MNDM - Mines maybe, Development? Not.

The Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, in its original form, was created to give northerners better access to government services and to bring the northern priorities into focus for the provincial government.  If you read the short history on Northern Ontario on the MNDM website, you will see how Ontario Northland has not been favoured in bureaucratic eyes, since the beginning.  In spite of the fact that Ontario Northland and its forerunner the T&NO, played a huge role in the development of the northeastern part of our province, it does not even rate a mention in a historical account of the region.

This failure to recognize the value and potential of ONTC has carried through to the present day.  When reviewing the statement about the division of MNDM that works with ONTC, one would not think the company has multi-million dollar revenues and a huge economic impact in the region.  In fact the passenger services provided by Ontario Northland do not appear to be very substantial at all, as opposed to the characterization of the huge financial strain attributed to them, in the budget.

NORTHERN DEVELOPMENT AND MINES
NORTHERN DEVELOPMENT DIVISION
TRANSPORTATION, TRADE AND INVESTMENT BRANCH
TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE UNIT

The Transportation and Infrastructure Unit recommends policies and programs designed to address Northern needs and circumstances; evaluates existing and proposed initiatives, e.g., transportation; communicates special northern circumstances to other ministries; and identifies and addresses emerging northern issues. The Transportation Program is undertaken in cooperation with the Ontario Ministries of Transportation and Natural Resources, the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC) and the Owen Sound Transportation Company (OSTC). The Transportation Program includes a variety of programs directed towards the provision of capital infrastructure and passenger services. 

With this mindset about the value of Ontario Northland, one wonders how motivated MNDM has been, toward promoting the northern company and ensuring it gets proper funding from, and utilization by, the provincial government.  In fact, outside of mining, there is very little hard evidence for the ROI on any developmental activities by the Ministry.

The Ministry of Tourism, through the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership, hosts an interactive map of Ontario, identifying many of the province's cities and towns.  If one zooms in, it can be seen that virtually all of the buttons for  Southern Ontario centers have further links available, while almost none of the Northern Ontario centers have additional detail.  If the MNDM is meant to bring focus to Northern Ontario, it is not evident in this website.

Back in 2009, well before Minister Bartolucci decided he could not sustain Ontario Northland, and the company still had economic development as part of its mandate, the Ministry of Tourism was trying to overcome declining tourism numbers in the province.

At that time, at least of couple of reports were commissioned, Ontario Tourism Infrastructure Research Study and Discovering Ontario, A Report on the Future of Tourism.  

The following statements are pulled from those reports, which both list Ministry of Northern Development and Mines personnel as participants.


"INVEST IN TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE: Ontario should improve access to existing attractions focusing on the links that make it easier to get from one region to another. Tourism transportation funding should focus on movement in and out of key gateways or high-draw areas."


"Ontario should identify provincially owned assets within destinations that could be catalysts for future development"


"Rejuvenation of the rail network, like upgrading Northern Ontario’s highway 
system, is an expensive and long-term solution to tourist travel. However, 
improving rail service could provide economic returns and tourism sector 
growth and investment. In the 2000 Travel Activities and Motivations Survey22 Americans travellers stated they were more likely to be motivated to take a trip to Ontario for nature-oriented attractions such as an overnight train tour through natural terrain."



"Intra- and inter-regional movement of tourists could also be accomplished by 
developing people mover systems such as short line rail like the Orangeville 
Brampton Railway (OBRY) and the Waterloo St. Jacobs Railway (WSJR) and 
regularly scheduled air flights to popular tourist destinations like Muskoka and 
Collingwood."


"The generalized cost of travel in and between Ontario’s tourism regions is an 
important policy lever that can be used to aid tourism development in Ontario. 
The Government of Ontario can aid tourism development by reducing the cost 
of travel through enabling more, faster or easier access. A more thorough 
assessment of Ontario’s access (transportation) infrastructure is contained in 
the Appendix E."

Why would these statements not provoke a response from MNDM something like this?  

You know, we already operate a passenger rail service out of Union Station in downtown Toronto, through Muskoka and North Bay, enroute to Cochrane where our tour train, the Polar Bear Express operates out of.  Why don't we advertise in any of the free daily newspapers read by thousands of commuters who already have chosen our provincial rail system?  Maybe we could partner with other tourism providers and put together packages along the way that are affordable and exciting.

So what was the input from the MNDM?


"The passenger rail service provided by Ontario Northland Rail does not provide full coverage inter-city transportation service between major tourist areas in the Northern Ontario."

Wonderful....thanks so much for promoting the North and bringing focus to our assets.  Maybe we should get the Auditor General to report on the whole ministry, not just the savings claimed from the ONTC Divestiture.