By Robert Ferriman

“A Night To Remember “
(For All the Passengers” )
By Robert Ferriman

On April 15, 1912
somewhere out at sea
Sank the great ‘Titanic‘
in all her majesty,

Sending out an ‘S.O.S.’
to any ships around
‘Titanic‘ in big trouble                          
she’s run herself aground,

Many lives were lost
on that fateful night
As the doomed ” Titanic “
silently slipped from sight,

Collided with an iceberg
she’s slowly going down
‘Keep on taking water’
fearful all may drown,

The ‘Carpathia‘ would respond
to her urgent cry
‘Your message is received’
read do you comply,

As she slowly sank
into the churning sea
Came the strainings of
‘to abide with thee‘, 

‘Keep your spirits up’
no further will delay
Making for you now
help in any way,

Taking with her passengers
beneath the rolling waves
some carried away forever
to waiting watery graves.

Your message is received’
just in over wire
‘Spirits are holding up’
water is much higher,

Many years have passed
since that fateful night
When the doomed ‘ Titanic‘
silently slipped from sight,

‘Copy your last message’
she’s going rather fast
‘She’s steady taking water’
fearful she won’t last,

114 years ago today
a tragedy was born
One we’ll long remember
and will always mourn.

The post “A Night To Remember “ appeared first on The Shoreline News.

Harbour Grace council is looking to develop a new emergency plan for the town.

Deputy Mayor Gary Baker raised the matter during his report to council last month on the activities of the volunteer fire brigade.

“I assumed, and it was probably a wrong assumption, that the emergency plan was going to fall into the hands of the fire brigade to develop for the town,” said Baker. “But not so. They’ll develop, and work with us in developing their part of the plan, but the Town itself and the council have to develop the plan overall, the general plan.”

Baker said Fire Brigade Chief Chris Noseworthy has offered some insight on what council should do and where it can get templates to develop the plan.

“They also suggested that we contact the emergency management division in government to get them out to give us some seminars on how to develop the plan,” said Baker. “They’re free of charge, they’ll come out and give them here on site. So I’ll take that initiative and maybe contact them and see if we can get some help in that respect and work with it from there.”

The fire department also informed Baker that some plans may have been developed in the past. Baker suggested council could utilize them while making a new plan.

“Maybe we can use them as templates and add on to them and revise them and so on,” he said.

Councillor Christina Hearn said she had heard former Harbour Grace resident Sam Snow had put together an extensive plan in the past.

“It’s dated, obviously, but we shouldn’t be starting out at ground zero,” she said.

Hearn added it was her understanding that templates for emergency plans can be provided by Municipalities NL.

Councillor Lee Rogers said a lot of work, time, and details have to go into developing an emergency plan. He noted Sam Snow had spent 10 months developing the one mentioned by Hearn.

Baker reiterated that copies of past plans might help in the process of creating the new one. 

The post Harbour Grace deputy mayor pushes for updated emergency plan appeared first on The Shoreline News.

Bay Roberts Fire Rescue is looking for new members.

Council was apprised of the fire brigade’s move at its monthly meeting on March 10.

The brigade has 31 active members. Anyone interested in joining can find an application on the Town of Bay Roberts webpage. The recruitment drive ends April 26.

“I would just emphasize for those who are watching us,” said Deputy Mayor Neil Kearley, “whether they might consider volunteering for that or if they have friends, family or anybody else who would be interested in volunteering with the fire department, to please reach out and support and grow that number.”

In other news related to the brigade, Bay Roberts firefighters responded to some 20 calls in February.

The numbers were compiled in a report prepared by Fire Chief Mike Murphy and presented to council by fire department liaison, councillor Ross Petten.

The calls included nine medical matters; eight motor vehicle accidents; and three fire calls – one structure fire, one open fire, and one pole fire. There have been 58 calls in total since the beginning of 2026.

Petten said the brigade also completed eight training sessions and held three meetings since the last report.

Chief Administrative Officer Dave Tibbo noted the department’s new ladder truck recently saw action for the first time. It happened when the Town of Spaniard’s Bay, with whom Bay Roberts has a mutual aid agreement, asked for help with a commercial building fire. Bay Roberts Fire Rescue responded with its pumper and ladder trucks.

Chief Murphy said the new ladder truck was particularly useful, allowing firefighters to get on the building’s roof and spray water.

The post Bay Roberts fire department looking for recruits appeared first on The Shoreline News.

While spring may not yet be fully sprung, Carbonear councillors and staff are making plans to spruce up the town this summer.

Councillor Wendy Penney outlined some of the plans during her recreation committee report to council March 26.

Penney said Communities in Bloom, a non-profit organization that promotes friendly competition between communities to beautify their towns with flowers and landscaping projects, will be running again this summer. Carbonear has performed well in the program in the past; last year, it received a rating of five Blooms, and a special mention for Youth Involvement in Conserving Local History.

Penney said Scouts Canada has also come forward to partner with the Town on the Miracle-Gro Best Garden Selection Program. The program is presented by Scouts Canada in partnership with Communities in Bloom. Twelve winners will be awarded garden signs and gift packages of Miracle-Gro products.

“Our special events committee usually has a garden contest over the summer,” said Penney, “so they’ll provide the plan for that, and we’ll be able to award 12 beautiful gardens.”

Finally, Penney told council that NL Health Services, specifically Mental Health and Addiction Services, has inquired about getting space in Carbonear’s community garden.

“Staff have offered space and will work with that group,” Penney said, “which is very important in today’s society to provide any type of space that we can to alleviate some of the strain and stress with mental health and addictions.”

Later in the meeting, during his own report, Director of Recreation Rob Button was given approval to proceed with a limited call for suppliers of flowers for the Town’s parks and green spaces this spring.

The post Carbonear councillors turn their mind to spring projects appeared first on The Shoreline News.

The backbone of our health care system is staff. Doctors and nurses are leaving the field at an alarming rate. They are asking for fair compensation, reasonable hours to permit work-life balance, reduced administrative overhead and respect for their work and their suggestions.  As many as 50 per cent of nurses consider leaving their jobs, while 30 per cent of doctors are considering leaving each year.

In January 2025 the Canadian Medical Association reported on a shocking study on doctor requirements for the future. The international average number of new graduates is 14.2 doctors per 100,000 population, Canada is at the bottom of the pack, producing 7.5 new doctors per 100,000. There is currently a deficit of approximately 23,000 family physicians in Canada, and only some 1,300 new graduates per year. At this rate it will take over 30 years to catch up to the deficit.

Canada can never train enough doctors to meet the demand. Butwe can multiply the work force, if we try new ideas. Here are a few:

Increase Physician numbers – To retain doctors allow the formation of group practices, which provide professional collaboration, improved efficiency and more flexibility in work schedules.  Streamlining coding systems for procedures can reduce administration, improve efficiency and reduce wait times. 

To attract doctors from out of province, encourage private clinics. This allows specialists to create efficient elective procedure centres, where expensive diagnostics and treatment equipment can be made available to all patients. It will result in reduced wait times, expanded patient services and more doctors from out of province.

• Interprovincial barriers to certification – All certified medical workers in any province should be certified immediately in Newfoundland. Requiring additional examination or training discourages migration of much needed medical workers.
• Internationally Trained Medical Workers – Only a small minority (10 per cent) of internationally trained physicians ever work as doctors.   What a waste!  In 2022 there were approximately 25,000 internationally trained doctors in Canada and our national shortfall of family doctors was 23,000. Obviously not all will qualify but surely we can do better than a meagre 10 per cent.

Historically, provincial professional associations created a series of barriers that have prevented certification of many thousands of doctors and nurses that we desperately need. Reducing barriers to these medically trained immigrants can fill a significant gap in the hiring of essential medical workers.

• Expanding the Team – Nurse practitioners are increasingly being given first line triage responsibilities. Imagine if paramedics were included in the mix. This group has years of training which prepares them for first responder work with trauma, heart attacks, burns and infectious diseases. If paired with a triage clinic overseen by an experienced Teledoc, they could significantly reduce the strain on urgent care facilities.
• Hiring US trained medical workers — Currently US medical workers are coming to Canada in significant numbers. Despite the shortcomings of our system, many appreciate the universality of our system and our commitment to compassionate care. Medical workers in large Canadian centres are looking for a quieter, less stressful location for work. Many of these workers would enjoy the outdoor life that we have to offer. If Newfoundland were to mount an effective hiring campaign in the Northeastern United States, Toronto and Montreal, it is likely that trained workers would choose our fair province. 
• Better Use of Technology — The use of teledocs is expanding. One teledoc can supervise many first line workers thus freeing up the time of doctors on site. Similarly artificial intelligence is becoming more widely used and can assist medical workers in the field to be more productive without demanding physician time.

Send me your concerns or ideas. If you really want a better system, you will need to speak up.  email: mardicollins7@gmail.com

The post The crisis with medical workers appeared first on The Shoreline News.

While reading the Auditor Generals (AG) scathing report on Newfoundland and Labrador Housing (Housing) a thought occurred to me: Crown corporations are for the most part useless.

