Duane Hicks
Local delegates packed up their concerns to take with them to the 2013 Ontario Good Roads Association/Rural Ontario Municipal Association combined conference last week in Toronto.
Mayor Roy Avis and Couns. Ken Perry and Rick Wiedenhoeft from Fort Frances, as well as representatives from Elk Lake, Espanola, Thunder Bay, Dryden, and Kenora, made a presentation to Municipal Affairs and Housing minister Linda Jeffrey to see if their respective municipalities could get some emergency funding due to the significant loss of tax assessment from mills in their respective communities.
“We want [the province] to look into the settlements coming to each municipality,” said Mayor Avis.
“[Jeffrey] was going to request the Minister of Finance [Charles Sousa] look into the minutes of settlement that came from MPAC regarding the settlements from all these different mills,” he noted.
“So we’re waiting on that.”
Ideally, the town could get some funding to help balance this year’s budget, the mayor added.
Mayor Avis clarified that, at least in Fort Frances’ case, the issue isn’t with Resolute Forest Products but with the Municipal Property Assessment Corp. (MPAC).
“Resolute bargained in good faith,” he remarked. “We were able to reach an agreement.
“Those that couldn’t reach an agreement with the corporations in their areas have got more serious problems.
“MPAC is the one we’re going after because how far out could you be on your assessment?” Mayor Avis wondered.
“When you do an assessed value, how can you be in Fort Frances even 25 percent out?” he noted. “In Dryden, it was over 50 percent.
“It just doesn’t make sense.
“And then all of a sudden you have got to pay back two years plus the current year? That’s murder,” the mayor stressed.
Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Michael Mantha brought up the issue at Queen’s Park on Monday, asking Premier Kathleen Wynne: “When a small community such as Espanola is forced to retroactively cough up a good part of its tax base to repay a global giant such as Domtar, what is the premier prepared to do to fix the flawed MPAC reassessment process?”
Local delegates also met with Bob Delaney, parliamentary assistant to Energy minister Bob Chiarelli, to discuss the sector review panel report released in December, which recommended Ontario’s 80 local electricity distribution companies (LDCs) voluntarily amalgamate into larger regional agencies within the next two years.
The trio gave Delaney an overview of the Fort Frances Power Corp., which has the third-lowest hydro rates in the province even without factoring in the historic power agreement, and explained that if it were to be amalgamated, this would drive rates up drastically.
As well, they met with Joe Dickson, parliamentary assistant to Natural Resources minister David Orazietti, on the distribution of wood in the Fort Frances area.
With the change in operations at the local mill, Mayor Avis said the town has concerns about the wood supply leaving the immediate area and going to Atikokan and Thunder Bay, which, in the long run, may affect the re-starting of the mill here.
“By the mill closing, it’s really affected our economy in Fort Frances and also it puts the strain on loggers, who having to make these long hauls to Thunder Bay,” he explained.
The delegates also spoke on concerns about the calculation and application of the Ontario Crown timber charges (“stumpage fees”).
Delegates also heard new premier Kathleen Wynne speak, as well as PC leader Tim Hudak, NDP leader Andrea Horwath, and Green Party leader Mike Schreiner.
They also listened to Transportation and Infrastructure minister Glen Murray speak about new infrastructure programs for roads.
“We were very concerned about that because of the ‘Connecting Link’ funding is going to be cancelled by the province,” noted Mayor Avis, referring to the infrastructure program which at one time paid for 90 percent of the costs to repair the highway running through town.
He added Murray will be travelling to as many municipalities as he can in Ontario, especially the north, to see exactly what their problems are before he makes a decision.
Mayor Avis approached Murray after his speech and invited him to come to Fort Frances to show him first-hand the problems the town has.
And the local delegates attended a ministers’ forum featuring 24 ministers and Premier Wynne, where municipal reps got to ask them questions.
“There’s no real promises out there from the government right now, being a minority government and just forming under a new premier,” noted Mayor Avis.
Generally speaking, Mayor Avis said the overall feeling he got from the province was that it is on a mission to balance its budget by 2017, and in trying to do that, “they’re cutting a lot of programs, changing a lot of programs.”
“They do have some money available still for infrastructure, but going forward, it’s going to be some lean years,” he warned.
“That’s the message going forward.”
