Massive north-south divide in province The Ottawa Sun Wed Oct 7 2009 Page: 11 Section: Editorial/Opinion Byline: BY CHRISTINA BLIZZARD Column:
Queen's Park I sometimes think Dalton McGuinty's government has given up on northern Ontario. With record unemployment rates and with EI claims soaring in northern communities, you'd think the brain trust in the premier's office would be trying to find new ways to bolster the ailing forestry and pulp and paper businesses. That's not the case. As New Democratic Leader Andrea Horwath pointed out in question period this week, the number of people receiving Employment Insurance in northern communities has risen by a staggering amount. In greater Sudbury, StatsCan figures show a 152% increase. Northern Development Minister Mike Gravelle responded by reporting Thunder Bay is about to become the "Popsicle stick capital of the world." I'm sure it's wonderful that Global Sticks is investing there, but popsicle sticks won't lick the problems of the dying forestry and pulp and paper industries. There's a massive north-south divide in this province. You can see the frustration in politicians like Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson and Howard Hampton, from Kenora-Rainy River. Forestry giant Tembec recently closed its pulp mill in Smooth Rock Falls -- a one-industry town north of Timmins. Make that a no-industry town if the government doesn't act. A consortium has raised $50 million to build a multi-purpose plant on the Tembec site. They've got everything they need -- except the wood allocation and the government is dragging its feet, even though the ministry has the authority to allocate timber rights. "It literally means the survival of our community," said Smooth Rock Falls Mayor Kevin Somer, who came to Queen's Park to see Gravelle Tuesday. The project would provide 100 direct jobs, plus 200 indirect jobs. And it would revitalize the local tax base. But Gravelle was on the defensive. "Unfortunately, the reality is that much of the wood supply is licensed and allocated to another company, which is also fighting to survive in Ontario," he told the House. Bisson says Tembec, which now owns the wood rights, has agreed to the allocation. Hampton, the former NDP leader, brings a unique, northern perspective to this. As the north bleeds jobs, who profits? The south does -- from the excess hydro the north generates through its fast-running rivers. Hampton points to a recent "green energy" announcement, in which the government said it would spend $2.3 billion on transmission lines. "What it's about is building transmission lines to take the electricity surplus that's been created in northeastern and northwestern Ontario and bringing it to southern Ontario," Hampton told me. He says the government needs a vision for beleaguered northern communities. "You could simply say, 'If you are an industry that cares about having a clean, green image, we have the cleanest, greenest energy on the planet and it also happens to be the lowest cost energy on the planet. Come and locate here. Create jobs and economic activity here,' " he said. In other words, instead of paying $2.3 billion to ship the electricity south, invite the world to the north. Every time a mill closes in the north, it frees up energy for the south. Hampton rattles off 10 paper machines that have shut down. "You've probably created 300 MW or more of surplus electricity right there," he said. A cynic might say that's the new Liberal vision for the north: Turn off the lights in the forestry and pulp and paper business -- and ship the electricity, and the jobs, south.
Queen's Park I sometimes think Dalton McGuinty's government has given up on northern Ontario. With record unemployment rates and with EI claims soaring in northern communities, you'd think the brain trust in the premier's office would be trying to find new ways to bolster the ailing forestry and pulp and paper businesses. That's not the case. As New Democratic Leader Andrea Horwath pointed out in question period this week, the number of people receiving Employment Insurance in northern communities has risen by a staggering amount. In greater Sudbury, StatsCan figures show a 152% increase. Northern Development Minister Mike Gravelle responded by reporting Thunder Bay is about to become the "Popsicle stick capital of the world." I'm sure it's wonderful that Global Sticks is investing there, but popsicle sticks won't lick the problems of the dying forestry and pulp and paper industries. There's a massive north-south divide in this province. You can see the frustration in politicians like Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson and Howard Hampton, from Kenora-Rainy River. Forestry giant Tembec recently closed its pulp mill in Smooth Rock Falls -- a one-industry town north of Timmins. Make that a no-industry town if the government doesn't act. A consortium has raised $50 million to build a multi-purpose plant on the Tembec site. They've got everything they need -- except the wood allocation and the government is dragging its feet, even though the ministry has the authority to allocate timber rights. "It literally means the survival of our community," said Smooth Rock Falls Mayor Kevin Somer, who came to Queen's Park to see Gravelle Tuesday. The project would provide 100 direct jobs, plus 200 indirect jobs. And it would revitalize the local tax base. But Gravelle was on the defensive. "Unfortunately, the reality is that much of the wood supply is licensed and allocated to another company, which is also fighting to survive in Ontario," he told the House. Bisson says Tembec, which now owns the wood rights, has agreed to the allocation. Hampton, the former NDP leader, brings a unique, northern perspective to this. As the north bleeds jobs, who profits? The south does -- from the excess hydro the north generates through its fast-running rivers. Hampton points to a recent "green energy" announcement, in which the government said it would spend $2.3 billion on transmission lines. "What it's about is building transmission lines to take the electricity surplus that's been created in northeastern and northwestern Ontario and bringing it to southern Ontario," Hampton told me. He says the government needs a vision for beleaguered northern communities. "You could simply say, 'If you are an industry that cares about having a clean, green image, we have the cleanest, greenest energy on the planet and it also happens to be the lowest cost energy on the planet. Come and locate here. Create jobs and economic activity here,' " he said. In other words, instead of paying $2.3 billion to ship the electricity south, invite the world to the north. Every time a mill closes in the north, it frees up energy for the south. Hampton rattles off 10 paper machines that have shut down. "You've probably created 300 MW or more of surplus electricity right there," he said. A cynic might say that's the new Liberal vision for the north: Turn off the lights in the forestry and pulp and paper business -- and ship the electricity, and the jobs, south.
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