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Northern Ontario Politics

You’ll have energy, McGuinty tells NWO – (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 16, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

Ontario’s premier is reassuring Northwestern Ontario residents that the region will have all the energy it needs, regardless of the eventual Thunder Bay Generating Station outcome.

The station’s conversion to run on natural gas has been put on hold by the Ontario Liberals, because the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) says there are better, and cheaper ways to power the North.

Halting the conversion, the OPA said, will save $400 million, and required power can be generated from other sources, such as southern Ontario via an expanded east-west tie-line. The government has not made a final decision about the conversion, as the OPA is still finalizing its alternative plan.

“The issue for us is not whether we have the power in place to meet those energy needs,” Premier Dalton McGuinty said in Thunder Bay on Thursday. “It’s, what’s the best way to do that? “I think everybody wants us to act responsibly in that regard.”

McGuinty said the conversion project was paused because the “experts are telling us that this is the best way to do it at this point in time.”

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North pays for OPA mess: Hampton – by Kris Ketonen (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 16, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

The Ontario Power Authority (OPA) is trying to solve southern Ontario problems at the expense of the North with its push to halt the Thunder Bay Generating Station’s conversion to natural gas, the former leader of the provincial NDP said Wednesday.

“I don’t think the OPA is thinking about Northwestern Ontario and what’s good for the Northwest,” Howard Hampton said Wednesday.

“I think they’re thinking about solving some of the problems they’ve created in south and eastern Ontario. They’re thinking more about that, and using Northwestern Ontario as a piece of the puzzle.”

The Ontario government, at the behest of the OPA, has put a hold on plans to convert the Thunder Bay Generating Station from coal-fired power to natural gas. The OPA has said halting the project will save $400 million, and the region’s power needs can be met by other means, such as the to-be-expanded east-west tie-line that moves electricity between Northern and southern Ontario.

And while the government has not cancelled the plant conversion — Energy Minister Chris Bentley is waiting to see the OPA plan before making his decision — the hold has representatives in the region sounding the alarm.

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NEWS RELEASE: An open letter to all Ontario Liberal Party leadership candidates on behalf of stakeholders supporting the New Deal for Northern Ontario

Dr. Eric Hoskins, MPP, St. Paul’s; Mr. Glen Murray, MPP, Toronto Centre; Ms. Sandra Pupatello; Mr. Charles Sousa, MPP, Mississauga South; Ms. Kathleen Wynne, MPP, Don Valley West

NORTH BAY, ON, Nov. 15, 2012 /CNW/ – Dear Candidates,

We are writing you to make you aware of our plan to revitalize the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC) and create significant new job and economic opportunities in Ontario’s North.

Our initiative, called the New Deal for Northern Ontario, will save existing transportation and communication services and hundreds of jobs in the North, while also creating thousands more jobs by providing rail access to the Ring of Fire mineral deposits. The plan, which includes the development of other competitive infrastructure components into the Ring of Fire region, will deliver significant benefits to First Nations, the region and the mining and related industries.

The New Deal calls for transferring ownership of the railroad and other assets of the provincially-held ONTC to a new ports authority to be operated under the Canada Marine Act. This will ensure that important infrastructure assets are kept in public hands for the benefit of all stakeholders. The first step in this process was recently completed with the creation of The James Bay & Lowlands Ports Trustee Corporation. The new Ports Authority will be led by Roy Hains, who successfully ran ONTC for several years and developed strategies to make Ontario Northland strong and sustainable.

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Let’s not buy a power plant – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal editorial (November 15, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

THE devolution of central government has seen municipalities forced to pick up responsibilities and costs on many fronts. We don’t need more. Ottawa has been offloading programs onto provinces and “downloading” has become a dirty word in Ontario where municipalities with limited local tax bases have been expected to take on everything from selected health care to courtroom security.

Social services are legislated by the province but the costs that are apportioned over every municipality in Thunder Bay District are staggering for some. In order to secure a new regional hospital, Thunder Bay taxpayers voted to assume $25 million of the cost. This week, Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs resurrected the idea of buying the provincial power plant located on Mission Island. Let’s not. Instead, let us insist the province fulfill its mandate to supply electricity.

As part of widespread cost-saving measures, the Ontario Power Authority is considering cheaper methods of providing electricity to Northern Ontario. It claims it can supply all the power needed — including that for a new mining boom — by expanding the main east-west transmission line. Closing the Thunder Bay Generating Station would save $400 million, OPA says. Local officials scoff at this notion and insist that planned conversion of the coal plant to natural gas is essential if the region is to provide all the power needed to feed dozens of existing and pending mines.

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[Thunder Bay] City talks power plant purchase – by Kris Ketonen (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 14, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

If plans to convert the Thunder Bay Generating Station to natural gas from coal fall through, the City of Thunder Bay would look into buying the plant, Mayor Keith Hobbs said Tuesday.

The province announced a hold on the conversion project, saying the Ontario Power Authority says the region’s energy needs can be met for much cheaper if the plant is shut down.

The OPA has yet to reveal its plans, but if they result in the plant’s closure, Hobbs said the city will examine whether it’s possible to purchase the plant and keep it running. “If we hear that that plant would be mothballed, I think that’s the time to go into those discussions,” he said from Toronto.

Hobbs was among a delegation who met with Energy Minister Chris Bentley in Toronto on Tuesday. The possibility of buying the plant did not come up, Hobbs said.

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Plenty of questions to be answered [Thunder Bay power plant] – Kris Ketonen (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 14, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

Despite several still-unanswered questions, Thunder Bay representatives are encouraged about the future of the Thunder Bay Generating Station after meeting with the provincial energy minister on Tuesday.

The government announced that it was putting a hold on the conversion of the plant from coal-burning to natural gas-burning.

The decision came as a result of assertions by the Ontario Power Authority that halting the conversion would save $400 million, while other initiatives — including expanding the east-west tieline that ships power between Northern and southern Ontario — would ensure the region’s energy needs are met.

Regional representatives, however, say the region’s power needs can’t be met if the plant isn’t running, especially given the looming mining boom. Nine mines are expected to start up in the Northwest within the next five years, bringing major power requirements with them. After meeting with Bentley on the matter, Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs said he was encouraged.

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McGuinty’s Grits clueless about northern needs – by Christina Blizzard (Toronto Sun – November 9, 2012)

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/home.html

TORONTO — The government of Dalton McGuinty hammered one more nail in the coffin of northern Ontario recently, when the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) decided to back away from the conversion of the Thunder Bay coal-burning power plant to natural gas.

Critics say the OPA’s decision makes development of the “Ring of Fire” – a remote part of the northwest that’s rich in mineral deposits – almost impossible.

The decision comes hard on the heels of other northern blunders such as the Far North Act, which put half the land north of the 51st parallel – an area about the size of Britain – out of bounds for development.

Then they shut down the Ontario Northland Transportation Corp. (ONTC) rail service, a move that will devastate small communities and stifle economic growth. Cancelling the conversion of the power plant is a further blow to the northern economy.

In its announcement, the OPA said it would provide the electricity northwestern Ontario needs by building new transmission lines. That doesn’t make sense.The decision also highlights the foolishness of the original plan by the McGuinty government to shut down coal plants.

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Thunder Bay Power plant shocker – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (November 4, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

JUST when Northwestern Ontario had some wind in its sails — bam! — the penny-pinching province becalms mining-related momentum by suddenly cancelling the conversion of Thunder Bay’s electricity generating station from coal to gas. There are a whole raft of questions still to come, and there might well be good answers to them. But for the time being, this plan looks hair-brained.

First, it flies in the face of the province’s vaunted coal phase-out policy built on converting newer plants in order to keep the lights on in various regions. Converting Thunder Bay Generating Station to natural gas and Atikokan to biomass is a central plank in the clean-air platform. Atikokan is still proceeding but it will only produce 20 megawatts at the best of times.

Thunder Bay GS would produce 700 MW from gas. Removing that capacity from the grid would leave the Northwest destitute for electricity just when it needs a lot of it to power the new mining boom, area leaders said Friday at a news conference punctuated with expressions of dismay.

The energy minister cautions this is temporary — for now — while the Ontario Power Authority prepares a new plan for the North built around a doubling in capacity of the east-west tie line to 600 MW.

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Wawa is our own version of New Jersey – by Christina Blizzard (Sudbury Star – November 3, 2012)

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

It’s always heartwarming to see good neighbours coming together to help one another. Hydro companies across the province are sending crews to aid our storm-ravaged neighbours to the south in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, where tropical storm Sandy ripped down power lines. But what about Wawa?

The small northern Ontario community was recently devastated by a different storm. Roads were washed out, houses split apart — and one motel was swept into Lake Superior.

Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Michael Mantha is pleading for the government to declare Wawa a disaster area, so they can access provincial funds through the Ontario Disaster Relief and Assistance Plan (ODRAP) to help fix the roads and bridges that were destroyed.

“We need the province to step up and really help them promptly to start moving the funds so they can start doing the repairs that they need,” Mantha told reporters Thursday. Even before the storm hit, Wawa was struggling for its economic survival. The community is reeling even further with so much of its infrastructure washed away.

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McGuinty’s dark secrets on cancelled power plants revealed – by Terence Corcoran (National Post – November 1, 2012)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Documents show cancelling Oakville plant alone will cost $1-billion

As Premier Dalton McGuinty prorogued the Ontario legislature and announced his retirement last month, he would have known that some of the darker secrets of his government’s handling of energy policy would soon come to light. Today, those secrets — until now buried in 56,000 pages of released but unreadable documents — are appearing in the open.

In sordid and alarming detail, the documents show that the McGuinty government’s cancellation of gas plants in Oakville and Mississauga are likely to cost as much as $1.3-billion, possibly more. Killing the Oakville plant and moving it to Bath will alone burden Ontario ratepayers and taxpayers with costs that exceed $1-billion.

These numbers — openly discussed in documents as part of the government’s legal negotiations with TransCanada Energy and other companies — are a far cry from the $40-million Energy Minister Chris Bentley recently announced as the cost of killing the 900-megawatt Oakville Generating Station.

