At crossroads

Dear editor:
Please accept this open letter to Premier Kathleen Wynne:
You stand at a crossroads. Do you perpetuate the perception of a Queen’s Park that cares more about Bay Street than Main Street?
Or do you show the leadership we in Northwestern Ontario expected of you when we elected two Liberal representatives that also have portfolios in your cabinet.
The Town of Fort Frances stands at a crossroads also. If this mill is allowed to sit unheated this winter, it will be all but unusable except for scrap. And all because the current forest management system allows for companies to control land that is owned by the Crown.
Contrary to Natural Resources minister Bill Mauro’s statements, you do have the choice to change this with the majority mandate we gave you. Implement the enhanced forest management system that communities in the north have been asking for.
It’s as if our elected provincial officials won’t even try this. Have they gone to Expera and asked if this model would make the outcome more promising?
Why should this plant be shuttered and a town left without an economic driver simply because one company, Resolute, wants to control the supply of fibre. If this resource is not to be used for its intended purpose (the Fort Frances mill), then that licence should be forfeited and Resolute should lose all rights to this wood supply.
If Resolute was serious about selling this mill, they would be doing so. They have an offer.
This is not about the mill; this is about the resources that belong to the people of Ontario being used in an apparent effort to drive up pulp prices and limit competition.
Aside from the jobs being discussed, the economic impact and moral boost this sale would bring to the region are immeasurable.
You have your chance, Premier, to show the people of Northwestern Ontario that their towns, their jobs, and their future matter to you.
Be the premier who says all Ontarians matter, not just the corporate elite.
(Signed),
Kevin P. Honke
Thunder Bay, Ont.