North Grenville’s on-demand transit service has extended its hours.

The service is now available Monday to Saturday from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm. Sunday hours remain unchanged, from 8:00 am until 8:00 pm.

“We are excited to announce the extension of the NGtransit hours as part of Budget 2024,” says Mayor Nancy Peckford. “This enhancement reflects our commitment to providing accessible and efficient transportation options to all residents of North Grenville. Many have shared that an extra hour of service would enable NGtransit to better respond to the needs of service workers, youth, and other residents. We appreciate this feedback and have adjusted the service accordingly,” she added.

The municipality says it will continue to explore opportunities for expansion and improvements to ensure that NGtransit remains a reliable and convenient transportation option for all residents.

“Congratulations to NGtransit and the Municipality of North Grenville for extending the hours of operation, making this important service even more accessible and convenient for residents,” said Steve Clark, MPP for Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes. “I’m proud our government continues to support municipal transit systems in rural and small urban communities like North Grenville because I recognize the vital role transportation plays in connecting people of all ages to their communities.”

NGtransit is available seven days a week to residents of all ages and abilities who need to travel within North Grenville’s boundaries. Pre-registration is required to book a ride. Fees are $5 per ride for adults and $3 for youth aged 12 to 19. Children 11 and under are free but must be accompanied by someone at least 12 years old.

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The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark Board of Health has voted to merge with two neighbouring units. It, along with the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox, and Addington Public Health and the Hastings Prince Edward Public Health may eventually form the South East Health Unit.

Last August the Ministry of Health announced plans to offer one-time funding, resources and supports to local public health agencies that voluntarily merged by Jan. 1, 2025.  The three area Boards of Health decided in December to explore the impacts of a voluntary merger and hired a consulting firm to prepare a feasibility study and a business case.

“The goal of a merger is to strengthen public health in our respective regions,” said Peter McKenna, Chair of the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit Board of Health. “We look forward to continuing our collaboration in this new agency.”

McKenna added combining forces with the two neighbouring units makes complete sense given the history between them. “We’ve shared staff and programming and there is a history of when our medical officer of health (MOH) was taking holidays the MOH from one of the other units would backfill.”

All three Boards approved moving forward with a voluntary merger and have submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Health. Funding will be made available to help with the transition should the application be approved, which will help with collective bargaining agreements. “You can imagine the unions won’t want to go to the lowest-paid person. They are going to say we have contracts that pay x dollars an hour and we want all the employees in the group to move to that. The province has said any of those costs as a result of the merger will be covered by them,” added McKenna.

Mergers of public health units require provincial legislative change, and a merger will only occur if the province approves the proposal and commits adequate funding for its success. Until a legal, new organization is established, the health units will continue to operate independently.

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Emergency crews were called to the scene of a person in distress earlier today in the St. Lawrence River.

Brockville Police along with Brockville Fire and Paramedics from Leeds and Grenville attended Canteen Park after receiving calls of a person in distress in the St. Lawrence River.

Police say a 39-year-old male was removed from the water and transported to Brockville General Hospital when he was pronounced deceased. The investigation is ongoing investigation and foul play is not suspected at this time.

Anyone with any information is asked to call the Brockville Police Service at 613-342-0127.

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Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy has tabled the most expensive budget in the history of the province.

The document is worth a total of $214.5 billion and includes a projection of 274,000 housing starts over the next three years across the province along with more than half a billion dollars to help hundreds of thousands of residents find a family doctor. The deficit is projected this year to reach $9.8 billion and the budget won’t be balanced until 2026, the year the next election is expected to be held.

Despite the staggering deficit local member of provincial parliament Steve Clark says he’s on board. The Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes MPP says they could have made life harder for Ontarians but decided not to. “This was a budget we could have chosen to raise taxes, raise tuitions, raise tolls and fees, but we didn’t do that. We could have tightened our belts and cut investments in housing, roads, and public infrastructure, but we didn’t do that either.”

Clark added he is proud the government has delivered a budget that takes real action to address the issues that are front of mind for the residents in his riding. “We’re investing billions to ensure people have access to a primary care provider, to get more homes and supportive housing built faster, and to improve the quality of life with funding for new and improved recreational and community facilities. We’re doing this while continuing to make life affordable through measures that include a proposed extension of the gasoline tax cut of 5.7 cents per litre and the diesel tax rate of 5.3 cents per litre to the end of this year.”

Ontario’s economy is slowing which has led to a high deficit, a staggering $10 billion swing from the $200-million surplus projected last year.

The budget included $1 billion for the new Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program and a new $200 million Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund designed to strengthen communities across Ontario by building and upgrading sport, recreation and community facilities.

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