So, how will it look in four years???Dear John, Tom, Lynn, Vic and John; Congratulations on your success. There is no greater honour than to be elected to lead your community. The voters, who know you well, have said they trust you. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] You are brave or mad or both, but whatever it is, we appreciate your commitment to public service. We live in the best of times and the worst of times. If it's mining, you're trying to find employees; if it is forestry you are laying them off. The problems, however, have not changed. The only difference between a mining community that is booming and a forestry community that is struggling is the part of the cycle are you riding. There is a lot of experience among you. In Sault Ste. Marie Sault Sainte Marie — pronounced "Soo Saint Marie" (IPA /su seɪnt məˈɹi/) — is the name of two cities on the Saint Marys River, which forms part of the boundary between the United States and Canada. John is working on his third term, in North Bay Vic is into his second term, in Sudbury John Rodriquez is new to the municipal scene, but he has been in politics for decades, Lynn in Thunder Bay Thunder Bay, city (1991 pop. 113,946), SW Ont., Canada, on Thunder Bay inlet of Lake Superior. The city was created in 1970 by the amalgamation of the twin cities of Fort William and Port Arthur and two adjoining townships. was virtually unopposed to earn her second term and Tom Laughren Tom Laughren is the 17th mayor of Timmins, Ontario. He took office on December 7, 2006, succeeding retiring longtime mayor Vic Power. Laughren was acclaimed to the position after running unopposed in the November 2006 municipal election. in Timmins is new to the mayor's post, but is an experienced councillor. You all have your own city issues, but never before have your interests been so completely aligned. Whether you are rich or poor, you know in your gut that Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is the part of the province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron (including Georgian Bay), the French River and Lake Nipissing. Northern Ontario has a land area of 802,000 km² (310,000 mi²) and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it is not working in Ontario. It is either in the emergency ward or will be as the cycle turns. The forestry industry is collapsing and the stunning rise in mineral prices has rewarded shareholders and tax collectors from far away places. Something is wrong with this picture. In Thunder Bay, Lynn has the biggest challenge. Thunder Bay is hurting and needs help now. They are, however, well organized and policies and directions are emerging. The Liberals are going to have to do something or risk being run out of town. Last week's announcement on electricity prices for forestry companies is a case in point. In the Sault, John has won a decisive victory Meaning A Decisive victory is an indisputable military victory of a battle that determines or significantly influences the ultimate result of a conflict. It does not always coincide with the end of combat. and has more influence than at any other time in his last two mandates. He is a scrappy activist and not afraid to call a spade a spade To "call a spade a spade" is to speak honestly and directly about a topic, specifically topics that others may avoid speaking about due to their sensitivity or embarrassing nature. . In Sudbury John Rodriguez
John Rodriguez has a massive mandate, but not much leverage. The sitting provincial government member Rick Bartolucci Rick Bartolucci (born October 10, 1943 in Sudbury, Ontario) is a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario representing the Sudbury riding. He has been a member of the assembly since 1995, and is currently a cabinet minister in the government of Dalton McGuinty. is the only politician more popular than he is, and the only one who can go, blow-for-blow, with our expansive new mayor. They are both ex teachers and learned their craft in opposition. A fight with the mayor might serve the member well as he gears up for re-election. The mayor also carries the baggage of being a life time New Democrat in a province where there is no love lost between the two parties. In North Bay, the specter of party politics arose with Stan Lawlor taking on Vic Fedeli Vic trounced him. Vic has been completely preoccupied with North Bay politics. It would be a good time for him to sit up and start thinking about Northern Ontario. He is a bright and successful politician and if he took a bigger interest in the systemic problems of Northern Ontario it would help a lot. Things are pretty good in Timmins right now. It will be interesting to see if Tom takes an interest in pan Northern Ontario issues. Let's hope he does. The opportunity, with this talented group of individuals, is to, once and for all, address what is really wrong up here. What is wrong is how we are organized to cope with our challenges. It doesn't work. The reactive, free lance fire fighting fire fighting, the use of strategy, personnel, and apparatus to extinguish, to confine, or to escape from fire. Fire-Fighting Strategy Fire fighting strategy involves the following basic procedures: arriving at the scene of the fire as rapidly as (forestry today, Algoma Steel ''See also Algoma (Disambiguation) Algoma Steel Corporation (TSX: AGA) was founded in 1902 by Francis Clergue, an American entrepreneur who had settled in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. yesterday, Inco Layoffs 15 years ago, Spruce Falls 10 years ago) is ineffective, tiring, and nonsensical. The City of Greater Toronto has new taxing powers and legislation. Northern Ontario needs the same thing. Northern Ontario's economy is completely different than southern Ontario. It must have separate powers to manage its economy, revamped resource tax policy, make education more relevant to our environment, manage natural resources, rethink our forestry economy, tackle immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. and drive economic development. We have four years. There is a provincial election in one year. There is no reason why we can't get one or the other of the major parties to support substantive change. The time is now. This is not party politics, this is Northern Ontario politics. Michael Atkins is president of Northern Ontario Business Northern Ontario Business is a Canadian magazine, which publishes monthly in Greater Sudbury, Ontario. The magazine covers business news and issues in Northern Ontario. and can be reached at matkins@laurentianmedia.com [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion