Thunder Bay's Priorities: Business as Usual

The City of Thunder Bay recently sent a delegation of administrators and councilors to the AMO meetings where they also had the opportunity to present their priority list to members of the provincial cabinet.  According to the report in the media, here are what the priority topics appear to have been:  Priority topics included:

• Bombardier
• Crisis centre
• Non-urgent patient transport
• RegenMed
• Thunder Bay Expressway
• Shelter House
• Provincial Offences Act
• Joint and several liability
• Multi-sport complex
• Multi-purpose correctional facility
• Next Gen 911 service
• Police services funding

What is intriguing about this list is that there is no explicit mention of any of Thunder Bay’s “water issues” – the current court case over the 2012 flooding and the water treatment plant, the issue of lead in Thunder Bay’s water supply or the epidemic of pinhole leaks in residential homes across the city. Perhaps the issue of “joint and several liability” is the code term for the water issues given that the province is going to inevitably be involved in any of this legal fallout given that municipalities are creatures of the provinces? Maybe, but then maybe not. 

Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing what the actual priorities are and there is no point in asking your councilor for insight or contacting someone at Thunder Bay City Hall to ask a question because more often than not, they will not respond.  Even worse, even members of council may be unaware of what is actually going on.  Thunder Bay appears to have become a full blown  “insider-outsider” city.  Those in the right social circles seem to know everything while those not graced with the correct social connections …well, you are pretty much left guessing as to what is actually going on.  Thunder Bay has always been a pretty insular place in this regard but the social isolation of the pandemic has made it worse.

On Monday night, there will likely be another marathon City Council meeting which will include another lengthy debate on the turf facility – which nevertheless will get approved despite the many reservations that have been raised.  It is always easy to approve new spending when it is someone else’s money and at present our City Council is no doubt being inspired by our federal government which after a 343 billion dollar deficit is going to dream even bigger. Then there will likely be a lengthy discussion of whether there should be changes to the numbers of city councilors to make the city more “efficient” but this has been discussed many times before and will be discussed many times again.  In the end, it will likely not matter because when it comes to the efficiency of any production process, it is not just the number of inputs that matters but also their quality. 

So, stay tuned for signs from the heavens to provide any additional enlightenment as to what Thunder Bay’s priorities are.  The only certain priority is that taxes will be going up in 2021.  It is business as usual for Thunder Bay's cozy inner circle.

 

Economic News Around the North: May 26th Edition

It has been a slow start to spring across northern Ontario but temperatures are finally starting to warm up.  Environment Canada says warmer weather is on its way.  Here are a few of the stories of economic significance for northern Ontario that caught my attention over the last week or so.

Regarding the Ring of Fire, here is an op-ed by Heather Hall and Ken Coates that essentially makes the point that ultimately, the Ring of Fire will not proceed "without substantial, clear and significant indigenous engagement." In the end as any good economic historian knows, institutional arrangements are important.

How to finally ignite Ontario's Ring of Fire. Chronicle-Journal, May 23rd, 2017.

Given this op-ed, selling yourself as a Ring of fire smelter location may be premature. I am also surprised that in this age of heightened sensibilities and sensitivities one is actually using the term 'smelter' and not something like "Value Added Mineral Processing and Community Economic Enhancement Facility".

Northern Ontario cities try to 'sell' themselves as best place to put Ring of Fire smelter. CBC News Sudbury. May 15th, 2017.

Nevertheless, there is no stopping the sense of optimism when it comes to the Ring of Fire especially in the run up to a provincial election.

Premier repeats Ring of Fire Optimism in Timmins. Sudbury Star, May 26th, 2017.

Sadly, given the presence of the Premier in northern Ontario, there was no reaction in northern Ontario to this item (by yours truly) which Dominic Giroux on Twitter noted as a "blunt assessment".  I think this provides support for a case for a government program to provide northern Ontario media organizations with research support as they are probably stretched for resources in pursuing stories.  This is not that far-fetched given the unfortunate downsizing that has occurred over the years in local media that I am aware of.

When it comes to economic development, human capital is also important and of course education is a key component of any human capital strategy.  Providing government services in northern Ontario is already a challenge given the low population density and geographic dispersion.  Doing so in rural northern Ontario even more so.

'Very frustrating, kind of heartbreaking': Seeking support for northern Ontario rural school,"CBC News, Sudbury, May 25th, 2017.

In terms of regional/local infrastructure, this item was of interest.

"North Shore gas project still in the works," Northern Ontario Business, May 19th, 2017.

And of course, there are under the surface the constant rumblings of the Northern Ontario Party...that are probably destined to remain rumblings.

