Derek Shogren - capsule

City Council is hoping something can be done regarding the 158 job losses recently announced by the North Bay Regional Health Centre.

It was one of the topics on Council Capsule this morning when Matthew Sookram was joined by Councillor Derek Shogren.

Shogren says they are sending a letter to the province to look into the issue, and he was asked how that could help.

Shogren says doing nothing is not an option.

Meantime, they also talked about the Mayors early budget proposal which stats at a 1.98% tax levy increase. Shogren says this is a good starting point, but there’s going to be plenty of discussions from this point.


Shogren says he likes the long term plan up to 2018, but he’s not as crazy about the plan after that point.
As well, the city has agreed to a partnership with Baylor University to conduct research on North Bay. The research would look at ways to establish a long term plan to be viable and successful. Shogren was asked if this would help create jobs in the next few months.

They also talked about construction projects around the city including Ferguson Street, which may not be paved in time for Fridays Battalion home opener at Memorial Gardens. Shogren says this is part of their long-term financial planning to have more Councillors accountable for every project.

Shogren says this would also allow everyone to see the obstacles and challenges facing these projects.

Click here for the full recap of Council Capsule, and don’t forget you can ask questions or send your comments to our Twitter or Facebook page