Timmins

Wayne Snider is the city editor for The Daily Press, the city of Timmins newspaper. Contact the writer at news@thedailypress.ca.

“That’s why southern-based environmental groups have more say in legislation that
shapes  the North’s future than Northerners. That’s why the voices of our Northern
leaders are ignored when we are outraged by the decisions being made in Queen’s
Park. That’s why we are not overly surprised when a contract to refurbish GO trains
in the GTA is given to an out-of-province firm when the job can be done in the North.”
(Wayne Snider – Timmins Daily Press)

Northern Ontario is becoming a living paradox. While there are great amounts of wealth being created, or waiting to be created, the full potential of the benefits are not being realized by the region.

We have areas — such as Attawapiskat — where local residents have been waiting for the basic need of a decent school for more than 20 years. Yet a stone’s throw away, some of the world’s best quality diamonds are being mined.

We have entire communities which are in the process of dying slow painful deaths, where a key industry such as a sawmill or a pulp and paper mill has shut down, while the raw resources continue to be taken from the area for processing out of province.

We have seen legislation out of southern Ontario designed to “protect” the North — such as the Endangered Species Act and the Far North Act — actually tear away at the socio-economic fabric of Northern society.

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Wayne Snider is the city editor for The Daily Press, the city of Timmins newspaper. Contact the writer at news@thedailypress.ca.

OPINION: Report pushed highest growth in southern urban centres

Many people believe Northern Ontario is largely ignored, both at the provincial and federal levels. This isn’t a new phenomenon, nor is concept limited in terms of the political stripes of ruling governments.

For decades population growth in the south has resulted in a long line of provincial and federal riding boundary adjustments. Provincially, urban centres, particularly the GTA, has been getting more and more clout in Queen’s Park, while seats have been cut in rural and Northern areas.

The voice of the North and rural Ontario is becoming increasingly drowned out by urban centres. So it should not come as any huge shock that government planning has largely centred on southern urban centres. This is by design.

In February 2004, the report Investing in People: Creating a Human Capital Society for Ontario was presented to Premier Dalton McGuinty.

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Wayne Snider is the city editor for The Daily Press, the city of Timmins newspaper. Contact the writer at news@thedailypress.ca.

In September, community leaders will get together to plan a campaign in hopes of kick starting growth in the region. Members of the Northeastern Ontario Municipal Association (NEOMA) recognize the challenges facing the region and hope to not only stem youth out migration, but find ways to attract more people to the area.

The goal is not only to maintain the lifestyle Northerners have come to love, but use it as a selling point to people sick of the urban jungle. It’s a very proactive approach and, if successful, would increase the tax base and human resources of our little corner of the province.

“Our way of life is critical to who we are as a people,” said Cochrane Mayor Peter Politis at a recent NEOMA session. “We need to stand up and do something about it.

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Kevin Vincent is publisher of  www.timminstoday.com, Timmins #1 media web site.

I’ve been wrestling with this topic for several days and I’ve decided, what the heck, it needs to be said. Timmins successfully hosted close to 300 northern Ontario political dignitaries at the annual FONOM (Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities) conference at the McIntyre Arena last week. From the outside looking in – several things are crystal clear.

First, many northern municipal mayors, reeves and councilors are not thrilled with Queens Park these days. Trust me, there are more who are pissed off at Queens Park than meets the eye – they have to walk a fine line because stating your true feelings in an open and public manner can backfire. The hand that feeds is also the hand that slaps.

I’ll get to Tim Hudak and Rick Bartolucci in just a minute – but first I want to say a few things about “the lay of the land”. There is ample evidence that environmental groups have their claws firmly dug into the skin of the ruling party. Municipal leaders, industry leaders, and First Nations leaders are collectively screaming about a boatload of new legislation designed to control the day to day lives of northerners and the industries that sustain them. They are not happy. And they have every reason to be upset.

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Wayne Snider is the city editor for The Daily Press, the city of Timmins newspaper. Contact the writer at news@thedailypress.ca.

