Common Voice Northwest wants the people of Northern Ontario to have a voice in the policy decisions affecting their lives.
Common Voice Northwest wants the people of Northern Ontario to have a voice in the policy decisions affecting their lives.
The organization, made up of northern community and business leaders, submitted a 172-page report detailing 148 recommendations for the proposed Northern Growth Plan to the provincial government Friday. The key recommendation was for a Northern Ontario Public Policy Institute.
"So Northern Ontario people create and formulate the public policy that applies directly to people in Northern Ontario," said Common Voice chair George Macey. "That’s our No. 1 priority."
The group would also like to see the current Places to Grow secretariat – run by the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure – split into two secretariats with one housed in the North and attached to the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry.
Macey said they’re also looking for a consultation or discussion process to talk about decision-making procedures for the North.
"This is a 125-year-old dream and this is an excellent chance to make it work where some of the public policy and some of the decisions that affect our lives can be made in Northern Ontario," he said, adding the region’s geography, size and history are why it’s important to have Northern policies formed in the North.
"We don’t control our own lives," Macey said. "Most decision-making, government and from a corporate and industrial (perspective), is made outside the region."
The comments and recommendations in the report were compiled by seven tasks forces covering topics including mining, forestry, urban Aboriginal services, transportation, research and innovation, health, education and social policy.
Macey said the report is really only asking for the discussion with the province to ensure their input is heard.
"There’s an adage where if you want to get a camel into a tent, first you get the nose, then the head, then the whole camel," he said. "This is getting the nose in the tent to start."
The full document can be found at
www.commonvoicenw.org.
