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Northern Ontario Politics

PoV: Grits tried to fool us, but ONTC gets reprieve – by Brian MacLeod (Sudbury Star – April 6, 2014)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

It’s impressive to watch the magnitude of the climb down the Ontario government is doing on the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission. To what end remains to be seen.

Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle announced Friday that four divisions of the ONTC–buses, the Polar Bear Express, rail freight and refurbishment services –will continue to be government-owned and run. At issue is almost 1,000 jobs in the North, nearly 600 of which are based in North Bay.

In March 2012, the Liberals said the sale of the ONTC was a necessity that would save $266 million over three years. This would be needed to achieve some of the far-reaching cost-savings required to balance the province’s budget by 2017-18. The Drummond Report briefly alluded to the ONTC, advising that its services “could be provided more effectively and efficiently through private-sector involvement.”

The North was expected to do its part in budget savings and the ONTC was a heavily subsidized operation. Hence the storied Northlander passenger train between Toronto and Cochrane ended in September 2012. But two things happened. There was a massive and sustained revolt along the Highway 11 corridor, especially in North Bay –a Tory-held riding that was once Liberal– and in Timmins.

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Stakeholders rally to save passenger rail – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – March 21, 2014)

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North.

Stakeholders have one month to delay CN Railway’s decision to stop running passenger service between Sault Ste. Marie and Hearst. In January, the company announced that, because $2.2 million in federal funding for passenger service had been cut, the service provided by Algoma Central Railway would halt on March 31. CN has since extended that deadline to April 29.

A new working committee, spearheaded by Sault Ste. Marie and comprised of communities, First Nations, tourist operators, and cottage owners, is seeking a one-year extension to give stakeholders a chance to come up with alternatives to sustain the rail line over the long term. The group has hired a part-time coordinator, Dave Murphy, who has worked for the Sault’s Economic Development Corporation and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund.

“Our first objective is to secure the one-year extension of the funding for the continuation of the passenger service, which is scheduled now to cease April 29 in the absence of any extension,” said Joe Fratesi, Sault Ste. Marie’s CAO and chair of the Algoma Passenger Rail Stakeholder Committee.

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Book examines loss of Northlander (Timmins Daily Press – March 20, 2014)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Two years after the Ontario government announced the divestment of the ONTC, the author of an upcoming book is calling on the government and stakeholders to find a resolution to the ONTC issue as quickly and as fairly as possible to avoid any further uncertainty for residents of Northern Ontario reliant on ONTC services.

This fall, author and photographer Thomas Blampied, who specializes in rail transportation, will release Call of the Northland: Riding the Train that Nearly Toppled a Government. The book charts the uncertainty of the past two years, which saw the iconic Northlander passenger train cancelled and Northern life made more difficult by the doubtful future of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission.

“The McGuinty government was not the first to attempt to divest the ONTC, but its lack of research and consultation meant its plan was doomed from the start,” explained the author, who began work on the book while aboard the Northlander in April 2012.

“The trip made me aware of how hurt Northerners were by the loss of their Northlander and how they felt the McGuinty government was ignoring them. The ONTC is an integral part of life in the North.

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Northern Growth Plan stunted – by Elaine Della-Mattia (Sault Star – March 14, 2014)

http://www.saultstar.com/

It was designed as a plan that would be the blueprint for growth across Northern Ontario for the next 25 years. However, since it was first released in March 2011, communities have not seen much action to implement the plan, penned as something to give government priorities, initiatives and investments in the North.

There have been suggestions that the comprehensive plan takes time to implement and it must be done in steps and stages, but few communities, to date, have seen any action.

Sault Ste. Marie CAO Joe Fratesi said that while the Northern Ontario mayors met with Premier Kathleen Wynne and senior cabinet ministers in Timmins last fall, Sault Ste. Marie and other communities have not seen much movement.

The group is to meet again in Thunder Bay in April with Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle. Mayor Debbie Amaroso said the Ministry of Transportation has never said when its study on the North’s transportation needs would be completed, despite her asking the question at the Timmins meeting.

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Stalled at a railroad crossing – by Dave Dale (North Bay Nugget – February 13, 2014)

 http://www.nugget.ca/

It’s like watching the slowest train wreck in history. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne visited North Bay last week to do what leaders of a party and province are expected to do in an election year.

Wynne highlighted a funding grant to a mining service company, a primary vertebrae in the economic backbone of this diversified yet strained regional economy.

She also gave the official nod to the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission managers to sit down with the unions and finalize a three-year business plan “template.”

Mayor Al McDonald described it as the best news we’ve heard since the governing Liberals decided two years ago they wanted to chop up and sell the Ministry of Northern Development and Mine’s wart.

I call it a wart because it’s consistently viewed by successive Ontario governments as a financial liability instead of an economic engine.

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No mention of Ring of Fire in budget: Critics – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – February 13, 2014)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

A local economist is “disillusioned” by the federal government’s latest budget. “I thought the Conservatives were more fun than that,” David Robinson, a Laurentian University professor, laughed. On Tuesday, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty introduced the $279-billion budget, which he told reporters would be “boring.”

