Duane Hicks
Local delegates got a positive reception from politicians at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in Ottawa on Aug. 18-21.
But more than anything, it might be because a provincial election is forthcoming.
Mayor Roy Avis, who attended the conference along with Couns. Andrew Hallikas and Paul Ryan and Fort Frances CAO Mark McCaig, got to bend the ears of four ministers as well as hear speeches from all three party leaders.
“I think they’re in election mode because it seemed like everything was running quite smoothly throughout the conference,” Mayor Avis said in a report to council Monday night.
“All in all, the conference I thought was excellent,” he later added. “We had some good dialogue with the ministers that seemed to go over very, very well.
“I think it was worth our while to be there and I hope we get some positive results.”
“I think our meetings with the ministers, it seemed to me they were more engaged this time than normal, whether it was because of an election in the wind or whatever,” echoed Coun. Ryan.
“Their minions were writing more down about what we were saying than they normally do,” he added.
“You always like to be a fly in the room the minute that door closes and you leave. What is the first comment they make?” Coun. Ryan remarked.
“It would be really interesting to know that.
“But no, I think they were more engaged this time and I live in the hope that some fruit comes from this.”
Coun. Hallikas said that based on the speeches by the party leaders, he thinks there is “definitely a touch of election fever in the air.”
“The most important thing, of course, is our meetings with the ministers, and I echo what Coun. Ryan said that our presentations seemed to be very well-received; much better received than they often are,” he noted, adding the presentations were very well-prepared by
McCaig.
“All in all, I would say this was one of the better AMO conferences that we went to and I am optimistic that Fort Frances will receive some good results because of it,” added Coun. Hallikas.
The local delegates met with Northern Development and Mines minister Michael Gravelle to talk about the economic downturn in Fort Frances.
They asked the provincial government to recognize the town’s current hardships and provide assistance where possible. This could range from helping to promote regional tourism to providing infrastructure funding to fix aging water and sewer pipes and roads.
They also met with Attorney General John Gerretsen about the loss of the resident judge and access to justice in Rainy River District.
The recent loss of the resident judge for the district is cause for particular concern for municipal and First Nations’ leaders as it affects the access to justice for the citizens of the area, they told him.
To their knowledge, Rainy River District is the only judicial district in Ontario that does not have a resident judge in either the Superior Court of Justice or the Ontario Court of Justice.
They also met with Natural Resources minister David Orazietti to discuss the future management of the Crossroute and Sapawe forests.
Given the government’s intention to change the forest management model, they conveyed that their primary concern is whether the invaluable and renewable wood resources within the area will be accessible to current and future wood enterprises that directly impact and sustain the community and surrounding area.
Currently, much of the wood in this area is being transported to the east—and this is concerning, the delegates told Orazietti.
As well, they met with Kevin Flynn, parliamentary assistant to Transportation minister Glen Murray to discuss the reclassification of Highway 502 for winter maintenance and the cancellation of the “Connecting Link” funding program, which had helped pay for fixing the portion of highway passing through town.
In regards to the former, the local delegates expressed concern that in the past, a plow travelled south down Highway 502 from Dryden and met at a point with a plow travelling north from Fort Frances.
But now one plow clears the entire route.
They stressed this practice does not provide an adequate standard of care in a timely manner, adding they’ve been advised of instances where it has taken up to three days to clear the shoulders of the road—rendering an extremely narrow and potentially-dangerous passage during that period.
And in regard to the latter, the delegates said they did not feel the town should have to pay to fix a highway which is used by traffic from across the region and from the U.S.
They explained wood harvested east of Fort Frances is transported through town to the OSB mill in Barwick and the sawmill on Rainy River First Nations.
After this wood is processed to a finished product, it is transported once again down Highway 11 through Fort Frances and across the U.S. border.
From the north, roads are travelled by trucks hauling product from Dryden, granite mined in Vermilion Bay, and lumber produced in Ignace.
In the near future, there also will be traffic attributed to sawmill operations in Kenora and Atikokan.
The delegates stressed it does not seem reasonable that a community of 8,000 people is expected to bear the full financial burden of maintaining the roadway that benefits so many other communities in the region, as well as facilitating the transport of tourists and goods from the U.S.
The local delegates also attended various workshops. Mayor Avis attended one on the continuous improvement and amalgamation of local distribution companies in Ontario in the next two years.
He noted the Fort Frances Power Corp. (FFPC) has the third-lowest power rates in the province—even without the benefit of the historic power agreement here, and with it, the rates are the lowest.
These rates are up to 50 percent less than those paid by Hydro One customers.
If the utility was forced to amalgamate with Hydro One, for instance, the rates for local customers would go up and be a “real detriment to the community,” Mayor Avis warned.
But he stressed the FFPC board of directors and administration continues to work diligently to ensure this does not happen here.
Representatives attended a public consultation on Ontario’s long-term energy plan yesterday in Kenora.
The local delegates also were also treated to a speech by astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield on “inspiring and aspiring,” and attended a ministers’ forum which Mayor Avis said might have been the most well-attended one at AMO in years.
Twenty-five ministers, including Premier Kathleen Wynne in her role as minister of agriculture and food and intergovernmental affairs, took part.
This was the first time a premier ever took part in said forum.
