Duane Hicks
Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath pressed Premier Kathleen Wynne and Natural Resources and Forestry minister Bill Mauro during Question Period this morning to transform the management model for the Crossroute Forest to a modern structure that would see all communities and stakeholders participate in forest management timber allocation decisions.
“The kraft mill in Fort Frances is at a critical point as we sit in this Legislature right now,” said Horwath.
“If the mill gets purchased, it will create a thousand jobs in that community,” she noted. “If the mill doesn’t get purchased, the current owner will stop winterizing it and the mill may be lost forever.
“By doing nothing, the premier will kill a thousand jobs,” Horwath said.
“My question is: why is this premier putting the interests on one company ahead of a thousand people in the northwest?”
“Our government has maintained open lines of communication with the Town of Fort Frances since Resolute announce that they would idling their Fort Frances operations,” replied Premier Wynne.
“There’s been a continuous engagement, and obviously we’re disappointed that this particular arrangement hasn’t worked out,” the premier added.
“But that doesn’t mean that we’re abandoning the process,” she stressed.
“We will continue to work with the community,” Premier Wynne said. “We will continue to work for solutions, and [Natural Resources and Forestry minister Bill Mauro] is engaged on that on a regular basis. . . .
“And I believe the leader of the third party knows that.”
Horwath said the Crossroute Forest is a Crown resource, and that communities in the northwest are making a simple request: to ensure that forests in the region are sustainably managed to create jobs in the region.
“With a stroke of a pen, the minister can convert the sustainable forestry licence to an enhanced sustainable forestry licence so that the community and the companies manage that forest together,” she reasoned.
“But the minister [Bill Mauro] has said that nothing is going to happen until 2016,” added Horwath. “That is going to be far too late for Fort Frances.
“So will the premier make a commitment, right here and now, to take action today?”
Mauro said that if an enhanced sustainable forestry licence was in place today, there is no guarantee it would have facilitated a private-sector deal between Resolute and Expera.
“MNRF and MNDM staff were at the table guiding the process, but at the end the day this was very clearly a business-to-business relationship fundamental to all of this in that the mill is owned privately, the company is not in bankruptcy, they own the mill, they own the asset, and clearly they’re fundamental to any deal coming together on this,” he added.
But Horwath countered the people of Ontario, as the Crown, own the forests.
“Communities across the Rainy River District are asking this premier and this government to take action,” she said.
“The Town of Fort Frances is asking this premier and this government to take action. Local First Nations are asking this premier and this government to take action.
“The Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association is asking this premier and this government to take action.
“There are people in this galleries here today representing the Rainy River District, and they are asking this premier and this government to take action . . .,” Horwath continued.
“Will the premier finally agree to take immediate action to create a thousand much-needed jobs in Fort Frances?”
Mauro noted Ontarians do own the forests, but pointed out the current forest tenure system is the one put in place by the NDP in 1994.
“Our tenure modernization in 2011 has begun the process of moving away from that tenure model,” he remarked.
Vic Fedeli, Progressive Conservative MPP for Nipissing, also grilled Premier Wynne yesterday.
“Premier, you passed the Far North Act without listening to the Mayors and First Nation Chiefs,” he said. “And, as predicted, 80 percent of the mills are now closed. You say one thing, but you do the opposite.
“You formed the Ring of Fire Development Corporation with no First Nations on board. You say one thing, but you do the opposite,” added Fedeli.
“Today, there are Mayors, Chiefs, and citizens from Rainy River district here–they chartered a plane–and had to hold a media conference to get their message out–because they know you aren’t listening,” he noted.
“They’re here with a message – it’s about forestry. But the bigger message is – you’re not listening,” charged Fedeli.
“You didn’t listen to them last time, and today 60 mills are closed. Premier, why do you continue to say one thing, but do the opposite?”
Fedeli later accused Premier Wynne of acting without consulting with stakeholders, citing the closure of 10 provincial camping sites.
“Tourists made alternate plans. Communities took the hit.
Realizing the impact, local municipalities offered to operate the sites themselves—and it worked,” said Fedeli.
“Had you talked openly about your plans, in advance, there would have been no interruption in service,” he added.
“Today, you’ve got chiefs and mayors here because you continue to create problems for them–when they have the solutions,” noted Fedeli.
“By dealing openly with municipal governments and First Nations, we make Ontario First. They’re right here Premier.
Will you meet with them, or will continue to say one thing, but do the opposite?”
District municipal leaders and First Nation chiefs were in the gallery during Question Period this morning.
They also held a media conference prior to Question Period after presenting their arguments to members of the NDP caucus last night.
The delegation left here yesterday afternoon aboard a chartered Dash 8.
They were scheduled to return home later today.
