Tim Hortons is in a war zone, so why not Wawa?The Province of Ontario continues to insist 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 "open for business." In 2004, the Province announced the GO North Investor Program that was designed to market the economic strengths of Northern Ontario. It was to be an integral part of the government's Northern Prosperity Plan, which the province calls a "targeted and co-ordinated approach to help northern communities attract and retain investment and jobs." Really! This may be true in theory, but is it in practice? All of the foregoing may be true and the intention seems to be equality for all--it's just that, well, it appears to be more equal for some. The Canadian phenomenon known as Tim Hortons This article is about the restaurant. For the ice hockey player and the chain's co-founder, see Tim Horton. Tim Hortons is a coffee-and-doughnut fast food restaurant chain largely based in Canada. has been attempting to place a franchise, using a budding budding, type of grafting in which a plant bud is inserted under the bark of the stock (usually not more than a year old). It is best done when the bark will peel easily and the buds are mature, as in spring, late summer, or early autumn. local entrepreneur, in Wawa for over two years. Unfortunately, Tim Hortons has selected a site that is located on Highway 101 that passes through Wawa. The selection of this location has spurned spurn v. spurned, spurn·ing, spurns v.tr. 1. To reject disdainfully or contemptuously; scorn. See Synonyms at refuse1. 2. To kick at or tread on disdainfully. v. other commercial developers to "line up", ready willing and able to also invest in the same area. The investment that would be made by all of the commercial development and the resulting jobs would be a boost for Wawa, which has fallen on a very difficult economy since the closure of Algoma Ore in 1998. So what is the problem? The bureaucracy at the Ministry of Transportation. Over a year ago, Tim Hortons had selected a site, on Highway 101, within MTO MTO Make-To-Order MTO More Than One MTO Made to Order MTO Microsystems Technology Office MTO Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (government of Ontario, Canada) MTO Monto MTO Mediterranean Theater of Operations jurisdiction which was approved by the Ministry. It seemed that Tim's was coming to Wawa! Unfortunately, soil sampling concluded that the area was not suitable for construction. Tim Hortons selected a site about 100 metres to the south, still on Highway 101. The land, still owned by 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. had all the indicators for success. Tim Hortons developed their site proposal, obtained the complete support of the Town of Wawa and hoped to start construction as soon as possible. Unfortunately for Tim Hortons and the Town of Wawa, and despite the obvious similarities between the two sites, the Ministry won't grant approval until Tim Hortons meets several criteria that were not previously communicated. Over the course of the past year, Tim Hortons and the Town of Wawa have spent countless hours attempting to address the needs of the MTO. Recently, the MTO has indicated that the matter has now "boiled boiled adj. Slang Intoxicated; drunk. Adj. 1. boiled - cooked in hot water poached, stewed cooked - having been prepared for eating by the application of heat down" to one issue--truck parking. The MTO insists that Tim Hortons must provide truck parking on site for all tractor-trailers and other such vehicles. This is about as ridiculous as it sounds. If perhaps you may be thinking that this is a reasonable approach, consider the following: Tim Hortons has not faced this problem anywhere else in the province. Tim Hortons markets their product to families not truckers. And if the site is only 100 metres to the south of a previously approved site what is the difference? The Town of Wawa has attempted to take a lead role in resolving this ridiculous situation so it can add to its failing assessment base. Even the actions of the Town of Wawa did not seem to make a difference. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The most recent development occurred during the latter part of May when Tim Hortons informed the Town of Wawa that if the Wawa site was abandoned it would find a location for its franchise in another town, somewhere in Northern Ontario. This is not a threat by Tom Hortons, but a business decision. At the core of this are the ridiculous and unexplainable actions of the MTO--at the expense of the Town of Wawa! Would the same situation develop and go on in a larger centre with resources that it could use to deal more effectively with the situation? I think not! Recently, as the Town of Wawa worked feverishly fe·ver·ish adj. 1. a. Of, relating to, or resembling a fever. b. Having a fever or symptoms characteristic of a fever. c. Causing or tending to cause fever. 2. to save this important investment, the situation has shown signs of being resolved, but only because the alternative was unacceptable to the Town of Wawa supported by the office of its MPP (Massively Parallel Processing or Massively Parallel Processor) A multiprocessing architecture that uses up to thousands of processors. Some might contend that a computer system with 64 or more CPUs is a massively parallel processor. and senior staff at the MTO and MNDM MNDM Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (Ontario) . These actions are not normal. If they are, we all have a very real problem in Northern Ontario. It does appear that the GO North Program and the Northern Prosperity Plan is either a contradiction CONTRADICTION. The incompatibility, contrariety, and evident opposition of two ideas, which are the subject of one and the same proposition. 2. In general, when a party accused of a crime contradicts himself, it is presumed he does so because he is guilty for to the actual actions of the program or simply "more equal" for some communities in the North than others. In the end, considering that a Tim Hortons has been granted to our troops in Afghanistan, it would appear it is easier to do business there than in Northern Ontario. Chris Wray is the CAO, clerk and treasurer for the Township township: see town. of Michipicoten (Wawa). He can be reached by e-mail at cwray@wawa.cc. |
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