The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
An official with Manitoba Public Insurance wants Flin Flon City Council's thoughts on how to get more people to buckle up. Council on Tuesday reviewed a letter from Kevin Young, who wants to form an organization to look at the issue. "I am interested in developing a Manitoba task force to address and hopefully reduce the number of injuries and fatalities associated with non-usage (of seatbelts)," he wrote, adding that "Manitoba has the lowest seatbelt usage rate of all Canadian provinces." Young wrote that "usage rates are often lower in rural areas" than urban areas, and that 40-50 per cent of Manitobans who die from vehicle collisions are unbelted. The Winnipeg-based employee concluded his letter by asking for Council's thoughts on the matter. There was no discussion on the letter, which Council referred to the Committee of the Whole for further review. In another matter, Councillor Cal Huntley announced that the City and its workers who belong to the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) have reached an agreement on a new contract. The union accepted the City's offer last week by a 100 per cent vote, he said. Additional details will be released at a later date. As well, Councillor Dave Kennedy presented the Fire Chief's Report for August, which noted that four of the five incidents last month were false alarms. "Again, we continue to have false alarms, which are expensive," he commented, adding on a brighter note that there have been fewer false alarms this year than previous years. A recap of other matters: Well known for his enthusiasm for the team, Councillor Tom Therien wished the Flin Flon Bombers good luck in the upcoming season. See 'Program' P.# Con't from P.# Council voted to spend $500 on a quarter-page advertisement in the program for the 2003 Manitoba Mining and Minerals Convention to be held in Winnipeg in November. Council voted to spend $440 on a half-page advertisement in the Flin Flon Bombers 2003-04 program. Council voted to donate $500 to the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, better known as D.A.R.E., set to be organized on by the Flin Flon RCMP. Councillor Therien commented that the donation will be a worthy expenditure. Councillor Huntley commented that he felt privileged to attend a memorial ceremony at the Flin Flon Fire Hall on September 11. He said it was a good way to "acknowledge the importance of the protective services people in our community and the significance of having them here and the dangers that they put themselves in on a lot of occasions." "We certainly are thankful that we have a good group of people here providing those services," commented Councillor Huntley. "And they're very proud of what they do as well, and that really comes through."
