Several years into advocacy efforts, Nickel Belt NDP MPP France Gélinas is expressing “deep concern and growing frustration” with the province’s inaction in selling off Gogama properties.
At issue is a collection of 22 properties in Gogama which the province owns and have spent years doing nothing with, including several with single-family homes.
“Despite more than six years of consistent communication, follow-up and formal engagement with multiple provincial ministers, including your predecessors, these vacant properties continue to sit unused, tied up in bureaucratic stagnation, while opportunities for growth, prosperity, and housing remain out of reach for residents and newcomers alike,” Gélinas wrote in an open letter to Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma dated May 7.
Since the issue was first raised in 2018, “there have been numerous formal inquiries, statements in the legislature, direct outreach to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Premier’s Office,” Gélinas wrote.
Despite this, she added, “no real progress.”
Sudbury.com last wrote about the properties in August 2023, at which time Gélinas issued a similar call to action for the province to do something with them.
Between a shuttered OPP detachment and Ministry of Natural Resources and Forest offices, as well as the now-vacant housing afforded to employees of these closed facilities, the province owns a collection of at least 22 properties, including several with structures and some empty lots.
In August 2023, a provincial spokesperson told Sudbury.com that the properties were “active files in Infrastructure Ontario’s real estate disposition process,” and that they were dealing with the properties “as expeditiously as possible, following our standard process.”
Since that time, Gélinas noted that “not one single property” has been listed for sale.
“The situation has moved from frustrating to unacceptable,” Gélinas wrote.
Meanwhile, she noted that the government has repeatedly committed to shoring up housing, and an IAMGOLD project in Gogama called the Côté Gold Mine is anticipated to create 1,300 jobs during its three-year construction period and approximately 450 jobs when operational for a projected lifespan of 18 years.
The open-pit mine is now in commercial production.
Ground broke on the gold mine in 2020, “and five years later, not a single surplus property has been released to support this potential,” Gélinas wrote. “We are tired of empty reassurances and unexplained delays.”
“This is a clear case of governmental inaction undermining the very economic growth your government claims to support. It is time to make good on your promises, and to treat Northern communities with the urgency and respect they deserve.”
Gélinas has also been advocating for action on the Gogama properties in Queen’s Park, including an April 16 Throne Speech reaction.
“We have 900 workers sleeping in bunkers every single night at IAMGOLD mine,” she said, as transcribed in provincial Hansard.
“We have beautiful, empty homes that the government pays for. They pay to have the snow removed, the grass cut, the trees trimmed, the heat in the home. And in five years, they haven’t had time to do due process to put them up for sale. How could that be? They were ready to sell the greenbelt in less than three months, but they cannot sell a $200,000 home in five years. This is really hard to understand. We would like it to change.”
Hansards show Gélinas brought up the properties several additional times in 2024 alone.
In her open letter dated May 7, Gélinas requested a formal written response from the province, with detailed timelines and commitments by May 31, which answers the following questions:
- Why have none of the identified surplus properties in Gogama been listed for sale, despite being in Infrastructure Ontario’s active disposition files for two years?
- What is the current status of each of the surplus properties in Gogama? We are requesting a timeline for their disposition.
- Why has this process taken over six years, while other regions in Ontario, particularly in the south, have seen more expedient action?
- What steps is your government taking to ensure Northern Ontario communities like Gogama are no longer left behind in provincial infrastructure and housing initiatives?
Sudbury.com reached out to Infrastructure Ontario communications staff for an update on their efforts to divest of Gogama properties but did not receive a response. This story will either be updated or followed up on in the event they respond.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
