Duane Hicks
Community and business leaders from across the north, together with economic development experts from around the world, gathered in Thunder Bay on June 13-14 for the regional economic development summit, “Think North II,” hosted by the Ontario government.
But some people who attended the event, which drew 300-400 delegates from around the region, questioned how relevant it was to Rainy River District, and what the province will do to implement some of the ideas presented there.
The event, touted as the next stage in implementing the Northern Growth Plan and an opportunity to explore how other provinces and countries are using regional economic development planning, featured seven workshops as well as presenters from around the world.
Fort Frances Couns. Andrew Hallikas, Ken Perry, and Paul Ryan attended the summit, along with Geoff Gillon, client services manager for the Rainy River Future Development Corp., and local consultant Tannis Drysdale.
Coun. Hallikas said he didn’t find many of the ideas practical.
“One of the things I brought home was the calibre of speakers,” he noted. “We had speakers from New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland, Alaska, U.S., Alberta, Ottawa.
“They brought a variety of different economic philosophies to us because they had such a huge background.
“It was really interesting to hear these people to talk about what the had done in these corners of the world to try and get some kind of regional economy going,” Coun. Hallikas added.
“That part of it I found very interesting.
“It’s captivating, but I didn’t find it practical,” he admitted.
“We did a lot of work in groups about things that could be done regionally, but a lot of the stuff the presenters had to bring didn’t really apply to us.”
For example, Stuart Trundle, chief executive of Venture Taranaki Trust (New Zealand), spoke about regional economic success through resource revenue-sharing, but this success was made possible “because they were oil-rich,” Coun. Hallikas noted.
“If we were oil-rich here, we could all be doing wonderful things.
“I hate to say it, because I tend to be an optimistic person, but I just don’t see anything viable coming out of [the summit] for our region,” he stressed.
“To be quite blunt, the money for it is coming from the present Ontario government—they funded one here and one in Sudbury—and there was a lot of government impetus behind it,” Coun. Hallikas said.
“We all know there [is] an election coming in the fall, so I think I might have found it more interesting if it had been held after the election.”
Coun. Hallikas said Northern Development, Mines and Forestry minister Michael Gravelle spoke twice during the conference, and it was clear “he used it as a forum to make a number of announcements.”
“It came across to me, I can only speak for myself, as a bit of a government platform,” he remarked.
“I was glad that I went, but what am I bringing home to Fort Frances or the region? Not really a lot.”
“It’s not like we haven’t heard the story before, but it might be a little more serious because it’s election time,” echoed Coun. Perry.
“They want to see things happen here, and I guess that’s a good idea,” he reasoned.
“But there’s an election coming, so everything we learned and talked about and passed on to them, how far is it going to go if the Liberals don’t win the next election.
“If we’re talking to the minister of natural resources, and come Oct. 6, the minister of natural resources is from a different party, they’re going to have different ideas,” Coun. Perry stressed.
“It’s going to be a tough sell.”
Coun. Perry conceded regional economic development and partnerships are a good idea, but it only will work if the regional communities’ niche industries “fit together.”
“Maybe Atikokan and Rainy River are going to make pellets and wood chips and Fort Frances is going to grind biomass, and we’re going to sell it all to the power generating station in Atikokan,” he noted.
“That’s a good deal, but is it going to work?
“We’ve talked about this kind of stuff before, and . . . if another party gets in, we’ll be going over it again maybe next year,” he warned.
For his part, Gillon said some of the ideas presented were interesting, but now it’s up to the province to help make them happen.
“We’re looking forward to seeing the provincial government implement many of the strategies that their experts shared,” he remarked.
Gillon said two examples were resource revenue-sharing of oil revenues in New Zealand and decentralization of institutionalized spending in Scotland.
“It was very brave of the minister to put forward such aggressive possibilities that showed real meaningful investments in rural economies,” he noted.
“Unfortunately, Northern Ontario hasn’t had these types of real support, and we’re waiting to hear what the province has learned and waiting to see when they’ll be taking their own best advice,” Gillon added.
