24% of the patients were from Dryden, 39% from northwest Ontario, 23% from Thunder Bay and 13% from communities on the north shore of Lake Superior. One patient traveled from Ottawa to Dryden to have a knee replacement.
“These are great facilities that were under-utilized,” Dr. Porter states emphatically, “There are excellent O.R. theatres in all three hospitals, excellent nursing and rehabilitation professionals.
This was an innovative idea, taking specialized orthopedic surgery outside of major hospitals to smaller regional hospitals, using the skilled personnel and the facilities to meet the needs of people across a system.
The knee replacement program has lead to expansion in other orthopedic surgery within regional hospitals, including hip replacements and shoulder repairs.
This is a milestone that everyone should be proud of; we have successfully reduced the wait time from three years to two months by thinking outside of the box.”

Former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations Phil Fontaine was a keynote speaker in a two-day forum at Wabigoon Lake First Nation, March 11-12. The forum engaged First Nations, government and industry leaders in a dialogue on First Nations relations with government and industry in regards to business and resource development activities.

Treaty #3 First Nations, industry and government representatives met this past week in Wabigoon Lake First Nation to find common ground over the issue of maintaining positive relationships around resource and economic development.

The two-day forum hosted keynote addresses from notable leaders including former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Phil Fontaine, as well as deputy minister of Aboriginal Affairs Canada, Lori Sterling.

With the developing interest in the far north’s ‘Ring Of Fire’ mining project and 2009’s dispute between Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation and mineral exploration company Platinex serving as a backdrop for discussions, Fontaine offered a progressive look ahead to the future of First Nations partnership in mining activities on their traditional lands.

With Canada emerging from a global recession, Fontaine says First Nations are well-positioned to benefit from the resurgence of Canada’s resource-based economy that is expected to see investment in the magnitude of $350 billion over the next decade.

“When you look at the creation of wealth, business development and jobs, a vast amount of it takes place on our lands and our territories,” said Fontaine. “We’ve already witnessed what doesn’t work. KI’s situation with Platinex – where you have a company that goes in and completely disregards the interests of a community, thinking they could do what’s always been done here. The community said no to that development. It would have made  far better sense for Platinex to attempt to engage the community in a meaningful way.”

But that did not happen, says Fontaine and the two parties became involved in bitter legal action resulting in the imprisonment of community leaders.

As for what does work, Fontaine praised DeBeers’ Victor Mine project near Attawapiskat First Nation as a solid approach to forming a meaningful relationship with a First Nations community.

“Right from the very beginning, DeBeers said ‘we’re going there to engage the community, we’re going to learn about the community and its history and we’re going to understand the needs of that community’”, said Fontaine. “That was the approach they took and it created 350 jobs, and transmission lines. We’re talking about an investment of $1 billion. Both parties understood what each other needed out of the process and they created the kind of relationship they wanted.”

Fontaine says that government plays a role in addressing perhaps the greatest challenge, a lack of clear direction for companies who want to do business in the north.

“So far there has been an absence of clear and defined public policy regarding legal requirements,” said Fontaine. “Uncertainty is the last thing the private sector wants. The private sector requires certainty when they’re making business plans. We need to understand that these relationships have to be ones based on mutual interests, mutual benefits and there has to be an openness and respect from both parties to make something work. We have to be more open than we ever have been in the past.”

The event also witnessed a reaffirming of closer ties between Treaty #3, The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) and the Ministry of Northern Development Mines and Forestry (MNDMF) in the form of a Letter of Commitment.

Signed by Ogichidaakwe Diane Kelly, Grand Chief of Grand Council Treaty #3, Natural Resources Minister Linda Jeffries and MNDMF’s Michael Gravelle, the document recognizes the need for enhanced communication with the Ontario government as well as the need and desire of the Grand Council to develop capacity and business relationships to enable greater participation in economic development opportunities.

Treaty #3’s Diane Kelly says the forum was beneficial for all sides represented and in some cases an educational exposure to Treaty #3 resource law.

“I think it was a win-win-win type of event,” said Kelly. “They need to understand our laws and our systems and how to promote certainty.”

- Chris Marchand

If Dryden was just a small community along the Trans Canada Highway before, that clearly isn’t the case anymore.
Dryden was very well represented at the Olympics in the form of Chris Pronger of the men’s Olympic gold medal hockey team, in the presence of the police force and local O.P.P. officers and even a mention at the opening ceremonies for having the whole community out to celebrate the Olympic Torch Relay.
Most Drydenites cheered, watching their big screen T.V.s at home, wishing they could be part of the melee that was downtown Vancouver.
Dryden fans were, however, also represented at the Olympics in the form of the Lang family.
Emma and Kaden along with their parents, Erik and Adi bought tickets last July and got into some of the top events at the Games, including the ladies halfpipe, ski-cross and of course hockey and curling.
And not just any hockey. They got to see up close and personal Team Canada beat out Sweden 13-1 in the round robin.
Adi says the atmosphere in the UBC Thunder Place was too contagious to ignore.
“The vibe in the whole arena was awesome. We did the wave and everyone was cheering. You couldn’t help but stand up and cheer.”
The team also enjoyed the bronze medal game in women’s hockey between Sweden and Findland and added that even though Canada wasn’t playing, the arena was a sea of red except for the occasional yellow or blue.
Emma and Kaden were also lucky enough to be spectators in the women’s curling gold medal game between Canada and Sweden.
The family also took part in the events downtown for spectators, including the sponsor’s pavilions that were set up and even toured exhibits set up by the Hockey Hall of Fame.
When asked what their favourite part about being at the Olympics was, little Kaden had an amusing story to tell.
“I liked the Canada versus Sweden hockey game. Number 23 shot the puck [during warmup] and hit the goalie in the face.”
Adi adds that the goalie was okay and they still won the game.
The family said it was a once in a lifetime experience to be able to go to the Winter Olympics in Canada.
Transportation was amazing to and from the events and volunteers were everywhere if anyone needed any help.
The weather was gorgeous and the only snow in sight was on the mountains for the skiing.
Adi says that there were people everywhere and every once in awhile, someone wouldn start singing O Canada.
“Even if you were there and didn’t go to any of the events, it was awesome. Everywhere was red. Everyone had their Canada stuff on all the time.”
Emma adds that it was great to be able to see Canada participate in the Winter Olympics at home because they’re not going to go all the way to Russia to see them in 2014.

For photos, see this week’s edition of the Dryden Observer

In the interest of public safety, the Dryden Police Service is issuing a warning about a violent offender who is now residing in Dryden.

Edward Hamel, age 37, was released from Saskatchewan’s Regional Pyschiatric Centre where he served three years for two counts of uttering threats to cause death /harm to a police officer and a correctional officer.

Hamel — who is Caucasian, 5’6” (168 cm), 207 lbs with shaved brown hair and a goatee — is considered by police to be a violent offender who has a history of violent offences and poses a risk of significant harm to the community.

The Dryden Police Service is issuing this information and warning after careful deliberation of all related issues, including privacy concerns, in the belief that it is clearly in the public interest to inform the members of the community about Hamel.

Members of the public are advised that the intent of this process is to enable citizens to take suitable precautionary measures. Releasing this information in not intended to encourage people to engage in any form of vigilante action.