Northwestern Ontario chambers’ resolutions pass at provincial meetings after explanations

By Jon Thompson

Posted 14 hours ago

All four of the resolutions forwarded by the Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce passed at the provincial chamber over the weekend.

Recommendations for the province to set debt reduction targets, to "modernize energy infrastructure" in the North, accountability for public spending in the Ring of Fire and to twin the TransCanada highway from Thunder Bay to Pass Lake all met approval from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce in its 100th anniversary annual general meeting in Toronto.

Associated chamber and Kenora & District Chamber of Commerce president Andy Scribilo didn't fault the mostly urban crowd for its impression of Northern economic issues but said it took added effort to see eye-to-eye and garner support for the resolutions, which all originated in the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce.

"People didn't know of the Ring of Fire in Toronto," he said, telling of how the resolution to refine minerals from the soon-to-be-developed mineral deposit in Ontario lost its first vote by a 28-27 margin before Thunder Bay's representatives explained its meaning and succeeded on the second attempt. "I told them, 'you need to get a map of Ontario. You have the resources up here and people don't realize the amount of industry that's going to come out of this — we don't want to lose that to China for refining. We want it to be a Northwestern Ontario entity.'"

Scribilo's team was successful in communicating the importance of "modernizing" energy infrastructure in the region, highlighted by using hydroelectric energy generation as a development tool to attract business. Simply comparing the cost of doing business at two-thirds more expensive than that of Manitoba, the standard price for power across the province puts the Northwest at a disadvantage while energy burns off and its communities remain recessed.

"We have to look at why this is happening. You can't keep going at an increasing rate like this and expect industries to keep coming here," he said. "The big thing they understood is there is a blockage in Wawa through to Northwestern Ontario. The grid isn't big enough. All the energy we can generate is not going to go anywhere."

The region's chambers have watched the debt grow to $236 billion including $21.3 billion last year alone and the interest on the debt to reach $10.3 billion in 2011. The Northwest led the call for a spending cull of 20 to 30 per cent of Gross Domestic Product over the next decade, which would amount to a $9.4 to $14 billion annual reduction to what was this year, a $124 billion budget.

The associated chamber was also successful in persuading the province's businesses to support lobbying to twin the highway between Thunder Bay and Pass Lake. The same body supported the Winnipeg-Kenora twinning, now in its planning stage.