Report must be followed with action: mayor

After more than a year of work, the Northwestern Ontario “Smart Growth” panel turned over its final report to Municipal Affairs and Housing minister David Young on Friday during the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association conference here.
And now some are hoping the provincial government will follow the direction given in the document, which contains an agenda of action items intended to create economic opportunities, sustain communities, and protect and enhance the region’s natural environment.
“A report is only a report,” said Fort Frances Mayor Glenn Witherspoon, who chaired the panel. “Action must be taken, with the direction of this report, to get anything done.
“Some things are going to take time, some aren’t going to be easy,” he admitted. “But I truly believe this indicates where Northwestern Ontario must go in the future.
“Communities, the government, industry, and individuals have to work together,” the mayor stressed.
Likewise, Young called the report a “blueprint to move into the future,” and echoed Mayor Witherspoon in saying it will require co-operation to make “Smart Growth” a reality.
Emo Reeve Russ Fortier also lauded the report. “I’ve been keeping aware of ‘Smart Growth’ since Mayor Glenn [Witherspoon] became chair,” he noted.
“We’ve had many studies in past that just ended up on the shelf. [But] we have a little more optimism this time the ministers believe ‘Smart Growth’ is the way to go,” Reeve Fortier added.
“We’re all concerned about economic growth, of course. And the one thing I’d really like to see is the release of more Crown land for economic development.
“Above all else, that would be the greatest economic boon for Northwestern Ontario,” Reeve Fortier remarked.
“The Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce is
extremely pleased with the ‘Smart Growth’ document,” said NOACC president Tannis Drysdale of Fort Frances.
“It addresses the challenges that face us as northerners by providing sustainable solutions, such as ‘Grow Bonds North,’” she noted. “As the government blueprint for future development and priority setting, it is a document of significant importance.
“A great number of the panel’s recommendations, particularly those relating to our business community, have been longstanding NOACC policy positions,” added Drysdale.
“NOACC applauds the committee for their hard work and we look forward to working with the Government of Ontario and our partners . . . as we move forward to building a brighter future in Northwestern Ontario.”
The panel’s final report identifies the need to build on the region’s existing strengths and resources for promoting and sustaining growth in the northwest.
Among the specific recommendations, the report calls for establishing:
•a formal designation of a “Cluster of Excellence” in the forestry and forest products sectors as a catalyst for partnerships to promote innovation;
•a strategy to make broadband widely available across Northwestern Ontario; and
•a Crown land disposition process that operates as a more effective tool for economic development while, at the same time, protecting important lands.
Entitled “Shape the Future: Northwestern Ontario Smart Growth Panel Final Report,” it includes public feedback gathered at open houses in Kenora and Thunder Bay.
It also reflects a broad-based community vision for how to build prosperity and a brighter future for Northwestern Ontario over the next 15-30 years by providing the provincial government with a long-term growth strategy for the region.
The “Smart Growth” panel, formed in February, 2002, also included Thunder Bay Mayor Ken Boschcoff, Kenora Mayor Dave Canfield, Dryden Mayor Sidney Wintle, Marathon Mayor Pat Richardson, and Mary MacKenzie, clerk and director of corporate and planning services for the Town of Sioux Lookout.
Other members included Don Bubar (president and CEO of Avalon Ventures Ltd.), Lorne Crawford (president of Northwestern Strategies Inc.), Sandy Dickson (provincial chair of the Ontario Fish and Wildlife Advisory Board), Cliff Friesen (executive vice-president of Bearskin Airlines), Patricia Lang (president of Confederation College), and Mike Shusterman (president of the Land of the Nipigon Chamber of Commerce).
Rounding out the panel were Michael McGuire (president of Ontario Métis Aboriginal Association), Harold Wilson (executive director of the Northwestern Ontario Development Network), and Harvey Yesno (president and CEO of the Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund).