Big wigs come here to kick off Northern growth scheme

NEWS RELEASE

ONTARIO MINISTRY OF PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE RENEWAL

*************************** McGuinty government kicks off development of growth plan for Northern Ontario

Ministers Bartolucci and Caplan visit Sault Ste. Marie to engage leaders

SAULT STE. MARIE - (July 9) - Sault Ste. Marie municipal, business and community leaders heard first-hand today how the McGuinty government's growth plan for Northern Ontario will help strengthen the local economy.

Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal David Caplan, Minister of Northern Development and Mines Rick Bartolucci [shown] and David Orazietti, MPP for Sault Ste. Marie, provided details on the development of the plan at a breakfast sponsored by the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corporation.

"This plan will leverage successful initiatives of our Northern Prosperity Plan, such as Northern Development Council dialogues, a refocused Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, Ontario's first-ever mineral development strategy and the Northern Ontario highways strategy," said Orazietti.

"It will advance the excellent work already done by Northerners - such as the recent reports from Northern mayors and chambers of commerce," Orazietti said.

The McGuinty government announced its intention to develop a growth plan for Northern Ontario on May 17, 2007.

The plan, to be developed under the Places to Grow Act, will create a coordinated approach to encourage and support sustainable growth in Northern communities.

"We are committed to developing a growth plan that will build on the good work already done by Northern residents, the Northern development councils and municipal leaders," said Caplan.

"Our approach will be consultative and engage key leaders in the development of a long-range plan for sustainable growth that will build a stronger, more prosperous North."

The establishment of a 16-member ministers' table will help the government develop a growth plan that supports a prosperous North and reflects Northern priorities such as education, housing, recreation and transportation in a comprehensive manner.

"The ongoing implementation of our Northern Prosperity Plan has established a foundation for prosperity in the North, and this growth plan will help build on that," said Bartolucci.

"I recently convened the first meeting of the ministers' table," Bartolucci said.

"They are committed to aligning their resources, and coordinating policies and investments to help develop and put in place a growth plan that will lead to better opportunities for Northerners, and particularly our youth, to learn, work and raise families here."

While visiting Sault Ste. Marie, the ministers toured the Steelback Centre and the Donald Doucet Youth Centre, examples of the kind of sustained growth opportunities that a growth plan would help create.

"We welcome the opportunity to work with Ministers Caplan and Bartolucci in developing the Growth Plan that will promote opportunity and prosperity in our community," said Sault Ste. Marie Mayor John Roswell.

The ministers are visiting six cities throughout Northern Ontario - Sault Ste. Marie, Kenora, Thunder Bay, Timmins, North Bay and Sudbury - to meet Northern residents, young people, and municipal, aboriginal, business, economic development, industry, education and environment leaders.

Working together, Ontarians have already achieved results in support of local economic development.

Other examples include:

- Enhancing tourism by making the largest single NOHFC investment of $15 million towards the Sault Ste. Marie Borealis Project.

- Investing $1 million in Sault Ste. Marie's new sports facility, the Steelback Centre. - Investing more than $10 million to date, through the NOHFC, to provide internships and work placements to help 554 young Northerners launch their careers in the North.

- Investing $2.1 million in the construction of the Flakeboard Company melamine lamination plant in Sault Ste. Marie.

- Investing $1 million to develop Sault Ste. Marie's waterfront walkway.

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