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STRONG petitions premier;

Group takes policy paper to Queen's Park

Scott Paradis / The Daily Press
Local News - Monday, May 21, 2007 @ 10:00

A regional activist group's trip to Queen's Park last week was met with no immediate action by the province, but the resolutions presented did stun the premier, said group president Al Simard.

Saving The Region Ontario North Group (STRONG) presented a resolution based on a petition in Queen's Park Thursday, which requested the government change policy believed to hinder economic growth in the North.

About 50 communities signed resolutions to the document, which was presented during question period by MPP Gilles Bisson (NDP - Timmins-James Bay ).

The resolution STRONG put forward makes several requests of the government. It includes the creation of regional electricity pricing and for the government to stop wood re-allocation.

"Those were the two issues that Gilles (Bisson) brought up," Simard said.

Forestry companies that have shutdown mills in Ontario have been able to take wood fibre from those communities and redirect it elsewhere.

This exacerbates the devastation a community faces when an announcement to shut down a local mill is made, he said.

Regional energy pricing is also important because hydro makes up a large part of the forestry sector's operating costs.

"Communities are still falling like dominoes," Simard said. "Mills are shutting down across the North and it doesn't seem to be slowing down."

STRONG is an activist group based out of Kapuskasing, which was created amid the 2005 closure of the Opasatika sawmill.

The group now has about 6,000 members across Northern Ontario .

McGuinty said the petition "(appeared) to be a fairly impressive package," when it was presented to him in the legislature, however, he added that he couldn't answer to its specific issues because he had just received it.

The premier then deferred questions regarding regional hydro pricing and wood re-allocation to Minister of Natural Resources David Ramsay.

Ramsay was not immediately available in the legislature during those questions.

Instead, McGuinty highlighted what the government had been doing for Northern Ontario .

"We will continue to work with Northern Ontario ," he said. "Is there more work to be done? Of course there is, but we are committed to working with Northern Ontario ."

McGuinty added that the province invested $60 million in the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund, among other investments.

But Simard said he took issue with that.

"They actually cut it by $7 million," he said.

The province originally budgeted $67 million to the fund, then cut it down to $60 million, Simard said.

As for the issue of wood re-allocation, Bisson said he found the premier's deferral interesting.

For the last three years the government has held the position that fibre is tied to the company and not the community. Therefore, companies are able to re-allocate their wood supplies, Bisson said. "I think because we're four months away from an election, they're starting to get a little nervous," Bisson said. "I don't think they've changed their policy, I think the premier was just being careful."

Despite not getting immediate feedback on the specific issues brought forward in the petition, Simard remains hopeful that the issues will be resolved.

Feedback from 50 communities in an election year makes up part of what is fueling those hopes.

"We're hoping this will have some sort of impact on the government and make them understand the devastating impact these policies are having on Northern Ontario ," Simard said.

"We want to get the rest of the province to become aware of this."

Please Sign Our

PETITION to The Ontario Legislative Assembly

STRONG is calling upon all citizens of Ontario including municipal councils, communities, unions, businesses, committees and organizations to take part and support this petition to The Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

The provincial government needs to change policies that are contributing to the dismantling of the economic and social fabric of Northern Ontario and implement policies that will protect our livlihood in the forest and mining sector and insure the sustainability of Northern communities.

These communities, workers and industries contribute enormously to the riches Ontario enjoys today.

We must not let them fall!

“No one made a greater mistake than he who did nothing

because he could do little”

Edmund Burke