Starting the year with lots of questions

Hoping you can help provide some answers and suggest some other questions

Photo courtesy of Eastern Ontario Regional Network.

I’m beginning this year with questions, which is how most of my stories get started.

As I look ahead at 2025, I wonder:

• What will it mean locally when we have a Poilievre government in Ottawa and a re-elected Ford at Queen’s Park? And a resurgent Trump in Washington?

• Will Ford finally announce a move forward for our new hospital?

• Will construction start on the Hector Macmillan bridge?

• Will home construction move ahead in Trent Hills or will an economic downturn stall sales and building?

• Will our hospital be able to hire the nurses and other staff it needs?

I also wonder about some of the bigger questions, but I fear I know the answers to them:

• Will we make any progress as a municipality, province, or country on reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and fighting climate change?

• Will many democracies keep on a path towards authoritarian governments?

• Will we do anything to reduce economic inequality?

But in the short term, over the next week or two, I have a few questions closer to home that I hope to actually answer and turn into stories:

• Has the situation improved for nurses at our hospital in the last 18 months since an independent report recommended 141 changes?

• How much electricity is generated in Trent Hills by our hydroelectric stations?

• After at least 17 years in the works, is Northumberland County about to launch a rural broadband service?

Actually, I hope you or someone you know can help me answer a couple of these questions and contribute to the stories. I’ve talked to the Ontario Nurses Association and will talk to the hospital’s management, but I’d also like to talk to nurses and other staff to get their take on the changes that have been made and whether enough has been done. It’s particularly timely since their contract expires in March.

And for the broadband story, I’d love to talk to rural residents to see whether you are anxiously awaiting a county-sponsored, provincially backed internet service, or are you just waiting for Starlink to add more satellites?

As always, you can reach me at artchamberlain@gmail.com or 705.977.3496 to comment or suggest other questions that I should be trying to answer.

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