Timmins

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

What we see again is an alarmist message from special interest groups aimed at
justifying extreme measures that will impact the lives and livelihood of people in
Northern Ontario. Northerners have a natural inclination to bond and care for the
health of their surroundings. Why else would they choose to live here and raise their
families here? (Ron Grech – March 25, 2011)

With the Darlington public hearings beginning last week, activists were provided an opportunity to push their agenda thanks to an earthquake and tsunami setting off a nuclear crisis in Japan.

Proponents for refurbishing of the nuclear facility pointed out the two circumstances are very different. The fact is half of Ontario’s power comes from nuclear plants and they have operated for more than 30 years without incident. The province does not sit on a fault line, so facilities here do not encounter immense earthquakes and tsunamis the way they do in Japan.

But that type of reasoning washes over the public when people are captivated by a disaster and uneasy about bringing it close to home.

Northerners can’t help but watch this discussion in southern Ontario without being mindful of how they have been affected by knee-jerk alarmism and governments swayed by public pressure and half-truths.

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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.

“Show us [Northern Ontario] the respect we deserve. The urban dictatorship is destroying
the beautiful cultural mosaic that makes our country unique — and great.”
(Wayne Snider, March 22, 2011)

Recently, the Town of Cochrane sent a strongly worded letter to Natural Resources Minister Linda Jeffrey. The topic of discussion was the Ontario government’s plan to protect massive

amounts of land in the North — stretching from the Manitoba border to James Bay — from future resource development under the Endangered Species Act in a bid to re-establish the range of the woodland caribou.

In a nutshell, the town said it would not consider supporting the policy unless:

* Northern municipalities and First Nation communities are given the chance to provide “meaningful consultations” on the issue;

* A socio-economic assessment — overseen by the province and the Federation of Northern Ontario Mayors — is done to determine the impact of the legislation;

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