Southerners need to learn of folly of caribou plan – Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – February 22, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper. Wayne Snider is the paper’s city editor.

Time is at hand for NEOMA to step up lobbying efforts

It’s great to see that our leaders in Northern Ontario are switching into overdrive when it comes to lobbying. Members of the Northeastern Ontario Municipal Association (NEOMA) have a special subcomittee set up to look at ways to get the North’s voice heard in the corridors of power at Queen’s Park.

The most pressing issue right now is the caribou protection plan, pushed through by the government under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

If the plan goes through as currently structured, 65% of the Abitibi River forest will be off limits to industry within the next 20 years.

That means wood allocation for forest companies would drop significantly, leading to the closure of many regional operations.

NEOMA — which is comprised of mayors and council members from municipalities across the Northeast — realizes this would be a catastrophic blow to the region’s economy, creating massive job losses and jeopardizing not only the standard of living but the Northern lifestyle.

People here enjoy small, friendly, communities.

They enjoy the outdoors — hunting, fishing, berry picking, boating, snowmobiling and camping, to name a few activities.

We have learned to co-exist with the habitat and wildlife.

And we resent outsiders, who do not have the same level of experience, messing it up.

Among NEOMA’s plans is to host a lobby day at Queen’s Park to spread the message first hand to not only cabinet ministers but MPs from all ridings.

But to make more of an impact, NEOMA could take a page from the books of environmental activists who lobbied in a similar manner to get the ESA in place.

The Making of Ontario’s New Endangered Species Act: A Campaign Summary Report was completed in December 2007 by the Ivey Foundation, a Toronto-based private charitable foundation.

This report shows how the activists worked to put public pressure on the government

As part of their efforts in Queen’s Park, environmental groups prepared personalized endangered species cards (similar to hockey cards) for every MPP.

It paired each politician with an alleged endangered species.

“The novelty and interest value of this outreach effort was huge, with MPPs comparing their pairings and making comments in the House about the cards,” the report said. “Every MPP now had some awareness of the issue and the new legislation.”

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