Then there is a true wildcard in place for the fall election: The Northern Ontario
Heritage Party. Their message is that Northern Ontario needs to take over control
of the economic future of the region because Queen’s Park — when coloured by
any of the tradition mainstream political stripes — simply wants to take wealth
from the North to feed the heavily populated south. (Wayne Snider, May 16, 2011)

Off and running

Last week’s Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities conference was held to deal with municipal issues impacting the North. It turned into a launching pad for provincial election campaign debates. Anyone who wasn’t expecting the conference to be so politically charged, hasn’t been paying attention.

FONOM has been gaining a louder voice in the past few years. That’s because Northern municipalities have had a lot of concerns to voice. It seems Northern leaders have had an endless stream of provincial policies and legislation to contend with, many of which have been contentious.

The Far North Act, the Endangered Species Act (caribou protection), forestry tenure and now the Northern Growth Plan have caused municipalities to wave red flags, as our leaders fear more harm than good is being done to the Northern economy.

It is through groups like FONOM, the Northeastern Ontario Municipal Association and the Northern Mayors’ Task Force that the voice of the North has been raised to the level where it is at least being heard.

But there is a huge difference between hearing and listening.

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Wayne Snider is the city editor for The Daily Press, the city of Timmins newspaper. Contact the writer at news@thedailypress.ca.

During the past 20 years, the North has seen its influence on Queen’s Park diminish.
It’s now at the point where municipalities feel powerless and ignored. … Like residents,
Northern leaders have had enough of being treated like insignificant pests. … The upper
tiers try to milk as much wealth from the region as possible, while giving back as little as
possible. It has become a savage, sadistic economic ballet. (Wayne Snider – May, 2011)

The annual conference for the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities wraps up at the McIntyre Community Centre Friday. With cabinet ministers and various other politicos in town, usually the North anxiously awaits the message delivered by the big, bad province.

This year, however, the tables are turned. With an important provincial election looming, political parties should listen to what Northern leaders have to say.

During the past 20 years, the North has seen its influence on Queen’s Park diminish. It’s now at the point where municipalities feel powerless and ignored. Hence the start of the “speaking with one voice” campaign, where Northern leaders approach the government with a united front on key issues.

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Wayne Snider is the city editor for The Daily Press, the city of Timmins newspaper. Contact the writer at news@thedailypress.ca.

With the resources available in Northern Ontario, there is no reason why we shouldn’t thrive socially and economically. Northern leaders need our support if we are no longer to be treated as a colony, whose wealth creation feeds the needs of the south.
(Wayne Snider – May 2, 2011)

Centralization of Northern Ontario to Sudbury and Thunder Bay leaves other communities out in the cold

Tired of largely being ignored and having legislation rammed down their throats without any meaningful consultation, municipal leaders from across Northeastern Ontario are getting ready to fight back.

Members of the Northeastern Ontario Municipal Association (NEOMA) will devote the lion’s share of their next meeting to developing a lobbying and marketing strategy for the North.

Tired of being force fed a steady diet of legislation that negatively impacts their communities — such as the Far North Act, the Northern Ontario Growth Plan and changes to the Endangered Species Act — our leaders realize the time has come to get the message out to not just the government in Queen’s Park, but all Ontarians. With a critical provincial election coming up in the fall, it is now do or die time for the North.

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Ron Grech is a reporter for The Daily Press, the city of Timmins newspaper. Contact the writer at  rgrech@thedailypress.ca

City council rejects idea

A deputation by a former Timmins councillor promoting the idea of Northern Ontario separating from the rest of the province had several current councillors squirming in their seats this week. “If Quebec can have a vote to separate from Canada, surely we can have a referendum vote to separate from southern Ontario,” said Don Collins, who served for many years as a Timmins councillor.

Collins cited several measures at Queen’s Park which he felt points to the provincial government’s disconnection from Northern Ontario. They included the cancellation of the spring bear hunt and a proposal to reduce resource industries’ access to Crown forests in order to protect woodland caribou.

“I ask council if they could pursue this matter.” Collins’ remarks received a strong endorsement from one councillor – Pat Bamford. “I’m very supportive of Northern Ontario as a separate province,” Bamford told council following Collins’ presentation.

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