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Northern Ontario Separation and Alienation

How Ontario’s Liberals can win back rural Ontario – by Michael Warren (Toronto Star – June 2, 2013)

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Wynne is starting to deliver on commitments to rural and northern voters.

There is a method in Premier Kathleen Wynne’s madness. Firing Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. (OLG) chair Paul Godfrey. Forming a four-minister task force to review rules for renewable energy projects. Negotiating with the horse-racing industry.

All these seemingly unrelated actions have one purpose. Winning back rural Ontario. Most of the 18 Liberal seats lost to the opposition in the last provincial election were in rural Ontario. It was northern and rural voters who said no to a Liberal majority government.

Former premier Dalton McGuinty governed from his bunker at Queen’s Park. He saw the big issues of the day through a metropolitan prism. His government developed a big city “we know best” attitude that infuriated rural voters.

His rural MPPs and cabinet ministers told McGuinty about the deepening sense of Liberal abandonment in their ridings. But he wasn’t listening. Almost all of them went down to defeat as a result. This didn’t go unnoticed during February’s Liberal leadership race. Every candidate talked about the needs of the North and the hinterland.

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[Ontario] Green [Energy Act] isn’t all good – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal (June 2, 2013)

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

And those 50,000 jobs? McCarter concluded: “A majority of the jobs will be temporary.”
In other jurisdictions, there was actually an offsetting loss of jobs as a result of the
impact of higher renewable energy electricity prices on business, industry and consumers.

IF legislation is a work in progress, Ontario’s Green Energy Act is increasingly an exercise in futility. Launched in 2009 with great fanfare by then premier Dalton McGuinty, this head-first dive into responsible energy production was to place Ontario on the leading edge of a modern industry bursting with potential.

Ontario would attract wind and solar power developers with lucrative contracts. They would develop all kinds of clean power to replace that from Ontario’s cancelled coal plants, leading the way in Canada’s climate change efforts. Developers would agree to manufacture components in Ontario. There would be 50,000 new jobs by the end of 2012, McGuinty said, and untold economic benefits throughout the province.

Who could argue with that? A good many people, it turns out. The contracts were so rich, the terms had to be changed to appease a public angered at learning it was paying considerably more for power from free sun and wind than from costly conventional sources.

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Ontario conservation group fears endangered species taking back seat to industries – by Raveena Aulakh (Toronto Star – May 30, 2013)

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

There will be serious repercussions to the habitats of endangered species if the province bends over backward to accommodate industries, warns an environmental NGO.

Wildlands League, a leading Ontario conservation agency, resigned from the Endangered Species Act Panel earlier this week and wrote to Premier Kathleen Wynne outlining its concerns.

“If the regulations your government is about to enact go forward as contemplated, we fear that the act will be neutered; species survival will be jeopardized,” Janet Sumner, executive director of the league, told Wynne in the resignation letter.

She also said the ministry of natural resources seemed to be offering too many exemptions. But Natural Resources Minister David Orazietti says that is “unequivocally untrue.” “We believe we have reached a very effective balance in the proposed regulatory changes that will continue to safeguard Ontario’s endangered species,” he said.

The ministry embarked on “modernization of approvals” under the Endangered Species Act in September 2012 and invited organizations to be part of a panel. The modernization includes streamlining the way the ministry issues permits and licenses.

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Wynne could get frostbite from North – by Brian MacLeod (Sudbury Star – May 30, 2013)

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

An HST increase to help pay for improvements to the Toronto-Hamilton transportation corridor could be lethal for Premier Kathleen Wynne outside of that region. Yet she’s seriously considering campaigning on the issue in the next election.

It is a curious gambit, one that could undo the efforts she’s making to win back support in rural Ontario. But as we saw in the last election, if the Liberals can ride their support in urban areas, they need only a little help in the outlands to give them a majority.

Municipalities outside of the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area (GTHA) have their financial problems, and some even have innovative solutions that require the province’s help, but rarely does the government abide. Toronto, however, is a different story.

