The Province of Ontario’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry have released the long awaited Growth Plan for Northern Ontario on March 4, 2011.

The Growth Plan aims to strengthen the economy of the north by diversifying the region’s traditional resource-based industries, stimulating new investment and entrepreneurship and nurturing new and emerging sectors with high growth potential.

“To be able to bring forward this document which really does guide decision making and investment planning over the next 25 years for northern Ontario giving direction to our Ministries about where the priorities are for the northern Ontario economic development priorities,” said Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry.

Although organizations such as Northern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce (NOACC) and Nothernwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA) are supporting the plan, not all members of government agree with the newly released policy, including Howard Hampton, NDP MPP.

Hampton questions, “What growth plan?  There is no plan.  What there is, is a lot of talk about continuing to talk.  But there’s no plan there.”“In parts, it talks about planning for the next 25 years.  Do you know what the world is going to look like 25 years from now?” questions Hampton.  “Nobody can tell you what the world is going to look like in 25 years, so saying you have a 25 year plan is like saying we don’t know what we’re doing so we’re going to talk about what might, perhaps, maybe, happen 25 years from now.  There’s no action plan.”

Hampton says the only way to add growth to the province is to look at the constantly escalating hydro prices, and how to help industries with lowering rates, and not forcing industries to shut their doors.Conservative MPP Randy Hillier, Labour Critic and Northern Development, Mines and Forestry Critic says, “No matter how hard you look, the only thing you can find in there is hypocrisy.  These are all the policies and the legacy of Dalton McGuinty.  He’s turned Ontario into a have-not region of a have-not province.  This Northern Growth plan has nothing in it.”

The plan will focus on six key areas, economy, people, communities, infrastructure, environment, and Aboriginal peoples.

“We have lost tens of thousands of good jobs across Northern Ontario,” says Hampton.  “In any other part of the country, this would be called a crisis and the government of the day would have an action plan to deal with this.  There’s no action plan in this thing.”

To support the plan’s implementation, the Province is moving forward on several key initiatives.  First is the Northern Policy Institute.  The Institute is in direct response to input from northerners who want to have a greater say in the policy direction affecting Northern Ontario.The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund (NOHF) will invest $5 million to support the development of the institute.The second initiative is the Northern Ontario Multi-Modal Transportation Strategy.

The province will work with northern partners to develop a transportation strategy that considers the North’s current transportation infrastructure and services for air, rail, road and marine transportation systems, and identifies opportunities and priorities for improvements and integration over the next 25 years.The NOHF will support technical assessments and meetings with an investment of $2.2 million.The third initiative is a Regional Economic Planning Summit.

The province will bring together northern community and business leaders this spring to support regional economic planning.To learn more about the plan, it can be downloaded off the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry website, or you can e-mail northerngrowthplan@ontario.ca.
By Ally Dunham