A provincial government task force has laid the concerns of the north on the premier’s table.
The Look North Task Force published its first report and action plan on Oct. 20. The 38-page report, designed to give the provincial government a glimpse of issues that northern communities face, comes after almost a year of consultation, meetings and discussions with the public and northern business leaders.
“We want to make sure this goes forward,” said Dianne Russell, president of the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce and Flin Flon’s sole representative on the task force.
“We’ve identified information. We’ve identified issues and gaps and places of focus. How do we support the idea of actually addressing what some of these issues are? It was really step one.”
The task force held consultations in three main areas – Opaskwayak Cree Nation, Thompson, and Churchill. While each of these three regions identified different priorities – a focus on youth was important in Thompson, while untapped potential was a concern in The Pas and Flin Flon – there were several areas in which each community faced similar struggles. These concerns form the basis of six areas proposed in the report that are considered paramount to future plans in the north – mining and resources, Indigenous partnership and engagement, infrastructure investment, housing, enterprise and entrepreneurship and education and training.
“There are some things that rise above the rest, things that are front of mind for many and talked about a lot,” reads the report. “These are the things we heard often, that matter most to many.”
Response
The report does not come without some criticism. Some community members have been unsure of the provincial government’s plan for the north. While the report can be seen as a step toward further action, others have argued that not enough has been done to address northern issues.
Flin Flon MLA Tom Lindsey has been skeptical of the provincial government’s plans for the north.
“I want to acknowledge that the people who stepped up on this plan want to be involved in wanting to develop the future of Northern Manitoba, but this government really hasn’t talked anything about anything in the last two years other than coming up with a plan to have a plan,” he said.
Lindsey feels the report and action from the provincial government do not fully address the ongoing concern of northern employment and infrastructure. If current plans in Flin Flon and Thompson continue, at least 1,500 jobs are slated to be lost in the north within the next two years.
“They’re talking about 1,500 jobs going away here that we’re aware of, that are good paying jobs, that are going to disappear in the north,” said Lindsey.
“They need to not be waiting – they need to be acting now.”
Lindsey added that necessary infrastructure, including roads, broadband internet and cellular service, should be a top priority for the north.
“Tourists aren’t going to a place that doesn’t have any of the stuff they need to stay connected. If you’re talking resource development, you need to make sure those things are available in more remote areas. Those are things that we all already know,” he said.
Russell said the plan is not meant as a quick fix, but rather as a long-term approach to northern issues.
“We call it a generational plan. This is something we want to have change over time. This is not a magic bullet. We really are looking for a change of mindset,” she said.
“It was really important to me that we weren’t forgotten and that it was a priority for the members of this committee that we weren’t forgotten.”
Russell added that having a task force member from Flin Flon was an important addition. When the task force was originally conceived, no members from Flin Flon were involved.
“One of the chairs noticed that nobody from Flin Flon had been asked – as of yet – to sit on it,” she said.
“The corridor for the government tends to be along the rail line. Because we’re not on the rail line – and for Snow Lake as well – a lot of times, the communities on this side of the province are overlooked.”
While there is no proposed timeline for next steps in the report, actions outlined in the report include working with government to address barriers to realizing he potential of the mining industry. The plan is to grow the industry from $900 million to $5 billion within 10 to 15 years. Additionally, the task force recommended developing best practice models for Indigenous engagement and resource revenue sharing partnerships, and develop a youth enterprise program with schools based on partnership with local industry.
