Inside Track

The changing economy and Elliot Lake's unique community.
The Passing away of Dr. Dennis Prodan will be hard felt by many in Elliot Lake and Blind River.
He was a well renouned vetenarian and he was very active in community affairs

as a former Elliot Lake councillor . Dr. Dennis Prodan died of a heart attack at his home on Tuesday, July 17. A public wake is planned at Gentle Shepherd Church at 3 Ottawa Ave. this Friday from 2 to 4 p.m. and then from 6 to 8 p.m. A funeral service will be held later at Prodan’s property on Milliken Mine Road.

The vetenarians  from all different parts of Ontario met once a year at Frontier Lodge
and Dennis kept the tradition going year after year.

Elliot Lake cottage country is dwindling to nothing.
Both lodges on highway 546 are closed to local traffic  and only a few  occasional campers
find a spot to camp over on crown land  .
 Laurentian Lodge seems to be taking the overflow from the lack of motel space in Elliot Lake and as long as the mall investigation goes on happy campers and investigators are likely to mingle.
Some people were at the Mississagi Provincial Park for their summer holidays , but since they found body parts and a decomposed body, the Semiwite Lake area has been declared of limits .
A reporter asked me how The Mall Collapse would affect Elliot Lake on a long term basis and here is what I see:
People are hurting jobs have been loss. This will be a problem for local garages ,stores and services .
We will not have business as usual. The new dealership on Hillside is ready to open its doors , the Canadian Tire Gas Bar was completely renovated ,  a new  Scotia Bank was  built in an adjacent  parking lot ... Will ELLIOT LAKE  keep attracting seniors, and will the new cottage lots be attractive and affordable enough to fuel the economy and keep businesses going ?...The answer is No !
Not Without a Mall and Not Without an expansion of services.
We had a difficult time getting a family doctor and there is no walk in clinic . The only emergency room is at St-Joseph's Hospital and if you are in a state of trauma this can mean your life.
 Where can the city rebuild businesses ? The core parking lot has been cut up so badly there is just no parking spaces as it is for the existing businesses. Someone undermined the design of Marshall Macklin Monahan and did not do the residents or merchants  a favour.
I took in my car for a slow leak  and headlight repair and my bill was $234.46 ,( I never requested my rims to be grounded but that is how it goes). I took in my truck for a mechanical and the quote was $250.00 when I picked up the vehicle it was $450.00  Can seniors truly afford to live here and travel out of town to meet their basic needs ?
I am told that welfare is a integral part of the community and apparently the people who were being housed in the Algo Mall were given rooms in The Hampton Inn , that would certainly explain the shortage of rooms. I spoke to reporters who had to go to Blind River and Spanish to find accomodations as everything in Elliot Lake was booked to full capacity.
In conclusion I think Elliot Lake is a wonderful place , it is a beautiful area and has a lot to offer,
But first get rid of the McGuinty Government , have a complete investigation and clean up and Re-open a few mines. A new mall cannot be built on The Elliot Lake shoreline that is the Municipal Garage,
It cannot be built on the lake as you enter the city because that is for The Department of Highways.
Build it at the corner of 108 and service Blind River , Spanish, Serpent River and Spragge and this may even appeal to Wall-Mart
The inside track...We can keep the races at the airport once a year where everyone comes fully equiped and prepared ...
When our lives are placed in arms way and someone dies perhaps that is too much to set aside , too much to ignore . There are thirty urns with the ashes of Elliot Lake seniors  and there are perhaps other bodies yet to be found  in The Elliot Lake Mall Rubble . The investigation by special forces will not exclude transparency and the truth . There will be  echoes  from Elliot Lake until justice is done .
We can be the voice :
For Lucy Aylwin and   Doloris (Dumas )Perizzolo
Fern Dumas  EMCA