Mayors 'increasingly concerned' with northern growth plan delays

The mayors of the five biggest cities in northern Ontario say they are concerned about delays in the release and subsequent implementation of the Northern Ontario Growth Plan.

Greater Sudbury Mayor Marianne Matichuk, North Bay Mayor Al McDonald, Timmins Mayor Tom Laughren, Sault Ste. Marie Mayor Debbie Amaroso and Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs met in Greater Sudbury Feb. 3 and 4, and held a press conference about their discussions Feb. 4.

The growth plan, an initiative of the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry, is meant to be a blueprint for economic growth in the north over the next 25 years.

Work on the plan began more than four years ago.

“We continue to support in principle the aims of the Northern Ontario Growth Plan, but remain increasingly concerned with delays in the plan’s implementation,” Matichuk said at the press conference, reading a statement from all five mayors.

“As such, the mayors of Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie, Greater Sudbury, North Bay and Thunder Bay have expressed a desire to meet in the very near future with (Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry Michael Gravelle and Minister of Infrastructure Bob Chiarelli).

“At that time, we will reiterate, as we have done here, the need for a plan that we can support and rally around.”

The mayors will meet again to come up with the “key points” they want to get across before meeting with the ministers, Matichuk said.

Laughren said he thinks the municipal elections last fall, which resulted in the election of several new mayors across the north, may have had something to do with the delay in the growth plan’s release.

“At the end of the day, I’m disappointed as a guy that’s been very involved from day one on this process,” he said.

“My hope, going into this term, was that I would be working on implementing parts of the Northern Ontario Growth Plan for the future of northern Ontario.”

The mayors were asked by reporters about a Feb. 3 announcement made by the mining company Cliffs Natural Resources that it may build a ferrochrome production facility within the City of Greater Sudbury.

The facility would process ore from a chromite mine in the James Bay lowlands area of northern Ontario, also known as the Ring of Fire.

A news release put out by Cliffs said Sudbury was named as a potential site for the facility despite the fact that at current provincial power rates, it wouldn’t be economically viable anywhere in Ontario.

Matichuk said she is encouraged by the announcement from Cliffs, but said it is still preliminary.

She said she hopes the issue of high hydro rates will be one of the items addressed in the growth plan.

Laughren said another problem with developing the Ring of Fire is the fact that there’s currently no roads or rail lines connecting to the area.

Although there may be some competition between various communities for where the production facility should be located, Laughren said it’s important for the mayors to stick together to remove barriers for the company, or else “none of us are going to see it.”