A report by Metrolinx, the regional transit authority, says $2 billion more is needed annually to pay for transit improvements to alleviate congestion, hence its support for a one-percentage-point increase to the HST. Other revenue generating tools would be applicable only in the GTHA, but the HST hike would likely be levied province-wide.

On Wednesday, Sun Media columnist Christina Blizzard asked, “If you live in Timmins or Niagara Falls, how do you feel about that?”

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The tax dilemma in Northern [Ontario] towns (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial – May 22, 2013)

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

A Northern town trying to shore up its assessment base by attracting new residents would be hard pressed to do so if potential newcomers knew they’d be facing sky-high taxes. Yet that’s the dilemma in Schreiber, where a lack of industry has left some homeowners paying $5,000 or more in residential taxes just so the town can keep the streets plowed and streetlights on.

One of the North’s oldest municipalities, Schreiber was once fairly prosperous, one of many single-industry towns on the Trans-Canada Highway.

But as its businessman mayor Don McArthur explains, for more than a decade the town has been slowly crumbling in the wake of a mine closure and the overall forestry collapse that felled many towns like it between Kenora and White River.
A situation that has left residents paying the price for a backlog of $3 million of unpaid and uncollectable commercial taxes has reached the point of no return, it seems.

If it isn’t addressed soon, says McArthur, the town will spend another 10 years lucky to tread water while its neighbours break free of the recession. In the short term, McArthur wants the province to cover half the cost of clearing the hefty backlog so the municipality can reduce the time required to break free of what the mayor bluntly terms “a financial sinkhole.”

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Northern Ontario is a [political] fossil with a future – by David Robinson (Northern Ontario Business – May 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.

Once upon a time Britain had a colony. And this unusual colony had a colony of its own. Then the colony-with-a-colony joined with other colonies and got some more colonies. And Canada was born!

That isn’t quite the history we were taught, but it is technically correct. And this version actually provides a clue about the economic future of Northern Ontario.

The colony originally called Canada was the most valuable of Britain’s North American possessions (after the Americans jumped ship). Britain was such an empire builder that even the British colonies wanted colonies. Upper Canada grabbed what we now call Northern Ontario. Then Upper Canada and Lower Canada got together to grab all the British territory east of the Rocky Mountains and south of the North Pole.

Personally, I’m happy that they did this. If they hadn’t, those nasty Americans would have gobbled most of what we now call Canada.

But Canada is coming to the end of its Colonial Era. For more than 100 years the federal government has been transferring its decision-making powers to the territories it grabbed.

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Northern MPs united against boundary changes – by Elaine Della-Mattia (Sault Star – May 16, 2013)

http://www.saultstar.com/

All five Northern Ontario members of Parliament agree that the federal electoral boundary lines should not change in the region and a “special exception” should be invoked.

Sault MP Bryan Hayes, along with MP’s from Timmins, Nipissing, Algoma and Sudbury all appeared before the standing committee on Procedure and House Affairs last week to tell the committee that the Sault Ste. Marie electoral boundary should not change.

An original report from the boundary commission recommended no changes to the riding but the second report proposes removing Echo Bay, St. Joseph Island, Bruce Mines and the surrounding areas from the Sault Ste. Marie riding and adding them to the Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing riding.

Hayes said the proposed change was strongly opposed by those impacted at a public hearing in Sault Ste. Marie last fall.

“I was disappointed when the commission’s report of hearings in Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing, Timmins – James Bay, Sudbury and Nipissing-Timiskaming persuaded a change to the initial recommendations for Northern Ontario,” Hayes said.

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Wynne is listening [to northern Ontario issues]: Matichuk – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – May 11, 2013)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

After two back-to-back meetings with other Northern municipalities and policy makers, Mayor Marianne Matichuk walked away feeling cautiously optimistic.

“I was very impressed that the premier came, (and) quite a few ministers, and they were really listening to our concerns in the North. So that’s a really good sign. And people were very pleased,” she said Friday.

Matichuk was speaking after attending the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) conference this past week in Parry Sound. Prior to that, on May 3, Matichuk was in North Bay for a meeting with the mayors from North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay and Timmins.

