NORTH BAY – If divestment is no longer on the table for the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, people there are looking for some light at the end of the tunnel.

On Oct. 6, company president and CEO Paul Goulet announced his retirement effective that day. The news follows a string of setbacks at the crown rail/bus operation that has been working under a dark cloud since March of 2012.

The most recent of the setbacks is the final approval of the planned sale of Ontera, the telecommunications division, to Bell Aliant by the Competition Bureau of Canada. The deal was under review for concerns about giving too much control to one company in the Northern Ontario market.

It follows the recent layoff of ten workers from the ONTC refurbishment division’s paint shop, representing two thirds of the crew there.

Brian Kelly, local president of Unifor and spokesperson for all ONTC unions, says things are on track to get worse, not better. Without new work coming into the refurbishment shop he says a new round of layoffs could begin in January with more to come in March.

“We’ve been talking about strategic alliance forever, but even if we get those contracts tomorrow it will be quite some time until the cars actually arrive and we put people to work on them,” said Kelly, referring to promises for GO Transit passenger cars being overhauled in North Bay. He says between the Pan Am Games and a ramping of GO Transit expansion to Barrie and other southern Ontario cities, the public transit service just can’t afford to have the cars taken out of service.

But, before those layoffs come, he expects to see the ranks of Ontera be hit hard as it merges with Bell Aliant. Early predictions are for the telecommunication division’s 120 jobs to be reduced to as low as 40.

“We really don’t know at this point. We’re just guessing, but there is going to be duplication going into a bigger organization like that,” said Kelly.

Most frustrating is the price tag the province received for Ontera of just $6 million.

“It’s a hell of a deal for Bell Aliant,” said Kelly.

Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli calls it a fire sale, walking away from up to $70 million in value. He says during his last year as mayor of North Bay, Ontera completed a ring of fibre optic cable connecting Timmins and beyond with a fail safe connection to the outside world.

“The ring alone was $22 million. Buying up all those other utilities was on top of that,” said Fedeli. “…The value in Ontera is close to $70 million.”

The provincial government deal also outlines spending $15 million on network upgrades. To go ahead the Competition Bureau is forcing Bell Aliant to sell bulk access to the network to competing firms.

“Specifically, Bell Aliant agreed to lease telecommunications strands of fibre to Eastlink under a 20-year Indefeasible Right of Use (IRU) on the entirety of Ontera’s fibre-optic telecommunications ring south of Kapuskasing. The lease of those strands of fibre preserves the ability of Eastlink or other providers to compete effectively with Bell Aliant for the provision of telecommunications services in Northern Ontario,” reported a Bureau spokesperson.

Kelly says the decision proves what the unions and northern leaders had been saying since the announcement of Ontera’s sale.

“The frustration we have is that the only reason there will be any protection for Northern Ontario customers is independent parties had to take it to the Fedral government to look out for our interests. As far as the province was concerned it was a done deal,” said Kelly.

As for moving forward the next step is replacing Goulet who ended a ten-year career with ONTC last week.

“He’s an extremely talented, bright and competent man and I was sad to see his retirement,” said Fedeli, of Goulet.

“We didn’t always agree but we could always work with Paul,” said Kelly. “We could always count on him to listen.”

Goulet says he decided to retire after determining the next steps at ONTC, more downsizing, weren’t for him.

“I didn’t feel like I was up for the next three years… If there was a time to leave it was before the restructuring,” said Goulet. “We need to come down in size and concentrate on being a transportation agency.”

Having been at the helm for the announced sale of ONTC in its entirety in 2012, the shut down of the Ontario Northlander passenger train, and more than a little bit of political wrangling that continues up until today, Goulet said, “I said I had seen everything and I was wrong.”

However, he seemed comfortable leaving, with plans to travel and spend time with family.

“I gave it the best I could… Ontario Northland is an anomaly in today’s world and I love that anomaly.”

Corina Moore, the chief operating officer at ONTC, will be the acting CEO while a search for a replacement is completed. The goal is to have a new person in place by early 2015.