Peggy Revell
Local infrastructure and the economy are the big issues as 2009 arrives, said Morley Reeve Gary Gamsby.
2008 itself wasn’t a bad year, he noted, as Morley moved forward with some projects.
“We had a couple of drainage ditches on the go and got those close to being finalized,” Reeve Gamsby said. “That was a huge project, so that was nice to get that out of the road.
“We also managed to do the year without a tax increase, so that was good, but it’s getting harder and harder to do that,” he warned.
While no big projects are on the horizon in Morley for the year ahead, Reeve Gamsby stressed infrastructure will be the big need and concern.
“That’s going to be our challenge . . . to try and get those for us, those roads and bridges, bridges and culverts mostly,” he noted. “We don’t have water and sewer, but we have quite a bit of need in that area and so we’ll be pushing for infrastructure programs that are ongoing, and that are significant enough to let us do the work we need to do.”
While the township has received infrastructure funding over the last few years, Reeve Gamsby said it was way short of what is needed for the work that needs to be done.
And there are still many challenges ahead—for both Morley and the rest of Rainy River District.
“Regionally, we’re still concerned about the forest industry and even now the mining industry,” Reeve Gamsby explained, pointing to the drop in price for some of the mining commodities.
“[Mining] was kind of going to be our saviour when the forest industry ran into trouble,” he remarked. “I don’t know where that’s going to head now, it’s hard to say.”
While he sees forestry as always being a part of the Northwestern Ontario economy, Reeve Gamsby said the industry will never be the way it was 20 or 30 years ago.
“I think that regionally, we’re hoping that we get some movement in the value-added forestry across Northwestern Ontario,” he noted. “I think that’s part of the way we have to go and the future of forestry.
“Another concern a lot of municipalities have is a shrinking tax base/assessment base,” he added. “That could be an issue for municipalities because it makes it harder for you to raise what you need to operate if your tax base/assessment base is shrinking.”
Stimulating the economy so those already out of work can find jobs locally, and ensuring those working can stay working, alongside some changes around Employment Insurance, are important things that need to be focused on, Reeve Gamsby stressed.
“Sometimes it seems like we get a bit on the forgotten side because we’re far from the main population centres of the province, and we don’t have as many votes and we can’t make as much noise as the millions of people around the GTA,” he said. “So we have to keep our chins up and keep working to help ourselves.”
