Common Voice wants Northern input

Common Voice Northwest wants a northern voice in political decision-making and is asking for a Northern Ontario Public Policy Institute to be included in the Northern Growth Plan.

"We need a model where there’s actual Northern Ontario input into the Grow North plan because it’s going to deal with the next 25 years of our future," said Common Voice chair George Macey.

Common Voice Northwest is an organization comprised of regional political and business leaders with task forces in areas from education to forestry; the board met Friday afternoon to bring the findings from each task force into one final report of their recommendations for the Northern Growth Plan.

The Northern Ontario Public Policy is one of the group’s top priorities; Macey said it’s key for northerners to be part of the public policy process and it wouldn’t all be formulated in Toronto. It’s a recommendation that’s been seen in several reports before including the Rosehart Report.

Macey said they also hope to change the north’s image of being solely about resource-based industries and shed light on the growing innovation and knowledge sectors.

"The first thing we have do is identify it ourselves, that we’re not just hewers of wood and drawers of water; we’re also thinkers and we’re entrepreneurs," he said.

Macey added that while many reports and plans have come before the Northern Growth Plan that didn’t go anywhere, he feels this one’s unique.

"It’s legislatively framed so whatever goes into this, the government of the time is legislatively obligated to follow through," he said. "On that basis, that’s how important this is. It set the pathway for the next 25 years. I have greater hope for this than my last 10 involvements."