Premier wants to see made-in-North solutions

By ELAINE DELLA-MATTIA, THE SAULT STAR

Premier Dalton McGuinty's vision for Northern Ontario includes a blend of traditional and innovative growth opportunities.

While traditional industries, such as steel, forestry and minerals, will play a le in the Northern -- and provincial -- economy, so will divers i f i cat i o n processes and expansion into new sectors, such as green energy and research and development at colleges, universities and hospitals, the premier said in an exclusive interview with The Sault Star.

"We want to foster more made-in-Northern-Ontario solutions and proposals for economic development," McGuinty said.

"It's one thing for us to pont i f i cat e from Queen's Park, another thing for people from Northern Ontario to get the support they need for new initiatives."

The premier said Ontario has spent $1 billion on the private green-energy sector.

He noted that the green-energy sector still needs to draw from traditional industries.

"We still make wind turbines out of steel and we have the steel business right here in the city, so that bodes well," McGuinty said.

When the Ontario government passed the Green Energy Act in the spring of 2009, it created a field to attract new investment, create new green economy jobs and better protect the environment.

McGuinty said the idea was to also ensure approval processes were streamlined and the province could create an environment for the private sector to develop new projects and increase energy supply.

McGuinty disagrees with wind farm opponents, who argue the province is spending too much money creating them and not getting ample returns.

He said Ontario's 20-year plan caps energy from renewables at 14%, saving money with the coal plant shutdowns and developing itself as a manufacturing centre to seize new opportunities and create jobs.

The premier also envisions Northern Ontario communities, including Sault Ste. Marie, expanding their research and learning base with investments made into the health-care and education sectors, including attracting more health-care expertise and educators.

He's also hopeful the Ring of Fire, a massive 5,000-squarekilometre area that is believed to hold one of the richest ore deposits in the world, will create more new economic opportunities for the province.

The Ring of Fire "holds great promise and we want to spread that as wide as we reasonably can," McGuinty said.

McGuinty also believes that there is a growing confidence in the private sector to continue to grow the economy once the stimulus projects are completed.

"There is data that shows there is growing confidence in the business sector and in consumers as well," McGuinty said. "We were hit hard in the recession ... But at the same time, economists will tell you that we are coming out of this faster than some of the others."