With the Ontario government showing no signs of stopping the divestment of the Ontario Northland Transportation Corporation (ONTC), it is forming an advisory committee to make the medicine go down easier.
The committee, which meets for the first time in North Bay on March 25, consists of Metis Nation of Ontario Chair France Picotte, Timmins Mayor Tom Laughren, Kapuskasing Mayor Al Spacek, Englehart Mayor Nina Wallace, North Bay Mayor Al McDonald, Xstrata logistics manager Geoff Cowell, Tembec logistics manager Marc LeBlanc and Gord Smith, president and CEO of Manitoulin Transport.
The government said ONTC Chair Ted Hargreaves will serve in a “Ex Officio capacity as a resource for the committee.”
A March 21 release said the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines the committee will offer advice on the “timing and approach for divestment, including ways to optimize economic opportunities in partnership with new private sector investors.”
Minister Michael Gravelle wanted the committee created to ensure the voices of those impacted would be heard through the process.
“The advisory committee has also been established to meet the standard our government has set out: to see that divestment recognizes the economic development value of the ONTC, and that the decisions made reflect the need to put in place a northern transportation strategy that recognizes growth and prosperity.”
North Bay Mayor Al McDonald, where the ONTC is headquartered, was “honoured” to be selected to the advisory committee, “and I look forward to sharing my views and working alongside all the members at our first meeting on March 25th.”
