More than 70 percent of 1,000 Manitobans surveyed would agree to a merger with Northwestern Ontario if this region chose to separate from the rest of the province, found a Radio Canada/CBC poll released Wednesday.
Fort Frances Coun. Tannis Drysdale, interim chair of the Central Canadian Public Policy Trust (a newly-formed group dedicated to investigating alternative political structures for the region, including how Northwestern Ontario might benefit from separating the rest of Ontario and joining Manitoba), called the results “positive news.”
“However, the purpose of the trust is to explore all options and to provide decision-makers with information on those options,” she noted Wednesday morning.
“So while it’s positive news Manitobans are interested in pursuing a collective future with Northwestern Ontario, the survey, in my opinion, is premature.
“I’d be more interested in the results of that survey after research has been provided as to what is in the collective interest of all three parties—the province of Ontario, Northwestern Ontario, and Manitoba,” Coun. Drysdale added.
Coun. Drysdale said the Central Canadian Public Policy Trust will be studying many factors in order to answer the big question: Is separation the best solution for Northwestern Ontario?
“We know we need to look at alternative solutions,” she stressed. “The current system, in our opinion, is simply not working.
“But we believe, and will always believe, there’s opportunities in between joining Manitoba and leaving the province of Ontario that need to be pursued and looked at very seriously to determine what the net benefits are for our region.
“But as well, as we do that, we will be looking at all options to provide a better future for Northwestern Ontario,” Coun. Drysdale pledged.
She noted there’s “clear and consistent differences in our needs from the rest of the province of Ontario,” but that doesn’t mean people with those other needs and interests purposefully are making decisions that are detrimental to the region.
“It’s a very large province. We have three percent of the population sitting on 40 percent of the land mass,” acknowledged Coun. Drysdale. “And too often, without extraordinary efforts, we get lost in the shuffle.
“I honestly do not think the province of Ontario wants that to continue,” she remarked.
Coun. Drysdale said regional issues, including news of Northwestern Ontario separating, recently have started to get the attention of Premier Dalton McGuinty.
Not only has the premier made efforts to listen to bodies like the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association, but the province now even is considering a regional energy policy, “which is something they had unequivocally said before they would not,” said Coun. Drysdale.
“So maybe in gearing up for the research the province knows is pending, they are creating a stronger case for us in Northwestern Ontario to have more assets.
“And if the province is putting things like that on the table to prevent the results of the study coming back saying our best interests are served elsewhere, then that’s all positive,” she added.
At the Rainy River District Municipal Association meeting held Jan. 28 in Bergland, Coun. Drysdale cited an Manitoba-Northwestern Ontario merger as one proposal under study by the Central Canadian Public Policy Trust, along with a special Northwestern Ontario Act and a new political relationship with the province of Ontario.
This was reiterated when she spoke at the Kenora District Municipal Association meeting in early February.
Representatives currently committed to the trust include Coun. Drysdale, Emo Reeve Russ Fortier, Shuniah Coun. Bill Bartley, and Kenora Mayor Dave Canfield.
The survey cited was conducted by Probe Research between March 1-13. A total of 1,000 Manitobans were asked if the would support Northwestern Ontario joining Manitoba if Northwestern Ontario residents were willing.
A total of 72 percent were in favour of such a merger, including 39 percent strongly supporting it.
Only 13 percent of those polled opposed it.
There is a 3.1 percent margin of error for the survey, which was paid for by Radio Canada/CBC.
Fort Frances Times
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