The new president of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association, Ingrid Parks, has four issues she would like to pursue during her term.
Parks, a Kenora councillor, says the softwood lumber dispute tops her list. A number of northwestern municipalities have recently passed resolutions asking the federal government not to negotiate with the U.S. on softwood lumber.
A partnership with the Nishnawbe-Aski Nation (NAN) is her second issue. Parks credits NAN for moving the provincial government towards giving Lakehead University equal status with Laurentian University for a new medical school in the North.
Electricity deregulation by the provincial government is her third priority. Parks also wants changes in provincial land tax legislation. She is concerned that landowners in unincorporated areas of northwestern Ontario do not pay property or school taxes.