When I was young, I thought Crown corporations were the way to go, corporations that worked for us, not for private shareholders and the bottom line. Crown corporations put people first. You and I were the shareholders, not some heartless capitalists. Great idea!  When I was young, I had high hopes. I still do but I also have eyes. Crown corporations don’t work.

My case?

We started a Crown corporation called Nalcor to manage all our energy resources and thanks to them we now owe $13.5 billion and counting on an 824-megawatt hydro plant that was supposed to cost $7.5 billion. Turns out it still doesn’t work properly, and we probably didn’t need it anyway. Nalcor was also responsible for DarkNL – plunging the province into darkness during the coldest part of the winter of 2014. I could go on but that’s enough to make my point.

Now we see Newfoundland and Labrador Housing, another Crown corporation, that the Auditor General points out has failed its mandate abysmally. With a budget of $149.2 million of which you and I pay most of, and a staff of 327 people, the AG notes they have really dropped the ball. I could go on but the media has been reporting the numbers. They are depressing.

You don’t need to read the AG’s report to know Housing has failed. There’s a growing housing crisis in this province. I talk to people who use the food bank where I volunteer, and they tell me of housing nightmares: of years long wait lists forcing them to rent from unscrupulous landlords charging $1,000 or more for a room in what are often nightmarish conditions, of staying in abusive relationships as they have nowhere to go, of looking for months and years for a place to live.

This is not just a failure of policy. People are suffering because of this. Why are we paying all this money to this Crown corporation to not do its job? As a shareholder I want to know.

I see a situation where our tax dollars pay millions to people who do not help house people who need housing, and instead our income support tax money goes to predatory landlords who gouge the people we are not helping. My e-mail is below, e-mail me or write a letter to our editor pointing out where I am wrong.

There are lots of other Crown corporations that aren’t working well either, but the AG hasn’t reviewed them yet. 

Federally we have Canada Post, who I just found out are not bringing me any more mail. That “self-sustaining” Crown corporation cost us $1 billion last year. Maybe they can break even if they don’t provide the services we expect. Folks my age can remember when Air Canada was a Crown corporation. That was not a positive experience. The CBC? Don’t even get me started.

The irony is there is one provincial Crown corporation many businesses despise and demand be privatized immediately – the Newfoundland Liquor Corporation (NLC). Many people have lectured me on how inefficient and frustrating it is. That may be, but last year they paid us all a $210 million dividend. No one is clamouring to privatize Housing, but the liquor store? Even a Crown corporation can make a profit selling booze and dope. The business community wants a slice of that $210 million, which I suspect, despite promises they may make, we would never see. As a shareholder I am okay with that dividend.

Crown corporations make sense in theory. However, there is more than enough practical evidence to show they don’t work. Crown corporations were created to protect us from greedy capitalism. I now know there are many forms of greed.

I have no answers. I hope bright young people will step forward with those answers.

Is there any good news in this? The Office of the Auditor General appears to be working just fine.

Ivan Morgan can be reached at ivan.morgan@gmail.com

The post Nice in theory, something else in practice appeared first on The Shoreline News.

A Kelligrews man who claims h’s not allowed to take an ‘out of town’ date to the seniors’ socials organized by the Town of Conception Bay South is demanding that council now ban anyone who hails from outside the community from attending.

Sam Reid was so angry when he couldn’t take along a date from Holyrood that he sent an Access to Information Request to the Town asking for a full report on the cost of hosting the seniors’ socials at the Royal Canadian Legion.

The total cost for one social – for ticket supplies, entertainment, food, refreshments, and the pay of two Town workers and students – came to $6,191.

With about 250 tickets sold at $5 per pop netting revenue of $1,265, that leaves the Town paying some $4,926 each time it hosts a social, which occurs four or five times a year, usually around Christmas, Valentine’s Day and other special occasions on the calendar.

Reid said if CBS taxpayers are paying that kind of money, the events should be restricted to CBS residents only.

Demand for tickets is high and sales are brisk, according to Reid.

“The tickets go on sale at 10 o’clock (in the morning at the Town Hall) but at 8 o’clock they will open the doors to the building, and you can go in and take a number (to get called) to buy your tickets,” Reid said. “There’s a lineup there for that every time.”

Those queuing to buy tickets are restricted to a maximum of four tickets each with the understanding they are for CBS residents only.

But Reid said there are a good many from outside CBS who attend the functions, which consist of a meal and dance.

“It’s only for CBS residents,” said Reid. “I’m living here by myself, I’m paying almost $3,300 a year in taxes, and I want to bring my friend who’s outside, in Holyrood in this case, and it’s, ‘No, you can’t do it.'”

