By Nick Stewart
With strong mineral prices bolstering the town’s employment and economic prospects through the local gold camp, the Town of Kirkland Lake is developing a community strategic plan to determine how best to cushion itself against future downturns in the mining industry.
“Kirkland Lake went through really hard times,” says Wilfred Hass, project manager, Economic Development Division.
“Two or three years ago, things started turning around, and last year, it really blossomed with new parks opening, and businesses fixing up. It’s just the right time to decide where we want to go and what do we want to do as a community.”
Officially initiated on Jan. 11, the development of the strategic plan will seek public input via surveys and public sessions to determine on what sectors the town should focus its economic resourceson in the coming years.
While a variety of areas will be considered, Hass says the field of tourism will likely prove to be a strong option as the process moves forward.
“I think that aspect will be looked at very carefully as to what can be done not just by the municipality but by a lot of groups within the community, including the local chamber of commerce.”
Although the process is still in its early stages and the public has yet to determine whether the plan will involve this particular component, Hass says there are numerous reasons tourism should become a priority.
With facilities such as the Museum of Northern History and Hockey Heritage North already established in the community, there is a solid base on which to build a potentially important tourist hub in the region, he says.
“By networking with nearby towns as well as local businesses to create travel packages, and potentially accommodating the growing RV touring market, Kirkland Lake can leverage its strengths with a minimal cost.”
Established in 1999, when the town was in the midst of a crisis following the closure of local gold mines, the last strategic plan addressed sectors which ended up proving to be unrealistic or undesirable. While telecommunications was a priority, the local population was insufficient to attract call centres. The proposed area of environmental solutions, a term which Hass says to be “a nasty term around here,” created controversy following failed bids to dump Toronto garbage into the local abandoned Adams Mine, and to bring a hazardous waste treatment plant to the area.
By having the luxury of a stronger economy, which has followed renewed mining activity in the area, the town can avoid scrambling for emergency measures likely to create a hostile business environment, he says.
“It’s really been a turnaround time, and we don’t want to be caught completely flat-footed again. You don’t do really good planning if you’re right up against the wall, and if we can at least have some things that we can explore, that would be great.”
The new plan will examine and establish targets for one-year, three-year and five-year milestones, with intermediate goals to be reached along the way. Public consultation will end in early April, when implementation of the targets will begin.
The exact nature and makeup of the final plan will depend on the will of the public, whose direction and leadership is expected to help carry the finished product forward.
In preparation for the plan, Timmins-based SHAW Development Consultants examined various stakeholders and conducted focus groups to prepare a report identifying Kirkland Lake’s strengths and weaknesses.
The report concluded that the town scored low in the areas of community planning, and having the human and financial resources to make things happen. However, the town scored high in community spirit and cooperativeness, and as a result, strong public involvement key has become key to the future of the plan, and of the community.
“There is no single planning process that has been shown to be successful, because the most effective needs to respond to the unique circumstances within the community,” says David Shaw, principal consultant. “That being said, the basic principle of economic development is the commitment and ability of local people to take action themselves, so that’s the focus of this approach. The theme here is ‘Kirkland Lake: the right place for all of us,’ so what can people do to make Kirkland Lake right for them?”
