Is Sault part of the Northern Growth Plan?

By Elaine Della-Mattia

Posted 1 day ago

Elaine Della-Mattia

The Sault Star

Concerns are mounting about the implementation of the province's Growth Plan for Northern Ontario and the exclusion of the communities it is designed to help.

Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp. CEO Tom Dodds has penned a report to council stating that "the current approach to implementation is not consistent with the spirit, intent and stated policy direction of the growth plan itself."

Ultimately, the "roll out" of the plan has been centred in Thunder Bay and Sudbury, with the four initiatives already underway. Other Northern Ontario communities, including Sault Ste. Marie, are becoming concerned that they are being left out.

The plan is designed to focus on the North's economic future over the next 20 years and if Sault Ste. Marie and other major centres, such as North Bay and Timmins, are left out of the picture, the fear is that they will suffer from a lack of economic growth.

Dodds says there is no comprehensive implementation for the plan and there has only been a very narrow consultation process with Northern stakeholders other than Sudbury and Thunder Bay.

Chief administrative officers from the other Northern Ontario cities have echoed similar concerns, said CAO Joe Fratesi.

"We have concerns about the process of consultation around the implementation of the plan," he said.

There's no doubt all Northern Ontario communities believe there is significant value to having a plan for the future, but the plan must equally include all the major cities, he said.

The province's "advisors" on the plan's implementation are academics from Lakehead and Laurentian universities. The summits are to be held in those two cities, along with pilot projects, and it appears that the province has already driven the process with pre-determined people — heavily weighted in Sudbury and Thunder Bay — at the expense of the other three communities, Fratesi said.

"This plan could be a valuable tool, but the initial stages make it appear it is focusing on the two larger centres," he said.

"A plan is only as good as the way it is implemented," Dodds said. "We need to make sure implementation is consistent and inclusive."

Mayor Debbie Amaroso said while she has not had conversations with any of the other Northern Ontario mayors specifically about the plan, the message from the CAOs throughout the North is consistent.

"This plan is a framework that needs to have its foundation in a pan-Northern Ontario manner," she said. "It appears that if we look at the Northern Policy Institute there is a concentration on Sudbury and Thunder Bay. We need strong, equal representation from all areas of the North so no community is perceived to be receiving any greater favour."

Amaroso said Sault MPP David Orazietti is aware of the concerns and is attempting to address them with his provincial counterparts.

Orazietti said he is knows some issues have been raised about implementation and he agrees there needs to be some greater clarity with regards to that implementation.

"I'm pleased with the plan and the framework. It's a good strong plan to help strengthen the economies of Northern communities and we have to remember we're still in the early stages of the implementation," he said.

Dodds argues that if the provincial government ministries continue to implement the growth plan as presented, "it is likely to have negative impacts on Sault Ste. Marie's growth and development."

As well, a growing concern is that the province hasn't allocated new funds for the implementation of the plan since it was first released on March 4.

If the growth fund is implemented by reallocating Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. funds, it is sure to fail, Dodds argues.

The NOHFC money is for projects proposed by municipalities, businesses and non-profit organizations and the number of applications is already over the fund's allotted budget.

"If no new monies are allocated by the province for the growth plan and the heritage fund continues to be the plan's funding source, then there will be much less money available for proponents like municipalities to undertake projects they believe more directly support growth and development (of) their community," Dodds said.

His report also notes concerns "that the province will focus its commitment of financial resources, current or new, on the results of these regional economic development planning area pilot projects."

Orazietti said that some money has already been allocated to implementation.

Officials within the municipality suggest another insult to Sault Ste. Marie is also brewing.

It was expected that the city would be consulted — or be the lead — on a Northern Ontario Multimodal Transportation Study, given its previous study and experience in this area.

Amaroso said she's concerned no one in the Sault has been asked for input in this area, considering the local work and research that has been done.

"We made an assumption that we would be leaders here in this area and we have not been contacted," she said. "We've made strides in this area and, considering the investment already made in our study, it stands to reason that we should be the leaders here, not to the exclusion of anyone else, but because we have the experience," she said.

Instead, the Ministry of Transportation is finalizing its terms of reference for the components of a study without consulting or contacting Sault Ste. Marie.

Orazietti said $2.2 million has been earmarked to move the multimodal initiative forward and that Sault Ste. Marie will be involved.

Fratesi said he wrote a letter some time ago to the minister requesting that the Sault take a lead role since it has already completed a $500,000 KPMG transportation study in 2008, but he has not received any acknowledgment.

"This could have made us feel like we're just as important as the others," he said. "We have completed a multi-modal study, we gathered communities and saved Huron Central Railway and our location is the hub of transportation for the North."

Orazietti said he was not aware of the letter to the minister, but said he will follow up.

"The ministry has not spent money on multimodal infrastructure at this point, but I can assure you that Sault Ste. Marie was part of the earlier consultations and will be," he said.

Fratesi said the only way things can change is if municipalities assert themselves now and ensure they are not just "assigned" roles by Thunder Bay or Sudbury.

"We are the third-largest city in Northern Ontario and the geographical centre of Northern Ontario. We shouldn't be considered on the edge of either the northwest or north east," he said.

Fratesi hopes that with the upcoming fall provincial election, the concerns raised will be taken seriously by the government "or they're at their own peril. It's the province that has timed this with the initial roll outs prior to the election and we won't sit idly back."

The EDC recommends to council that it express its concerns to the Minister of Northern Development Mines and Forestry and the Minister of Infrastructure stating that the plan is being implemented without the benefit of an overarching strategy, that the implementation is limited in scope and municipal involvement. The message should also request that the government reconsider the current approach of implementation.

It's recommended that city council copy its resolution to the Algoma District Municipal Association, the Federation of Northern Ontario Federation of Municipalities, the Northern Ontario Municipal Association and other municipalities in the region, to seek their support and pass similar resolutions.

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