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Northern Ontario Separation and Alienation

Plea for ONTC likely to fall on deaf ears – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – November 27, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – It is one thing for the provincial government to ignore the constant pleas from municipal leaders and opposition MPPs on an issue, but it is a whole new ball game when it disregards the needs of industry.

At Timmins council Monday night, Tom Semadeni asked the city to “help us in terms of lobby efforts” to make sure freight rail service is continued in Northeastern Ontario in the wake of Queen’s Park’s ongoing sell-off of the Ontario Northland Transportation Corporation. Semadeni is the general manager of Kidd Operations in Timmins for Xstrata Copper.

Semadeni told council the divestiture of the ONTC could create possible challenges for the mining company in the future. He said trucking material would be more costly than freight rail and cause more damage to the roads.

The concerns raised by Xstrata echo comments raised by Northern leaders – from mayors and councils across the region to MPPs like Gilles Bisson (NDP – Timmins-James Bay) – since the sell-off was announced in the spring.

Clearly, the mining industry is waving a red flag to warn the provincial government about the effect the sell-off will have on industry in the region.

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Candidate votes to save ONTC [Gerard Kennedy] – by Sebastien Perth (Sudbury Star – November 23, 2012)

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

The decision to sell off Ontario Northland should be reviewed, but Northern Ontario does not need another level of government to promote economic growth.

Those are just a few of topics Ontario Liberal party leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy covered during a campaign stop at past Sudbury poet laureate Roger Nash’s house Thursday. About Ontario Northland, Kennedy said it wasn’t helping either passengers or industry.

“I’m going to review that decision (to shut down Ontario Northland). I’m not sure that is key part of a Northern strategy. I know a lot of people are upset, but Ontario Northland ran at a level that was almost not helping the passenger and not helping industry,” he said.

“The Ontario Northland … has to be one that is fully viable. The question is how do you do it that way. Is it part of the Ring of Fire outlook? We’ll have to look at that.” Born in The Pas, Man. , Kennedy said he knows full well the discrepancy in services offered to northern areas.

“I am interested in seeing what we can do in the North and I know some of my colleagues have mentioned things. I’m from northern Manitoba, so you guys are all southerners to me.

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Can a Liberal become Ring master? – by Brian MacLeod (Sudbury Star – November 22, 2012)

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

Ontario Liberal leadership candidates are trying to woo northern Ontario, but one wonders whether they’re not playing with the Ring of Fire.

That would be the 5,120-square-kilometre swath of the James Bay Lowlands that is said to contain riches in chromite and other metals that could rival the value of the Sudbury Basin, some $1 trillion worth. (Chromite is a key ingredient in stainless steel.)

Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak has likened the Ring of Fire to Alberta’s oil-sands. Economist Don Drummond noted in his report that the area “offers the prospect of substantial socio-economic opportunities for all northern residents.”

More than a dozen mines have already been identified for possible development within the next five years and a smelter is set to be built north of Sudbury. Thousands of jobs are expected to be created, with millions of dollars in tax revenues rolling into the province.

In the last two weeks, Liberal leadership candidates Glen Murray and Kathleen Wynne, as well as Premier Dalton McGuinty and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, have visited the area of the province that covers about

800,000 square km with a population of about 730,000 people.

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Northern leaders keep up ONTC fight – by Kyle Gennings (Timmins Daily Press – November 21, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – The fight continues for the ONTC.

Kapuskasing Mayor and Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) president Al Spacek spent Monday in Toronto meeting with Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci, fighting for a game changer that never came.

“We reiterated our concerns about the lack of information and transparency about the ongoing divestiture process,” he said. “I also communicated to him and his senior staff that we are hearing the same concerns from industry, a lot of time has gone by now and we still don’t have a comfort level with what the process is and where they are at with it.”

This lack of transparency regarding the sale has been a concern from the outset of the issue. Despite numerous pleas from FONOM representatives, Spacek said Bartolucci and his staff, along with the provincial cabinet, have not been forthcoming with information.

“His response continues to be the same, the divestiture is going ahead and did not directly address our concerns about transparency,” said Spacek. “Our reaction with this government has been one of much legislation and policy that has been very detrimental to the North.

“That legislation and policy was developed without the consultation of the people most effected by it, Northerners.”

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‘Pause’ ONTC divestment: Murray – by Dave Dale (North Bay Nugget – November 19, 2012)

http://www.nugget.ca/

NORTH BAY – Big city Liberal politician Glen Murray said Northern Ontario is the key to the province’s future and should be run by a regional authority.

And Murray, who is seeking to replace out-going Premier Dalton McGuinty as the Grit party leader, said they should “pause” the divestment of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission until regional priorities are set.