After paying taxes for nearly 48 years, Reid argued, he should be entitled to bring a guest when he attends the socials. Afterall, he added, if there were more senior aged people living at his residence, he would be allowed to buy tickets for up to three of them.

Reid said he knows people from outside CBS who attend the socials and even drove one home to Holyrood one time. “It’s unbelievable, the amount of people there (not from CBS),” he said. “I’ll tell you another odd thing; I’ve got a buddy who pays taxes on land here (in CBS), but lives in Holyrood. He grew up in Long Pond. He can’t buy a ticket, and he’s paying taxes on land.”

Reid said people have encouraged him to bring along his date anyway, reasoning nobody will bother to stop her from attending the social.

“I said, ‘No, it’s not right.’ She won’t go unless it’s legal for me to get her a ticket… I want this straightened out.”

Reid said up to abut a year ago, anybody buying the tickets had to show I.D., and list the names of all the people in the party going to the social.

“About a year ago, they stopped doing that; you just have to show your own I.D., and most people show a driver’s licence, of course, and you can buy three more tickets with no names on them,” Reid said. “It’s easy fix it – have them show the I.D.s when you enter the building. Maybe the rules could be one (ticket) per household, plus one guest. But what I’m really against is anybody from outside going in there who’s not paying anything to the Town.”

Reid maintained Town staff no longer want to talk to him about his complaints, but added one councillor, whom he didn’t want to name, said he agreed with his concerns. 

The Shoreline requested an interview with a council spokesperson on the subject and is awaiting a callback.

The post CBS man feels out of step with Town’s seniors’ dances appeared first on The Shoreline News.

Beginning this month, it’s going to cost the Town of Paradise more to keep its facilities clean.

Back in 2023, council had awarded the 2023-2024 cleaning contract to Kellaway Construction in the amount of $421,038, HST included. The contract was renewed for 2025, but late last year the company notified the Town that it would not be renewing the contract this year.

That contract officially ended on February 7, and as a new tender had not been issued until December 15, council agreed to keep paying Kelloway for cleaning services on a week-by-week basis at a cost of $14,375, HST included, per week, until the tenders could be reviewed and a new contract inked.

All told, Paradise received seven bids for the new one-year contract, ranging from $239,760 to $571,831, HST excluded. Staff recommended that council award the contract to the lowest qualifying bidder, The Cleaning Company, in the amount of $478,584, HST included. The lowest dollar value bid did not qualify.

In order to expedite the approval process, as the Town was paying for cleaning services on a week-by-week basis, council awarded the contract during its February 17 committee meeting rather than wait until the February 24 public meeting.

All told, Paradise will pay $57,556 more this year for janitorial services at Town-owned buildings.

Council will be able to renew the contract for two additional one-year periods – should both parties be agreeable to the extensions.

The average bid amount in 2023 was $592,562. That actually decreased to $553,312 in 2026. In both years, the Town received seven bids.

The post Paradise inks new janitorial contract appeared first on The Shoreline News.

The word on the street is that the new structure going up alongside Paradise Plaza near Octagon Pond is a No Frills supermarket, but no in any official capacity is willing to confirm that.

A staff person with the Town of Paradise would only say that approval has been granted for a commercial retail store, adding the Town is not permitted to identify a specific business being developed.

A spokesperson for the No Frills parent company, Loblaws, asked that The Shoreline “reach back out to us in a few months for confirmed details.”

Neither Russell nor Lee Hamlyn, who own the Cedar Plaza No Frills supermarket, which is about a ten-minute drive from the new structure, responded to several requests for comment.

The post No word on Paradise No Frills rumour appeared first on The Shoreline News.

The Town of Conception Bay South this March submitted an application to the provincial government asking for $2.5 million in federal money for 2026 street upgrades.

A list of streets which will receive work has not yet been released.

Council also voted to close the Lawrence Pond Road upgrades project with a remaining balance of $194.47. That balance will be carried over for use on future projects.

“Looking at that $194.47, that’s not a bad job of estimates on a multi-million project, so kudos to our staff,” said councillor-at-large Rex Hillier.

Funding for municipal capital works is earmarked under an alphabet soup of provincial and federal nomenclature. The provincial program that the Town applied to is called the Capital Investment Plan. Some of the money for the Capital Investment Plan actually comes from the federal Canada Community-Building Fund. As with other municipalities, the funding that ultimately flows to the Town is usually a mixture of federal and provincial funds, with CBS itself on the book for a smaller portion of the total cost.

The post CBS asking for $2.5 million roadwork money appeared first on The Shoreline News.