The three-day FONOM”con-f erence featured talks with provincial and federal ministers, as well as outside experts. Premier Kathleen Wynne was also there.

“Kathleen Wynne was very open about wanting to work with people in the North. She wanted to hear our concerns. She also committed to working with not just municipalities. She’s stated specifically that she wanted to work with the federal government to resolve problems, because she feels that we all need to work together,” said Matichuk.

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Gravelle: divestment not the only option – by Gord Young (North Bay Nugget- May 11, 2013)

http://www.nugget.ca/

Divestment should not be the only option for the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, says Northern Development Minister Michael Gravelle.

Reflecting a major change in the province’s approach to the ONTC, Gravelle told municipal politicians Friday during a Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) conference in Parry Sound that he’s come to the conclusion other avenues need to be explored when it comes to the future of the Crown agency.

“We need to be open to options other than divestment,” said Gravelle, noting the shift is a result of feedback he’s received since taking on the Northern Development and Mines portfolio earlier this year.

Gravelle said that includes feedback from an ONTC advisory committee he established consisting of Northern stakeholders, including North Bay Mayor Al McDonald. He said the committee is slated to meet in Toronto on Thursday and will discuss what some of those other possible options for the ONTC may include.

“It will be an important meeting,” said Gravelle. While in North Bay in March for the advisory committee’s inaugural meeting, Gravelle told the media that clearly the decision has been made and that province is moving forward with divestment.

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Gravelle signals possible shift in direction – by Bruce Cowan (North Bay Nugget- May 11, 2013)

http://www.nugget.ca/

What a difference two months can make, especially if the Liberal government of Kathleen Wynne is prepared to do everything it can to retain power now and following the next provincial election.

In February, newly minted Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle told The Nugget that divestment of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission would continue and there would be no dramatic shift in direction.

He did leave the door open to “significant community input into that process” and formed a minister’s advisory committee, which included Mayor Al McDonald and other northern mayors who have a stake in the divestment outcome. Gravelle even came to North Bay to sit down with the committee and hear their concerns.

Today, there has indeed been a shift in direction, or at least in what’s said publicly. At the Federation of Northern Ontario Muncipalities’ conference in Parry Sound, Gravelle hinted that divestment may not be the only option. That was not lost on McDonald, who tweeted the news immediately.

Premier Wynne, speaking at the same conference, went further. She said ONTC and Metrolinx need to work together, echoing talk prior to the divestment announcement that a strategic alliance between the two agencies might make sense and provide ongoing refurbishment work for Ontario Northland shops.

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Ontario’s finances in a mess thanks to Liberals’ make-believe budgets – by Christina Blizzard (Toronto Sun – May 3, 2013)

http://www.torontosun.com/home

“Let’s point the finger directly at the two real culprits — former premier Dalton McGuinty
and former finance minister Dwight Duncan…. The damage they did to the economy of this
once-great province will live in infamy. Your grandchildren and your grandchildren’s
grandchildren will still be paying for their massive incompetence.” (Christina Blizzard)

TORONTO – Cost of cancelling two gas-fired power plants? $585 million. Cost of sucking up to the NDP?  Billions. Price of keeping this arrogant, incompetent, deceitful, wasteful Liberal government in power? Endless — and pointless.

Trouble is MasterCard expects you to pay your bills. Being a Liberal means never saying you’re sorry — and never paying your debts.

These Liberals just keep racking up more debt and driving this province into an abyss that will make Greece look like a well-managed paradise.

Make no mistake. Thursday’s budget wasn’t about fiscal responsibility or a prosperous Ontario. It was about keeping a shamelessly inept government in power.

Finance Minister Charles Sousa’s first budget was a total capitulation to outrageous NDP demands to meddle dangerously in the auto insurance industry — by forcing private companies to reduce premiums 15%. Liberals also pledged to hike welfare rates and to throw more money at home care.

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Northern Ontario mayors frustrated with Growth Plan (Sault Star – May 3, 2013)

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

The mayors of Northern Ontario’s largest cities say they are frustrated by the slow pace of the province’s regional growth plan and intend to come up with their own strategy paper.

