Guide content scanty, MPP says: Politicians blast ministry's tourism guide, labelling it "unbalanced" and "misleading".

If there is more to discover in Ontario, then major northern tourist attractions such as Science North, the Agawa Canyon Tour Train, the Shania Twain Centre and the Chief Commanda II cruise are well-kept secrets in at least one provincial travel guide - unless tourism operators are prepared to buy in.

First-time international visitors may be getting a skewed version of what there is to see and do in the North if they pick up a copy of the Ministry of Tourism's Experience it in Ontario: 2002 Reference Guide.

The only destination attraction listed for Sudbury is a mini-putt golf park.

For North Bay, only its area museum is listed, while Sault Ste. Marie's tourism destinations lists the Canadian Bushplane Museum, but not its world famous train excursion tour.

Thunder Bay's Old Fort William is included in the guide, but Timmins, home of the newly minted Shania Twain Centre and the revamped Gold Mine Tour, has nothing listed.

Despite outgoing Tourism Minister Tim Hudak's introductory message proclaiming "This guide brings all the possibilities to your fingertips," the information provided in the 124-page booklet designed to showcase Ontario's diverse range of travel experiences, is all paid advertising. Such is the case in nearly all of the free travel guides published by the ministry and its agency, the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corp.

While those who work in the northern tourism industry are reluctant to criticize the province, it is well-known that to be mentioned in any government-published guide, one is required to pay to play.

"If (tourism operators) wish to participate, they're in," says Tourism Ministry spokesperson Jim McPeak. "If they choose not, they are not."

That oversight has raised the hackles of Nickel Belt MPP Shelley Martel and Sault MP Tony Martin, the NDP's tourism critics, who call the guide an "unbalanced" and "misleading" representation of Northern Ontario.

"This makes me cross because communities are working very, hard to promote tourism to diversify their resource base and the lack of any mention is really glaring and doesn't speak very well about tourism in the province," says Martel.

"The minister of tourism (now Cam Jackson) has some responsibility to ensure that a publication that his government is paying for and putting out as a promotion for the province is balanced and fairly represented," Martel says.

Martel took particular offence in early July With another publication, the Ontario Heritage Foundation's guide, Doors Open Ontario, a booklet and Web site highlighting heritage buildings, festivals and events across the province.

Only five northern communities - Red Lake, Parry Sound and the Tri-Towns of New Liskeard, Haileybury and Cobalt - made the grade.

"There's no reference at all to Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins, Thunder Bay or North Bay," says Martel.

But a Heritage Foundation spokesperson says cultural groups in those communities simply chose not to participate in 2002, but have signed on for next year.

Martin says with tourism identified as a major growth sector in the region's economy, "the government really has to give leadership in the North and come to the table with resources" to give tourism operators a break with free listings in all travel guides.

"We discovered with the (provincial) budget that there's $44 million worth of Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. money that wasn't spent," Martin says.

"Even if they spent a fraction of that in those booklets to make sure all the North is included, it could be done."

McPeak denies the published guide paints an inaccurate or misleading picture for tourists who may be missing out on a trip to Science North or other destination attractions that are not listed in the publication. McPeak argues the listings are paid advertisements and it is up to tourism operators to choose whether or not to buy in.

"What's accurate?" McPeak asks. "(Not listing them in the guide) is not being inaccurate, that's being omitted and it's their choice not to participate.

"I can't determine why someone would want to advertise or not, it's their choice. The guides are available as a marketing tool.

"It's not misleading. I'd have to take issue with that. If they choose to advertise their properties in it, then it's listed. If they choose not to, it's their choice. So that's not misleading anyone."

McPeak says major northern tourist attractions, including Science North, are adequately represented with paid advertisements and editorial content in other guides, such as a similarly named publication known as the Experience Ontario: 2002 Summer Reference Guide.

"How big do you want these (guides)?" McPeak questions. "If they're the size of the Manhattan telephone directory, they're not much good to anybody."

Rob Skelly, the City of Greater Sudbury's tourism manager, admits the listings in the reference guide are skimpy, but feels Sudbury is "well positioned in a majority of the Ontario tourism publications."

His only criticism is with the ministry's database, which lists some destination attractions in the North, which are "not even close to Sudbury."

"It needs some work," says Skelly, who is chairing an interim committee organizing a new northern tourism marketing body.

Skelly says since the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corp. was formed in 1998, their basic method of operation has been to encourage tourism industry partners to join and start paying to promote tourism in the province.

"They moved away from providing free listings," Skelly says. However, he also acknowledges there must a minimum editorial content for accuracy's sake.

Will Saari, the City of Timmins tourism and attractions manager, though "disappointed" with the booklet's heavily laden advertising content, says the omission simply underscores the need for a new northern tourism marketing body to be up and operating in time for the 2003 tourism season.

A new organization would properly brand the region and help provide a "boost" to tourism operators with limited promotional dollars.

"The basic fact in Northern Ontario is you're dealing with a lot of smaller operators who don't have the big budgets."

When the Northern Tourism Marketing Co. (NTMC), based in Thunder Bay, was disbanded in late March by the province, with only an interim planning body, Saari realized it was going to be a tough year ahead.

"The timelines pertaining to the development of this book certainly fell through the cracks as far as ending NTMC and the formation of the new body, and to a certain extent we're missing out on some opportunities.

"Generally right now it's a time of upheaval in the tourism industry as far as marketing, and I don't know yet that's it's clear in anyone's mind exactly how this new organizational structure is going to work," says Saari.

The ministries of tourism and northern development and mines have remained "very tight-lipped" as to when a new marketing body will be in place, he adds.

"So far none of us in the industry have really received any information on when and how that's going to happen.

"Politically there are some issues to be worked out between the Ministry of Tourism and Northern Development and Mines because, since the NTMC was developed three years ago, we have seen less representation from a Ministry of Tourism standpoint.

"They feel it's the northern group's responsibility and perhaps that's why we've seen less representation in this experience Ontario guide."

There are no freebies anymore, he says.

"The days of the good old Ontario trip planners of 10 years ago that had a good selection of everything in Ontario, that was free," says Em Downey, executive director of the Rainbow Country Travel Association in Sudbury. "But those days are gone.

"It's easy to criticize. It's a monumental problem that Northern Ontario has faced all the time.

"How do we begin to brand Northern Ontario? How do we begin to promote, how do we pay all the money...for hospitals, to education, right down to tourism? We're all looking for the same dollar. I don't know what to tell you."