Northern Ontario needs a vibrant MNR

Oct 24, 2007

To the Editor:

Following his narrow election victory the Minister of Natural Resources David Ramsay quoted a close neighbour who said, “If you get out of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) you will get all that support back because you were involved in those issues in a direct way, you were the target.”

I would like to point out to Ramsay’s neighbour from Casey Township that most of us elect MPPs to the house with the sincere desire that they will get involved in issues and accomplish something of importance.

I must admit that I had very high hopes when Ramsay was first appointed Minister of Natural Resources. An honest backwoodsy kind of guy who, because he came from the North, would understand the integral importance of the MNR to Northern Ontario. I was hoping that he would breathe new life into a ministry that seemed to be caught in a downward spiral.

Under Ramsay’s watch we have: conservation officers who are sitting at desks waiting for calls on a “tips” line instead of being in the field because they have no gas for their trucks; front doors on the local offices locked to the public; phone calls rerouted through Peterborough, and continued cuts to MNR personnel and service.

Please, Mr. Ramsay, don’t take your neighbour’s advice and quit the MNR for a softer touch. The only thing that John Tory said correctly in the last election was that if you say Ministry anywhere north of Toronto everyone knows you are talking about the MNR.

Northern Ontario needs a vibrant, enlightened MNR.

You have the opportunity in the next four years to effect positive change in a Ministry mired in bureaucracy and a lack of funding. Take the challenge. Provide the many capable people in the MNR the wherewithall to look after the natural resources and provide the people of Northern Ontario with an open, accessible, democratic, MNR that is able to provide the local community with meaningful involvement in the management of the local resources.

Gaye Smith
Temagami