Northern Ontario Party calls for separation.  May 12th, 2017.

Related to the motif of northern resentment and unhappiness, there was this interesting segment on TVO's agenda hosted by Steve Paikin.  In the interview with former Ontario cabinet minister David Orazietti, the interesting point was made that despite the constant claims of alienation and under representation of northern Ontario interests at Queen's Park, on a per capita basis the north has more provincial cabinet ministers than Toronto.  Of course, the related news item is the by-election in the Sault for David Orazietti's vacated seat.

And there is one final item and this again related to institutions and what can often be their indirect impact on business and the economy.  In Thunder Bay we have the situation where the police chief has been placed on administrative suspension as a result of being charged with breach of trust and obstructing justice "stemming from allegations that he disclosed confidential information concerning Thunder Bay mayor Keith Hobbs."  I must admit this one is quite puzzling to me and comes on the heels of other rather odd stories involving the Mayor.  Without really knowing what is going on here, one must nevertheless express disappointment at a situation involving relationships between the senior figures of Thunder Bay's municipal government that does not reflect very well in the national media on a community constantly trying to sell itself as a good place to do business.  Coming at a time when Thunder Bay is also under scrutiny for its relations with indigenous people, one hopes that this matter is speedily resolved and Thunder Bay's leadership quickly moves on to dealing with better things.

Everyone, please try to have a nice weekend. 

Civic Reflections on a Summer Day

Well, it is still summer and the living is easy which is a much nicer way to view life when you get up in the morning than House Stark’s motto Winter is Coming though inevitably winter will be here soon enough.  Summer walks are definitely a great way to reacquaint yourself with your neighborhood and over the last few days I’ve been up and down the Junot Street corridor off of which I live to observe the state of developments.

As many in the neighborhood know, the City of Thunder Bay is planning to reconstruct the Golf Links Road/Junot Avenue corridor between the Harbour Expressway and Walkover Street.  The road will be widened to four lanes and there are plans to improve sidewalks and bike paths as well as municipal servicing.  Indeed, some new sidewalks are going in as I write.  This is also all related to plans for additional density development as the area continues to grow as a central residential and commercial area.  An open house was held in April to solicit input on land use in the area with suggestions ranging from the proposed new events centre to industrial use to a mining innovation centre.

Of course, development proposals and actual development are already underway – sort of. Condominium construction appears to be stalled at the Thunder Bay Golf Club on Junot aside from a rather large pile of dirt.  Hotel construction on Junot is proceeding well with the Days Inn there completing yet another lengthening.  One wonders if the plan is to make it into the world’s longest hotel as a tourist attraction.

The controversial new EMS Station is now open and still causing controversy given the new 75,000 dollar sculpture that was recently unveiled.  Of course, that piece of art is quite the bargain compared to the waterfront beacons, which ran nearly one million dollars.  The EMS art piece is much smaller and does not have whispers emanate from its base.  Indeed, being so small is probably why all the trees and brush were cleared from the other side of the street prior to installation – to afford the houses there a better view of both the new EMS station as well as its new art work.

The desire to develop this part of the City has been present for some time given the past attempt to put in a new Tim Horton’s/Hotel complex in the same area that sparked enormous neighborhood opposition.  Wooded land in the city does not generate tax revenue as well as residential, commercial or industrial land.  As a result, the wooded area across from the EMS station was apparently sold off for residential building lots with at least one municipal councilor on the evening news saying how it was a prime residential area.  That was of course quite amusing given that the original location of the EMS was further up the street where the residents of the prime residential area there chased it off.  In some respects, this is actually a clever strategy as once the EMS station is built, only people who want to live across from it will actually build there – with the exception of the homeowners who used to have trees as a buffer.

Given the ideal location of this land, we can no doubt expect many of our local politicians and notables to erect their homes there.  Perhaps we can be innovative and erect a new public centre in the spirit of our 55 Plus Centre – the Politician Plus Centre where current and past local politicians can go hang out and engage in creative discussions and activities or perhaps rent cheap accommodation in a prime neighborhood as a reward for their years of service.

However, winter is coming and with winter will come a reengagement with issues and debate for City Council.  While it is fun to debate bike lanes and tanning salons in the summer, I suppose they will need to deal with questions like what actually caused the water treatment plant to fail during last spring’s flooding.  Perhaps, we will also find out what is going to happen with the plans for the events centre or if we will indeed see hotel and condominium construction begin on the waterfront this year.   If we do not get answers, I suppose we can all go to the waterfront and ask for guidance from the whispering beacons.