'The Province cannot continue to ignore Northern municipal needs' Spacek

Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities
News Release

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Alan Spacek, President of the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM), speaking at the 52nd Annual Conference of the Federation expressed “Northern Ontario municipalities need to work together now more than ever before.

Northwest or Northeast, we are all Northerners and our municipal associations (FONOM and the Northwestern Ontario
Municipal Association – NOMA) are working well together to make senior levels of government hear our voices.”

The theme of the Conference – ‘Building Partnerships – the Northern Advantage’ was well chosen: Ron Nelson, special guest and President of NOMA looked on with approval.

President Spacek, reacting to a speech made by the Federal Government’s senior Cabinet Minister, Tony Clement, who spoke on the Federal government’s plan for the economy and
jobs, noted “Tony (Minister Clement) and I do not always agree, but he is always available on short notice for consultation and is a true friend of the North."

Kathleen Wynne, the Provincial Government’s Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs, then spoke on the Provincial government’s plan to get Ontario ‘back on track’.

Spacek said, “The Province cannot continue to ignore Northern municipal needs. Municipalities from across the
North are working together to represent our people. We want to work with all levels of government for the betterment of Northerners. The North has great opportunities to help create wealth but we must move quickly and together to take advantage of international opportunities for our mineral and forestry bounty.”

Tom Laughren, Vice President of FONOM gave an impassioned plea to Provincial Minister Wynne to implore her Cabinet colleagues to “get back to the table and work with us. We really appreciate you coming here to ‘face the music’ for your government, but we need to work together to get through these difficult, rapidly changing times. Your government needs to communicate with us – more and better - particularly concerning the abandonment of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission and the thousands of jobs that are affected."

Minister Wynne promised to take that message back to the Premier and her Cabinet colleagues.

Other Conference highlights included updates on provincial legislation, information and insight on various municipal issues, a Ministers’ Forum, Banquet and the Annual Awards Presentation.

Long Serving Members Mac Bain, Past President of FONOM and Councillor from North Bay and Franklin Gillis, Past President of FONOM and former Councillor of Espanola were awarded Special Service Awards for their exemplary work with FONOM.

“Our communities are lucky to have such great leaders as Mac (Bain) and Franklin (Gillis) who have worked tirelessly on behalf of the Federation and its member municipalities”, noted President Spacek.

Plans are now being made for the 2013 Annual Conference to be held in Parry Sound.

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