The Ontario legislature has agreed to recognize “the vitality and importance of rural Ontario” by designating the third week of September of every year as Rural Ontario Week.
The legislature voted in favour of the idea first proposed as a private member’s motion by local MPP Billy Denault.
Speaking to the motion last week, Denault said he is “proud to be a product of rural Ontario,” and to have experienced “the uniqueness, the opportunity and equally the challenges coming from rural Ontario.”
“I can say with confidence that while many across this province may not always see rural Ontario in their day-to-day lives, they benefit from it every single day,” he said.
“The people, the places, the innovations and institutions all are worth recognizing.”
In his own riding of Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, people may not know that the allergy medication Reactine is made in Arnprior, he said.
“If you turn on the lights, that power may have been generated in the many dams or as a benefit of the nuclear sector. All may very well come from the generation superpower that is the Ottawa Valley.
“When you’re taping up for some time on the ice, it could very well have been manufactured in Renfrew, from Renfrew Pro.
“In Pembroke, from Roseburg MDF to SRB Technologies to KI, we continue to build great things in the Ottawa Valley.
“In Chalk River and Deep River, you’ll find Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, the birthplace of the Candu reactor. The many farms, the mills, the many places to visit where people in our community work all are worth recognizing.
“Or of course there’s innovations like the Renfrew County Virtual Triage and Assessment Centre, innovations from Bubble Technologies or from Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, as well as many others.
“We in the Ottawa Valley have always punched above our weight,” he said.
But beyond the innovations and natural beauty of Renfrew County, “it’s the people,” Denault said.
“The people who show up every day in the fields and the forests, at the factory, at the jobsite, in the classroom and everything in between.
“Through them shines a personality that I have always come to admire: honest and hard-working, never to mince words and always to show such deep kindness – people that put in their time and build community.
“It’s those people that wove the fabric that is small town rural Ontario,” he said.
Overall, Denault said, rural Ontario is home to 2.5 million people, 268,000 businesses, and it supports 1.2 million jobs.
“In 2024 alone, rural Ontario contributed over $116.5 billion to Ontario’s gross domestic product,” he said.
“These numbers tell a powerful story. They show that rural Ontario is not peripheral; it’s foundational. Yet, despite this, there remains a gap in awareness.”
That gap is “why this motion matters,” he said.
“Rural Ontario Week is about recognition. It is about education. And it is about connection.
“It creates a dedicated time each year to highlight the importance, vitality and opportunities that exist within rural Ontario.
“It allows us to showcase the innovation happening in small towns, the economic power of rural industries, and the strong sense of community that defines these regions.”
Designating a week for rural Ontario “is not about creating division between urban and rural Ontario; it’s about bringing them closer together,” Denault added.
“It’s about helping someone in a city understand where their food comes from. It’s about showing young people the opportunities that exist in rural Ontario, right in their own backyard.
“And it’s about ensuring that rural voices are heard, understood and valued.”
Opposition members said they were happy to support Denault’s motion, but questioned whether the government really cared about rural issues.
John Vanthof, NDP MPP for Timiskaming-Cochrane, said the state of the roads is the biggest issue in his area right now.
Highway 11 was closed recently for three days because of a snowstorm.
Vanthof said he listened to the Minister of Finance when he made his budget motion “about how the status quo isn’t satisfactory and how they’re breaking down trade barriers across the country.”
“You can’t even keep the Trans-Canada Highway open and safe, so I ask, is that the rural Ontario that the member for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke is talking about?
“Because I feel that rural Ontario; I’m proud of that rural Ontario,” Vanthof said.
“But when my residents can’t go to the grocery store for 36 hours, and when the highway opens they’re afraid to get on it, that doesn’t feel like the rural Ontario that everyone here is so proud of.
“That feels like you really don’t care.”
Vanthof said he knows and respects Denault.
“We all love Ontario. We love rural Ontario… I could feel it in his heart – and I hope you can feel it in my heart too.
“But please feel the pain and feel the anger when all we hear are words and people who live in my part of the world are afraid to get on the highway because – and in the words of someone who’s trucked his whole life, ‘It doesn’t matter how good a driver you are, at some point you’re going to get tagged’.”
Liberal MPP Ted Hsu agreed with Vanthof, saying that while there is a lot to celebrate in rural Ontario, there are many challenges as well.
“One is the health care desert,” he said.
“We have rural emergency room closures that are continuing, that the opposition is always trying to get the government to pay more attention to.
“We have shortages of primary care and mental health care, which are worse in rural areas.
“Then you have the problem, compared to the big cities, of trying to raise money for equipment in hospitals without the big donors that you would find in big cities.”
Infrastructure, the “digital divide” and skilled labour shortages are also all issues facing rural Ontario, he said.
“I hope Rural Ontario Week is a week that not only celebrates rural Ontario, but draws attention to the problems and the needs of rural Ontario and it’s not just a fluffy tourist kind of holiday.”