“I’m surprised at how little there is going on in it. I thought the Conservatives still had some ideas and were pressing for stuff, and they either don’t have any ideas or they really are doing what a lot of people think, which is saving everything for one last attempt to keep themselves in government,” Robinson said. “How could you put so little into so many pages?”

Conservative Party critics were less kind about it. “My party has been calling it the do-nothing budget. Unfortunately, it’s exactly that,” Sudbury MP Glenn Thibeault said Wednesday, a few minutes before Question Period in the House of Commons. “I think Canadian families, Canadians in general, will have to wait another year before we actually see anything that will help (them).

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‘Unlikely Radicals’ exposes the toxic Adams Mine Dump War – by Meg Borthwick (Rabble.ca – February 6, 2014)

http://rabble.ca/

Everyone loves a good David vs. Goliath story and Unlikely Radicals: The Story of the Adams Mine Dump War by Charlie Angus is as good as it gets. Centred on the campaign to keep Toronto’s garbage from being dumped in a decommissioned Northern Ontario mine, Unlikely Radicals isn’t just a story about the rural north vs. the urban south, it’s a story about the politicization of ordinary people — including Angus himself.

In the late 1990s Charlie Angus, NDP Member of Parliament for Timmins-James Bay (and current Official Opposition Critic for Ethics), “believed that organized politics was the domain of stuffy old men.” The former Toronto activist and punk rock musician was living in Cobalt, a town of fewer than 1,500 people in the heart of Northern Ontario’s historic Mining District. It was also part of the Timiskaming District, “ground zero” for the Adams Mine dump war, the fight to keep Toronto’s garbage from being dumped in the environmentally sensitive region.

Backgrounder: How Toronto reached critical load

In 1989 Dofasco, a steel company based in Hamilton, announced the closure of the 8000 acre Adams Mine site. For the mining-dependant local population, the closure spelled economic disaster and as a community facing massive job loss they were tremendously vulnerable.

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Poor planning by Liberals derailed Ring of Fire: Horwath – by Darren MacDonald (Sudbury Northern Life – January 23, 2014)

http://www.northernlife.ca/

NDP leader says unlike other provinces, Ontario lacks coherent policy for Far North development

Poor planning by Ontario’s governing Liberals has played a major role in the problems plaguing the development of the Ring of Fire, the leader of the province’s New Democrats said in Sudbury this week.

“The Liberals were doing a lot of announcements, a lot of ribbon cutting and making a lot of hay, but weren’t doing the behind-the-scenes work that needed to be done to keep that Cliffs promise alive,” Andrea Horwath said Wednesday, after she toured Stack Brewing with Sudbury NDP candidate Joe Cimino.

Development of the vast chromite deposits in the Ring stalled in 2013, with Cliffs Natural Resources announcing it was suspending work because of a series of delays in getting environmental assessments and determining exactly how ore will be transported from the remote site in northwestern Ontario.

Cliffs is the largest stakeholder in the area, and planned to invest $3.3 billion developing deposits worth an estimated $60 billion.

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MTO in midst of pan-northern transportation strategy – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – December 30, 2013)

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North. Ian Ross is the editor of Northern Ontario Business ianross@nob.on.ca.

A provincial plan to access the Ring of Fire may be lacking, but for almost three years the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) has been quietly working on a major pan-northern planning exercise to support future regional economic development.

Known as the Northern Ontario Multimodal Transportation Strategy, the multi-year study is directly tied into the Liberal government’s implementation of the Northern Growth Plan.

“It’s definitely a first for the MTO in Northern Ontario,” said Tija Dirks, the ministry’s director of transportation planning, of the comprehensive process which began in 2011.

“The scope of the issues that we’re looking at is much broader. We’re truly looking at the transportation system and not just the highway network.”

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Can Ontario unlock the mineral riches of the ‘Ring of Fire’ – by Richard Vitari (Mining.com – December 22, 2013)

http://www.mining.com/

The mineral-rich area in remote Northwestern Ontario known as the ‘Ring of Fire’ has recently received a great deal of attention from the Ontario Provincial and Canadian Federal governments. The project is valued to bring $60-$120 billion in economic benefits to Ontario, and particularly some of the poorest areas of the Province. Rich in chromite, nickel and gold, the Ring of Fire is considered to be a mining jackpot for the province; however, significant infrastructure developments are needed in order for resources to be extracted.

Political squabbling between the federal and provincial governments has obstructed mining development in the region for years. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne recently called upon the federal government to help pay for the infrastructure, which, according to Wynne, will cost approximately $1 billion for industrial infrastructure and $1.25 billion for all-season roads needed to connect all Ring of Fire communities.

Wynne says Ontario would contribute a fair share of the cost of the infrastructure, but the need is large, it would need federal matching funds. The Liberal premier has repeatedly expressed frustration with what she termed a lack of engagement by a federal Conservative government that has strongly supported resource developments elsewhere in Canada—particularly Alberta’s oil sands.

