New paths

It is great that there is now a full council at the table in Fort Frances. We congratulate Doug Kitowski for stepping forward to fill the vacancy left with the death of Sharon Tibbs.
Fort Frances’ council is now on unfamiliar grounds. They face a major decline in tax revenue, and a significant loss of jobs in the community. They face a deteriorating underground infrastructure.
To maintain economic development, council must look for solutions outside of the box. No single project is going to restore the financial well being of the community.
Within the boundaries of the community, no natural resources exist. There are no forests, no farmlands, no mineral deposits and only poor access to Rainy Lake.
Council does have assets. They include low power rates, quick border access to the north south North American road access route, and facilities like the Sportsplex that can be new economic drivers to the local economy. And Fort Frances has the resources surrounding the community.
Is there a way for the town to attract more and larger hockey tournaments and skating schools year-round to the community?
Seven Generations schooling is a terrific asset for the community. Providing post-secondary education and post-graduate education, students are the truly natural renewable resource. Any college or university community thrives in today’s economy. Such facilities attract good paying jobs and the students deliver cash into a community’s economy.
With a critical skilled worker shortage in Canada having been identified by the federal government, and the possibility of mines opening up in both the west end of the district and in Atikokan, what can council do to help the post-secondary institutions in the district begin offering those courses needed in the mine sector that will attract students to the community?
It is a tall order for council, but council must show the leadership and look for economic development that will help small businesses to prosper and grow its tax base.
It will be a struggle. Council can no longer look strictly at what it has done in the past. It must take new paths into the future.