THUNDER BAY -- A former mayor who's joined an organization he routinely criticized says he did it to make sure he has a strong voice for the North.
Craig Nuttall joined the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, announced earlier this week, as a strategic Northern Ontario liaison.
He'll travel the region compiling reports from municipalities and file them to senior executives.
"We can help municipalities in the North and really get our views told to MPAC and some of the assessments that are being done," he said.
"I'm hearing the good, bad and ugly about their concerns."
"It's not true if you can't beat them join them. I'm joining them because I want to make sure Northern Ontario has a strong voice within MPAC."
Nuttall has been publicly railing against the corporation's policies since early 2013 when MPAC failed to challenge a ruling that reassessed Domtar's $51-million Dryden Mill at $14 million.
Dryden had to pay Domtar back $5.4-million in taxes the company had paid the municipality since 2009. The Assessment Review Board sided with Domtar's claims that declining markets for pulp and using less space on its property should be grounds for the mill's plummeting value.
Nuttall's administration withheld Dryden's payments to MPAC when the assessment corporation didn't dispute Domtar comparing the value of its Dryden Mill to its flagship mill in Marlboro, South Carolina.
He'll still get to voice his opinion and there will be disagreements Nuttall said but the organization is listening to Northern concerns. But a lot of it is legislated by the province, which means organizations in Northwestern Ontario have to lobby to see changes.
-- With files from Jon Thompson
