NOMA pursues issues

News — 20 October 2010

Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA) held their Regional Conference in Thunder Bay from September 30 to October 1.

NOMA President Anne Krassilowsky says one of the priorities of the conference was renewable energy projects in the northwest and how they are going to be addressed in regards to the Ring of Fire as well as the antique transmission lines in the area.

Krassilowsky says due to our lines being sixty years old, they are not capable of carrying the load needed, and NOMA wants to ensure the lines are all looped to bring the infrastructure up to date. She also remarked that the northwest should be able to create energy on equal footing as southern Ontario.

“Certainly NOMA has a bit of an issue with Bill 191 and we want to make sure that Far North is working for people and the companies and for all people. Certainly there is a lot of the far north, and we want to make sure that it’s environmentally protected and the species-at-risk are protected because that is our livelihood and where we work, live, learn and play,” states Krassilowsky.

Krassilowsky mentioned that broadband expansion is needed in the northern part of the province to ensure equal opportunities across the province.

Another major topic on NOMA’s agenda was Aboriginal Partnerships Best Practice.

“Certainly the Anishinabec people want equal opportunities and they have the opportunity to create economic development and support for their own communities,” says Krassilowsky.

With Premiere McGuinty in attendance at the conference, Krassilowsky says there was excellent participation, excellent turn out, very interesting dialogue and some speakers who really spoke directly to the current issues with council and with strategic plans of our cities and communities

“It was pretty exciting to have the Premiere of Ontario come, he made us a priority on his visit, and it was very nice to be able to hear him address the delegates and to have Premiere McGuinty with us to understand better our issues and concerns that are so challenging for us right now across northern Ontario.”

The NOMA leader says McGuinty learned a lot and it was good for him to see just how adamant the group is on the issues that challenge them.

A previous issue that was brought to the Minister of Transportation was increasing our local speed limits to 100 kilometres per hour, instead of 90.

“We were assured that we wouldn’t see the speed increased to 100, but at the same time, I think we’ll continue to lobby in the fact that the goods and services have to move across this part of Ontario and should not be by-passing us to go through the United States,” relays Krassilowsky.

She says the highways are certainly capable of taking the load for this type of transportation, and it’s lost commerce to our communities when they bypass our area.

By Ally Dunham

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