“I’d put the pause button on ONTC decisions,” he said while in North Bay, Sunday. “We should not be making these one off decisions.”

Murray is stumping for Liberal Party membership support and visited Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury pitching his campaign platform. Tax cuts for the middle class and small business, no-money-down university or college and Northern Ontario autonomy.

“The north needs it’s own voice,” he said, noting it’s a resource-rich region with residents, business owners and community leaders with a stake in its success.

Murray said the shape of the authority could be decided by referendum — whether a general northern government or separate regional government n the northeast and northwest.

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Scenes from a Carriage Dream (Ontario Northland Railroad] – by Dan Hokstad (North Bay Nugget – November 17, 2012)

http://www.nugget.ca/

Dan Hokstad is a teacher and author of The Sacred Ash. On the web: www.danhokstad.com

Railroads run through our city like arteries, and they have always been the lifelines of North Bay: the heart of a community built “north of the bay.” Knowing that people traveled from the Atlantic to the Pacific or from the Great Lakes to James Bay, and that they passed through our neck of the woods, was like being joyously coupled with the rest of the world. As a child in bed, drifting off to sleep, the resonating train whistles that reached your window would stir enough images of adventures to fill a thousand dreams.

The sheer excitement and anticipation of standing at the C.P.R. Station downtown, waiting to welcome family home or board a train yourself, was blissful happiness. On more than one occasion, I journeyed east; truth be told, I often rode (somewhat surreptitiously) with the conductor in the baggage car. The exhilaration and danger of standing in a freight car, with the door wide open as the Ottawa valley rumbled by, was thrilling and unforgettable.

And, as I helped sort the luggage and packages, he told me tales. One was about the legendary strength of Bonfield native Ernie Foisy. Ernie could single-handedly lift a rail line; he would often tuck a ten-spot under it, and then advise the latest brakeman that it was his to keep – if he could get it. None ever could.

Boarding the train at the C.N. Station on Fraser Street was just as enthralling. For many, it was the anticipation of the Northlander and a spiritual trip north through the Canadian Shield. For me, it meant a direct link to Toronto.

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The idea of regional government [Northern Ontario] – Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal Editorial (November 19, 2012)

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

WHAT does a former Winnipeg mayor-turned Toronto MPP know about Northwestern Ontario? Quite a lot, it seems. Glen Murray, running to replace Premier Dalton McGuinty, is pitching an idea that officials in this region have been seeking in some form for decades — regional government.

Parsing Murray’s plan will take time but area leaders were quick to endorse its thrust: Give Northerners control over their own resources, energy, transportation, infrastructure, employment and training, and regional planning. Northerners could set their own resource tax rates and energy prices and they’d get a proportional share of provincial tax revenues.

This is where the proposal needs detail. A Northern government would be formed with a corresponding reduction of the power and budget held by Queen’s Park, Murray said. Just what power would remain in Toronto and how much real autonomy for setting policy would come here? Queen’s Park will not let go completely the hand that holds the lion’s share of Ontario resource wealth.

Murray’s idea is well worth detailed consideration. At the same time, northerners should not be too quick to simply abandon the south and its seat of government. This region has relied heavily on provincial funds and programs and must consider carefully what might be given up to finally achieve more control over our destiny.

Murray appears to have done some homework on this file. He reiterated the many attempts made “to try and make the North work . . . None of them have been sufficient.”

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Liberal leadership candidate in favour of ‘autonomous North’ – by Kyle Gennings (Timmins Daily Press – November 19, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – A candidate running for the Ontario Liberal leadership spoke in support of an autonomous North during a stop in Timmins Saturday.

“As an MPP for the past few years, I’ve seen at Queen’s Park exactly why things don’t work for Northern Ontario,” said Glen Murray (Liberal – Toronto Centre) who is among the candidates who have come forward to replace Dalton McGuinty. “Playing party to trying to create changes in the North, you can see the disconnect, you can see that there are a lot people who don’t get how different the challenges are.”

For Murray, the economic differences that separate north from south are just the starting point of the differences between the two regions of Ontario.

“The economy has two huge pillars that support it. One that has been quite weak – forestry – which resulted from the collapse of the housing market which shattered the demand for lumber,” he said. “The mining industry has been solidly booming across the board. Nowhere else in Ontario is the resource industry so fundamentally important.

You would never think of taking the security exchange commission away from Toronto because banking and financial services in Canada are at the very core of the Toronto economy and the only reason for its existence was that it quickly came together to raise the funds necessary to ensure the gold boom in the North.”

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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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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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[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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