One of the things I like about this new
provincial government is that in spite of some of the obvious
missteps in the first couple of years, they seem prepared to take
some risk and make some change.
MICHAEL
ATKINS President, Laurentian Publishing |
You see this willingness in its energy policy
(ouch, but unavoidable), the health care initiatives, the green
belt strategy around Toronto, the fixed election bill, and very
importantly you see it in the government’s willingness to
understand the unique needs of the City of Toronto.
They are about to give Toronto new taxing powers
and responsibilities.
This willingness to be thoughtful and creative, I
think, is critically important to Northern Ontario.
Something struck me a few weeks ago as I was
preparing a speech for the Federation of Northern Ontario
Municipalities in Parry Sound.
My usual focus is to talk about how Northern
Ontario municipalities must reinvent themselves as city-states;
about how communities need an immigration policy, a
telecommunications strategy, an intellectual capital strategy and a
culture of enterprise and trust so as to focus on the co-operative
creation of wealth.
I read a document prepared by the Northern
Ontario Large Urban Mayors work group called “Creating our
Future.”
It is a shopping list that includes, among other
things, calls for investment in hospitals, telecommunications,
roads, water and sewers. It touches on the impossibility of
provincial downloading, the need to invest in centres of excellence
at our two universities and the importance of addressing
educational opportunity gaps.
It is at the same time unremarkable and
revolutionary.
These mayors are together because they have no
choice. They know that trend is destiny, and if we don’t work
together to reinvent our economic space, we will continue to lose
population and tax base.
The weakness of the report is the weakness of our
circumstance.
The mayors have made a to-do list involving work
for 15 or 20 ministries, both federal and provincial.
The report could have been written 25 years
ago.
What screams off the page is that these mayors
have no authority to do anything of consequence to build
sustainable communities. They have the power to make
recommendations.
What hasn’t changed in 25 years is how we are
organized and what we have is not working for us.
We need what Toronto is about to get, which is an
updated City of Toronto Act. We need a Region of Northern Ontario
Act.
We need a new regional government for Northern
Ontario.
It would elect a mayor or chair, two councillors
from each urban area and three or four councillors at large. It
would take responsibility for the Ministry of Natural Resources and
the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines.
Federal funding activity would be co-ordinated
through this level of government. It would assume a portion of the
tourism ministry and enter into management relationships with a
host of other ministries and departments. It would trade grants for
tax points.
In short, this new authority would be aligned to
succeed. It would be focused.
But Michael, another level of government? Have
you lost your mind?
No! The message is that Northern Ontario, based
on resources as it is, is born to die. If you don’t want to die,
you have to get in the game. You have to take charge of your
circumstances, imagine your opportunities and set about organizing
to create sustainable wealth. This is extraordinarily difficult to
do in today’s political framework.
We have extracted the wealth and many of us have
lived the good life these resources provide. We are leaving nothing
for our grandchildren. We are failing miserably to deal with the
root causes of our problems.
Our best and brightest are voting with their
feet.
Why not try being accountable?
I think this particular provincial government
might consider a realignment of responsibilities. It is doing so
with the City of Toronto, and there is no reason why they wouldn’t
consider change in Northern Ontario if it made sense.
The large urban mayors and their smaller market
colleagues should think about it. Who else will speak for Northern
Ontario?
Michael Atkins is the president of Laurentian
Media. He can be reached at[email protected]
.