Trustee candidate calls for the return of ‘true’ history
Province allows businesses to keep people on layoff notice until January
September 4, 2020
| Just in time for Labour Day, the province is extending an emergency measure which allows businesses to keep people on layoff notice until the January. The province announced the measure was being extended Sept. 4. Usually, an employer can put someone on temporary layoff for 13 weeks before they have to let the person go and pay out benefits. The province’s news release says offering the payouts could be the difference between a business surviving. For example, according to the province, a restaurant with 30 people employee could be hit will a bill as high as $100,000. “The Ontario government is helping protect jobs and businesses by extending protection to prevent temporary layoffs from automatically becoming permanent job losses,” says the statement released Sept. 4. “As our government continues to take the necessary steps to safely reopen the economy, we need to protect the businesses and employees impacted by COVID-19.,” said Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development in a news release. “The cost of termination and severance pay can make it impossible for a business to survive and reopen. That’s why we acted to make sure businesses survive and workers have jobs to come back to.” While 99 per cent of Ontario businesses are now open, few in the service sector have recalled all the workers that were on the job before the COVID-19 pandemic. Ontario’s unemployment rate was 11.3 per cent in July. |
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Trustee candidate calls for the return of ‘true’ history
October 14, 2026
Audience member calls the messaging ‘quite alarming’ Heather Wright/The Independent A candidate for the Lambton-Kent public school board says she will “stand strong against the progressive heists of the Canadian education system” including returning to the “history we all grew up with” so students can be proud to be Canadian. Cynthia Workman’s words raised some eyebrows at the Brooke-Alvinston All-Candidates
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Lambton College to open more seats in health, STEM, trades
October 14, 2026
The Independent There will be space for about 300 more students in Lambton College next year. Lambton College is among the post secondary institutions which submitted a proposal for more classroom spots for in demand fields. Friday, the province announced 2,077 new spaces across southern Ontario, including 297 at Lambton College; 160 in Health programs, 90 in the STEM field
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Worker injured after falling through Sombra greenhouse roof
October 14, 2026
OPP, Ministry of Labour investigating The Independent A worker at a Sombra greenhouse was taken to hospital by air ambulance Wednesday morning after crashing through the roof. St. Clair Township fire officials say the department was called to the Envirofresh Produce greenhouses near CF Industries on the St. Clair Parkway just after 9 am. Chief Richard Boyes says a man
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Paving on rebuilt Grand Bend Bridge continues Thursday
October 14, 2026
The Independent Drivers heading to Grand Bend are going to face some traffic slowdowns starting Thursday. The project to widen the bridge has been going on for two years, with work taking place before and after the busy summer tourist season. So far, officials say the concrete work, bridge retaining walls, waterproofing the east half of the new deck and
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