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Ontario's Golden Horseshoe region has had one for some time.
Pretty soon, Northern Ontario will have a growth plan of its own to chart and guide development, and it couldn't come at a better time, says Ontario's minister of Northern Development and Mines.
"There is no doubt we face tremendous challenges in Northern Ontario," Michael Gravelle told more than 60 people at a Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce luncheon Monday at Bryston's on the Park in Copper Cliff.
"There are six communities I represent that don't have mills operating. But Sudbury, in the 1970s and 1980s as a result of the mining layoffs, you reconstituted yourself. It's a form of resolve I think Northern Ontarians have.
"I'm sure when I am walking in downtown Toronto, I can spot a northerner."
Gravelle, MPP for Thunder Bay-Superior North, was named to the post in October 2007. Monday marked his first visit to Greater Sudbury as minister.
To date, the province has held 80 meetings and dealt with 2,500 participants about the new growth plan discussion paper.
A draft of the new growth plan is expected to be released shortly by the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure. The government, meanwhile, is doing research on such issues as centralization and aboriginal concerns that came out of the public discussion.
"We are taking the insights and information we have been given and are putting them into a long-term plan," said Gravelle.
The minister said the North is too vulnerable to the ups and downs that occur in the resource sector and a growth plan could help to cushion things in the "down" times.
"You are seeing some permanent layoffs in the economy, especially in forestry in my part of the country, but most recently in mining," said Gravelle. "In a strange way, we have come to expect turmoil in the economy on a regular basis. With mining, it's a cycle that everybody expects. It's fun when we are at the top stage."
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When asked after his speech if the growth plan would contain specifics for certain communities such as Greater Sudbury, Gravelle said it would not, as the focus is on the entire region.
"It's not a northeastern plan," he said. "It's not a northwest plan ... It's going to be a growth plan for Northern Ontario. There won't be specifics for what will happen in any individual community. It's the direction we want to go in Northern Ontario."
Gravelle also said the province will also unveil its draft Mining Act soon, an act which has not seen changes in more than 20 years. He said the draft document has balance as its focus.
"We want to maintain and promote an investment climate, yet protect the interests of aboriginal peoples on their lands," said the minister. "There will be proposals for development that will be good for business and all Ontarians, yet allow companies to process their claims while respecting the rights of individuals."
Gravelle said the draft could be out this spring.
"We are very close to what we feel will bring us forward," he said. "It will satisfy the industry and result in new opportunities in the North."
The minister told reporters that the mining industry made it loud and clear about what it wanted in the new act: clarity.
"We are confident we can get it right," he said.
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