Unfairly cast

Dear sir:
Recently, a letter to the editor was published that purported to be an open letter to Premier Kathleen Wynne.
It was, in actual fact, an ill-informed diatribe which unfairly cast the premier as the villain in the author’s fantasy world. The thesis was that Kathleen Wynne only cares about the GTA and her lack of knowledge of our area was preventing the mill from reopening.
The reality could not be more different. Far from being ignored by the government, Northwestern Ontario has two members in the cabinet. We’ve never seen this level of representation and influence in decision-making before.
The premier is portrayed as uncaring and unconcerned about us because we are far from Toronto. In fact, Kathleen Wynne has been in our riding five times in a year-and-a-half. She was in Fort Frances this year at the NOMA conference.
The premier also keeps in regular contact with people in our riding to keep herself current on what’s happening here.
When she became premier, Kathleen Wynne pledged to visit every riding in Ontario within a year. She wanted to meet people in every area of the province and hear their concerns.
She fulfilled her promise. She visited every single one of Ontario’s 107 ridings within her first year in office. There is no part of Ontario she ignored.
The closing of the mill was not unexpected. Knowledgeable people had been saying for years that Resolute was not making the investments in the mill that indicated it fit into their long-range plans. This is well before Kathleen Wynne became premier of Ontario.
The Globe and Mail reports that Canada has lost a third of its forest industry jobs in the last decade. This is a Canada-wide phenomenon affecting many provinces, not just Ontario.
Resolute has announced the permanent closure of its mill in Iroquois Falls. This is not a situation unique to Fort Frances. Resolute also recently closed mills in Quebec and Nova Scotia.
Surely that can’t be blamed on Kathleen Wynne.
The most childish and offensive aspect of the letter was the suggestion that the only way the premier could understand our issues was for her to drive to Fort Frances. A road trip!
Somewhere Jack Kerouac is laughing.
As if the Premier could not understand the scale of distances on a map.
The problems facing the paper industry in Canada are complex and stem from multiple causes. They are not going to be solved by any one person waving a magic wand.
And if that one person doesn’t have a magic wand to wave, it doesn’t make her a wicked witch, either.
Personalizing the issue and maligning the character of one person isn’t going to help, particularly when it is so unfair and based on ignorance.
Yours truly,
Rudolf Zeitlhofer
Fort Frances, Ont.