“We want to quit talking about it and we want to look at the strengths of our respective areas and get plans in place that develop us,” said Sault Ste. Marie Mayor Debbie Amaroso on Thursday.

Mayors from Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, North Bay, Thunder Bay and Timmins met in the Sault over two days this week to discuss the province’s progress in rolling out the Northern Growth Plan it launched in 2011.

Amaroso said the Growth Plan offers a good foundation but implementation has been “frustratingly slow” and the mayors have agreed to come up with a strategy paper to be presented to provincial ministers in August at this year’s Association of Municipalities Ontario meeting in Ottawa.

“As municipalities, we are prepared to do the required work and take the lead on this,” she said. North Bay Mayor Al McDonald said the five cities know what needs to be done to help development in Northern Ontario, and are bringing forward a united front from the region the province has so far been unable to do.

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Little for [Ontario] north, MPPs – by PJ Wilson (North Bay Nugget – May 3, 2013)

http://www.nugget.ca/

Northern Ontario got short shrift in Thursday’s provincial budget, according to opposition MPPs in the region.

“Northern Ontario was only mentioned twice, and that was in passing,” Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli said after the minority Liberal government unveiled its $127.6-billion spending plan for the next fiscal year.

Fedeli said even the much-heralded Ring of Fire mining project in Northwestern Ontario, prominently mentioned in the last provincial budget, has totally fallen out of sight. “That means, to us, that it is no longer a priority for the government.”

Fedeli said also absent from the budget was any mention of Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, which the province announced it was divesting in March, 2012. “That really surprised me because it leaves a $500-million hole in the budget,” Fedeli said.

Among provisions in the budget are a $260-million boost for home care health services, a $295-million plan to fight youth unemployment, a 15% auto insurance rate cut and assistance for people on welfare and disability.

The budget projects an $11.7-billion deficit.

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ONTC sale could cost $500M, MPP says – by Maria Calabrese (North Bay Nugget – April 27, 2013)

http://www.nugget.ca/

NORTH BAY – Severance, pensions and other liabilities could cost the province more than $500 million if the Liberal government goes ahead with the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission sale, says Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli.

“I think they have provided a false scenario to Northern Ontario, a false scenario in their budget, and I intend to prove it,” Fedeli said during an announcement Friday to introduce the PC party’s Northern plan ahead of the provincial budget May 2.

Fedeli repeated calls to stop ONTC divestment, review the Crown corporation’s assets and guarantee rail freight will not be privatized.

He has brought in Ontario’s auditor general to review ONTC financial statements and believes pensions, benefits and workers’ compensation would wipe out the $265 million the province estimates it will save in the sale, and doubles that cost when it comes to offering severances to the hundreds of workers who could lose their jobs.

Boosting economic development was the underlying message in the Conservative Northern plan, released simultaneously by leader Tim Hudak in Thunder Bay and by Fedeli in North Bay.

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Province rescues ELA – by Bryan Meadows (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – April 25, 2013)

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

The province is stepping up to the plate to save the Experimental Lakes Area. The Liberal government announced Wednesday that it will provide funding to keep the ELA running this year, and work with the federal and Manitoba governments, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and other partners on an agreement to ensure the future of the world-renowned freshwater research facility east of Kenora.

“What is special about the ELA is that it takes research out of the lab and right into the environment — so the ELA presents a rare opportunity for research, perhaps unique in the world,” said IISD president and CEO Scott Vaughan.

Kenora MP Greg Rickford, who has taken heat over the federal funding cuts for the ELA, said Wednesday that “we have been waiting for Ontario, as the owner of the lands, to play an active role in the transfer of the ELA (to a new operator).
“That’s great news.

“In the meantime, we have been involved in leading negotiations with the prospective operators, and we’re hopeful an agreement can be reached and welcome Ontario taking an active role,” Rickford said. Ottawa cut funding to the ELA research facility on March 31 and blocked researchers, even those with funding from other parties, to work there.

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