Very disappointed

Dear editor:
Please accept this open letter to Premier Kathleen Wynne.
Dear Ms. Wynne:
As a resident of Rainy River District, I am very disappointed in your conduct during the time representatives from this district were at Queen’s Park earlier this month.
Scheduling a press conference to coincide with the press conference held by the representatives shows just how little respect you have for the people of Rainy River District.
You are allowing a single member of Parliament, Mr. Mauro, to make a decision that benefits a corporation with business interests in his riding while said corporation is allowed to effectively destroy another community, outside of Mr. Mauro’s riding.
Because of Mr. Mauro’s refusal to take action, Resolute Forest Products has until 2016 to rape the Crossroute Forest. The fact that your government has allowed them to retain the timber rights in a district where they have abandoned all pretense of doing business is nothing short of criminal.
Resolute Forest Products also has stated it will not maintain the property in Fort Frances through the winter. This is wanton abuse and will severely reduce the viability/saleability of the mill.
If Resolute is not going to maintain the property in a manner that will be conducive to the sale and re-starting of the mill, then they must be ordered to remove all buildings and remediate any toxicity to the land created by 100 years of industrial use.
At present, you are hiding behind the “business to business” excuse. This is not a “business to business” issue; the problems go much deeper. At the root of all the issues we face in this region is the fact that we are governed from Toronto, almost 2,000 km away, by people who think we easily can access all the goods and services available in the GTA.
You state that your government has “open lines of communication with the Town of Fort Frances.” Open lines of communication are meaningless when you do not listen to the voices of the people.
You are not only the premier of the GTA but of the whole province. If you do not drive the 1,804 km to our community, you will never understand just how far, physically, we are from Toronto.
This perhaps will help you understand the plight of the people in the north. And if you do not come to an understanding of who and where we are, then you can never hope to effectively govern us.
I suggest you and your life partner get in a vehicle, just the two of you, no entourage, and make the drive along Highway 11 to Fort Frances. You will want to plan for at least two long days on the road, each way, but when you arrive in Fort Frances, I can assure you that you will be very well-treated.
I know of a beautiful B&B not far from the downtown, where you will be made very welcome.
If you fail to take this region seriously, I think you will find the residents are more than willing to begin a campaign of civil disobedience to disrupt the flow of the lumber from our forests to Thunder Bay.
For many years, there has been talk among some residents that we will be better off if we separate from Ontario and become a part of Manitoba, or a territory in our own right.
It was not until 1889 that our region was taken by Ontario. Previous to that we were part of the District of Keewatin, much of which is now part of Manitoba.
I look forward to your prompt response so that we can prepare for your visit to our region.
Sincerely,
Charleen Mallory
Fort Frances, Ont.