THUNDER BAY — A number of stakeholders, largely from the forestry and energy sectors, got to provide regional input into a series of ongoing cross-province talks about energy policy.
The Vaughn and Thunder Bay Chambers of Commerce held a roundtable discussion in the city on Oct. 2. The goal, said Thunder Bay chamber president Charla Robinson, was for regional interests to provide requested input into an issues paper on energy being developed by the Toronto-based business lobby.
“They reached out to us to talk about what’s the Northwestern Ontario perspective,” Robinson said. “Vaughan has, very much a GTA-centric perspective on what is needed for the GTA, but northern Ontario is very different.”
Those differences, Robinson said, include both the major industries that require energy (manufacturing down south compared to mining and forestry in the Northwest) as well as opportunities for each large region to contribute different solutions to expanding the province’s ability to produce energy while managing the carbon footprint.
In Northwestern Ontario, she said, that includes longstanding sources like hydroelectricity and natural gas, but also continually-emerging opportunities connected to forestry and biomass.
“We also talked a lot about the opportunities through the forest sector and biomass and the many things that can be created by harnessing forest products into energy,” Robinson said. “I think the most important thing was talking about how, from a forestry perspective, it really does check all the boxes.”
“It’s not really getting the attention that we think that it should, and so being able to have that conversation and bring those positives to the table, I think was very important.”
Delegates at the roundtable, Robinson said, included representatives from the two Thunder Bay mills, Chi Mino Ozhitoowin (a subcontractor for the Waasigan Transmission Line owned by seven area First Nations, including Fort William), Enbridge Gas, the Northwestern Energy Task Force, the Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-economy and others.
“It was a really good mix of folks with a broad understanding of the broader energy needs,” she said. “But also, some of the specific opportunities around biomass, electricity generation and distribution and transmission.”
“Ontario’s energy future depends on recognizing the needs and strengths of all regions,” Abdus Samad, the vice president of the Vaughan Chamber of Commerce was quoted as saying in a media release issued after the Thunder Bay roundtable, adding that they are “convening engagement sessions across key economic hubs,” and prioritizing a mix of energy sources.
“This energy agnostic approach guides us toward sustainable nation-building projects that create jobs, support Indigenous leadership and break down regulatory barriers impeding development.”
The chambers’ release said the end result of the Vaughn chamber’s report will “support advocacy aimed at driving investment certainty and enhancing Ontario’s energy competitiveness across all communities.”