More than the numbers, the documents — analyzed by Toronto energy consultant Tom Adams in a posting to his website Tuesday and in FP Comment Thursday — also show that the premier’s office played a role in the gas-plant debacle. Under instruction, bureaucrats and government agency staff, especially at the Ontario Power Authority (OPA), were also dragged into litigation negotiations aimed at containing the major liabilities the government had created.

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[Northern Ontario] ONR sale concerns resource companies – by CBC Radio Sudbury (October 31, 2012)

http://www.cbc.ca/sudbury/

Georgia Pacific and Detour Gold say they rely on stable freight service

Companies who move their products by rail say they are watching the Ontario Northland divestment closely. The Ontario Northland Railway hauls freight for a number of industrial operations in communities along Highway 11.

The future of what is now the ONR is doubly important for the town of Englehart. The railway is a major employer, as is Georgia Pacific — a company that uses the ONR to ship oriented strand board from its Englehart plant.

“We’ve engaged in conversations with the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines,” said Georgia Pacific spokesperson Eric Abercrombie.

“We have expressed to them that any change in the ownership of the Northland Railroad would need to continue providing … consistent reliable service level.”

The Atlanta-based company has had “a great relationship with the Ontario Northland Railroad,” Abercrombie said, adding that the Englehart plant “depends on quality rail service that is … safe, reliable and competitive so we [can] continue delivering products to our customers.”

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Thousands sign parks petition – by Benjamin Aubé (Timmins Daily Press – October 26, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – The surprise decision by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) to shut down camping at a number of provincial parks in northeastern Ontario has not gone unnoticed.

In fact, it’s government officials who are now being surprised by the massive swell of support offered by groups such as Friends of Ivanhoe, urging the province to re-consider the ban.

On Friday, members of Friends of Ivanhoe met with the media at MPP Gilles Bisson’s (NDP – Timmins-James Bay) office on Wilson St. with more than 6,300 signatures in hand. The petitions were circulated and posted in various locations, from Timmins to Hearst, since the government’s decision was announced in September by Natural Resources Minister Michael Gravelle.

“I spoke to Mr. Gravelle on Monday,” said Bisson. “One of the things he talked about was that he couldn’t believe how many people have been really worked up over this, so I think he’s been taken a bit aback. I think it puts us in the position to hopefully change his mind.”

Bisson said that, while he was surprised by the sheer number of signatures, the swift reaction of Northerners didn’t come as a shock.

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[Ring of Fire] Selling out our kids’ kids – by Dave Dale (North Bay Nugget – October 24, 2012)

http://www.nugget.ca/

Desperation will make people do ill-conceived things. Some will even trade their own family members for a penny and promises when the wolves are at the door.

And during hard times, elected officials are quick to sell the farm — lock, stock and your mother thrown in — for short-term economic and political gain.

There’s no shortage of examples in Ontario, many recent and several ongoing. More about the recent pitch by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission unions to become a federal port authority later.

First and foremost, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Tory crew are at this very moment prostituting your children’s children on a long-shot global wager.

The Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, which becomes binding next week, allows China to crawl into our economic bed for a minimum of 31 years.

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Ontera sell-off worries Northern [Ontario] leaders – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – October 23, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

IROQUOIS FALLS – Even though Northlander passenger service has already been derailed, leaders from across Northeastern Ontario are still fighting for the ONTC.

Since the provincial government announced plans to divest itself of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, members of the Northeastern Ontario Municipal Association (NEOMA) have been lobbying to save the services provided by the ONTC.

With passenger rail service now gone for the Hwy. 11 corridor, NEOMA is turning the bulk of its attention to preserving freight rail and infrastructure to the information highway.

Members of NEOMA, at its quarterly meeting in Iroquois Falls on Friday, discussed the future of ONTC. Northern leaders expressed frustration of the fact that the provincial government has not been sharing a lot of information about the divestiture.

“We’ve met with the government several times about the freight rail,” said Timmins Mayor Tom Laughren, chairman of NEOMA. “We haven’t been getting a lot of traction.

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MUNICIPALITY OF GREENSTONE MEDIA ADVISORY: Northwest Kick Start plan featured at the Ontario Waterpower Conference in Niagara-on-the Lake

What: Northwest Kick Start plan featured at the Ontario Waterpower Association’s Power of Water Canada Conference in Niagara-on-the Lake, October 23, 2012.

Background: The Northwest Kick Start plan, unveiled by the Municipality of Greenstone on September 20, 2011, continues to influence the evolution of electricity-related planning in Northwest Ontario.

Today’s presentation at the Power of Water Canada Conference by Larry Doran, one of the plan’s authors, occurred at the same time as the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) outlined its current thinking on energy and transmission planning in the Region.

The Northwest Kick Start plan was conceived to show it was possible to provide a cost-effective power supply to a refinery for the Ring of Fire minerals in Greenstone. However, it evolved into a visionary power system enhancement plan, demonstrating region-wide benefits by facilitating a number of other longer term economic development and power system objectives, namely:

• Providing a grid connection to a number of First Nation communities currently supplied solely by diesel generation;

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