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ONTC needs change: Gravelle – by Michael Gravelle (Sudbury Star – November 18, 2013)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Michael Gravelle is Ontario’s minister of Northern Development and Mines.

The transformation of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission is, expectedly, of considerable interest to northerners. That is why, as minister of Northern Development and Mines, I continue to work alongside a dedicated group of Northerners that include members of my ONTC advisory committee, ONTC management and union representatives to transform the ONTC. We share a goal of sustainable telecommunication and transportation services and we certainly share the goal of a prosperous North.

I would, however, like to take this opportunity to clarify a few points. 
Last week, Ontario’s Auditor General published a special report on the ONTC. The report clearly acknowledged the significant challenges and complexity of transforming the ONTC. At the same time, she specifically notes that, “There is little doubt that without change, the operation of the ONTC in its current structure will require taxpayers to subsidize its operations on an annual basis.”

This is a subsidy that is only projected to grow into the future.
Our discussions with northern leaders show a clear consensus that the current state of the organization is not sustainable and change is needed. It is also clear that the services provided by the ONTC are vital to Northern communities. Transformation of the ONTC is intended to save taxpayers money in the long run, while ensuring vital transportation and communications services continue to be provided to northerners.

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Liberals’ latest disaster in works leaves northern Ontario vulnerable – by Christina Blizzard (Toronto Sun – December 18, 2013)

http://www.torontosun.com/home

TORONTO – It’s almost as if the Liberal governments of Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne want to turn out the lights in northern Ontario, shut the place down and walk away from it.

The disastrous decision to shut down Ontario Northland Railway — a vital passenger link for northern communities — was bad enough. It was supposed to save $230 million. Last week we heard from auditor general Bonnie Lysyk it will probably cost around $820 million to shut it down.

The latest disaster in the works is a plan to cut Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) fire services to Kirkland Lake — a plan that will leave an area the size of France without fire protection, says Kirkland Lake Mayor Bill Enouy.

“We have no protection in Timiskaming right now because they tell us they’re protecting us from Cochrane or Timmins, which are 145 km away,” he told me. Kirkland Lake was hard hit by forest fires in 2012. Without the MNR firefighters, those infernos would have been even more devastating.

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ONTC was given the short shrift – by Tom Mills (Sault Star – December 14, 2013)

http://www.saultstar.com/

Does it surprise anyone that this provincial government apparently didn’t bother to find out how much it would cost to shut down the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission before announcing the move?

Or that taxpayers will foot the bill for another Liberal financial “oopsy”? Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk reported Tuesday that costs of the ONTC selloff could top $820 million.

That makes the projected savings of $265.9 million over three years, which the government trumpeted in its 2012 budget, seem like a figure pulled out of a hat. Or perhaps it was pulled out of that part of a finance minister’s anatomy where the sun don’t shine.

A cynic might point out that the difference between a $266-million savings and an $820-million cost isn’t much more than the amount taxpayers have paid to give a succession of Crown corporation executives some of the most obscene golden parachutes and platinum-plated expense accounts around.

But in this case the money itself might not be the most disturbing revelation in Lysyk’s investigation.

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EDITORIAL: Ring of Fire ball dropped – by tbnewswatch.com (December 13, 2013)

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

There are a lot of people hoping they don’t have to wash egg off their face in the wake of the latest Ring of Fire developments.

Late last month Cliffs Natural Resources decided they were pulling out of the project, at least temporarily, stating they have no plans for further investment in the foreseeable future.

While some see it as political posturing, a move aimed at forcing the government’s hand to build a roadway to the riches buried on traditional lands in the North, others believe that as time marched on, the company decided the payoff simply wasn’t worth the investment.

Opposition parties are lambasting Premier Kathleen Wynne – and by default Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle – for bungling the project from the get go.

Wynne in turn says the federal government needs to step to the plate and become a partner in the exercse.
The province should have seen this coming and should have stepped in much sooner.

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Ontario’s Ring of Fire a national opportunity – Ottawa Citizen Editorial (December 10, 2013)

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/index.html

It would be quite an understatement to say that the Ring of Fire mineral project in northern Ontario is the most significant economic development opportunity for Ontario First Nations the province has ever seen.

The huge chromite mining project, whose importance federal cabinet minister Tony Clement likened to the Alberta’s oilsands, would bring between $60 billion and $120 billion in economic benefits to Ontario, and particularly some of the poorest areas of the province. Clement called it a “once-in-a-life” opportunity to generate long-term prosperity for not only for the First Nations, but the province and the nation. The file has now passed to Clement’s colleague, Minister of State Greg Rickford.

“It has the potential to transform what was hitherto a very poor, underdeveloped area of Ontario and give people who live there, particularly First Nations people, a chance for a decent life,” Clement said in a media interview.

That is why Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is calling for federal government help to pay for the infrastructure to get the project off the ground.

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