Action needed

There was much fanfare and enthusiasm as the Northwestern Ontario “Smart Growth” panel handed over its final report—hailed as a strategy to increase prosperity in the region over the next 30 years—to Municipal Affairs and Housing minister David Young here Friday.
The challenge now is to make sure this report doesn’t just gather dust on a shelf like so many others before it. As Mayor Glenn Witherspoon, who chaired the panel, accurately put it, “A report is only a report. Action must be taken . . . to get anything done.”
And that action must be tangible—like making broadband available here, not just talking about it some more or calling for more feasibility studies.
Northwestern Ontario already knows full well the challenges this region faces, and this report provides a clear direction on how these can be overcome. Granted, its recommendations won’t appeal to all (particularly the one calling for the release of more Crown land for economic development), and the panel already concedes some things will take time while others won’t be easy.
But overall, at least, the report does reflect a concerted effort by representatives from across the region to work together to improve Northwestern Ontario’s economic future, instead of gazing at their navels or burying their heads in the sand.
Northwestern Ontario is ready and able to solve its own problems. That’s crystal clear. We just need Queen’s Park’s blessing—and financial support. Now.