Latest Policy Bytes

January 11, 2016 - Evidence-based decision making is all the rage nowadays. Everyone, of every political stripe and in favour of every cause, claims to be advocating that decisions should reflect the “evidence”. Of course, they tend to be a little picky about what they choose to cite as evidence and even more particular about how the evidence is presented. While governments at all levels are to be applauded for at least stating their intent to be driven by data and evidence, the proof, as they say, is in the pudding.

December 14, 2015 - The holidays are fast approaching, which means friends and family will be travelling to celebrate the season. You may even have a child away at college or university who will be making the trip home as soon as they have completed their exams. In years past, it was pretty common for postsecondary students to hop on a bus to get home for the holidays. However, will cuts to providers such as Greyhound and Ontario Northland over the past year make returning home more difficult? In the short-term, no. Your post-exam, sleep deprived son or daughter, who has subsisted on coffee and makeshift meals to fuel their studying habits, will certainly exhaust every option in order to find their way back for clean laundry, home cooking, and festive libations. But the reduction in service could deleteriously affect some holiday travelers. Christmas comes just once a year, but what about the other 364 days? What are the long term impacts and what does it mean for the people of Northern Ontario?

December 11, 2015 - “A warm wind is blowing across Canada,” Assembly of First Nations Grand Chief Perry Bellegarde is fond of saying, and the roles have reversed. After a so-called “decade of darkness” in First Nations-Ottawa relations, it’s time for First Nations to come up with “a plan” of their own.

December 7, 2015 - The demographic shift is upon us, and has been for a while. Our overall population is falling and our total population is aging. Indigenous population is on the rise but, even there, we see early indications that as economic and social improvements occur population growth slows.

November 30, 2015 - Northern Policy Institute exists to educate and engage all stakeholders interested in the future of Northern Ontario. We seek to encourage informed and respectful policy discussion and debate on issues impacting our region.

November 23, 2015 - Northern Policy Institute President and CEO, Charles Cirtwill, was once introduced as hailing from the far north. Charles is actually based out of Northern Policy Institute’s Thunder Bay office, which hardly qualifies as “far north.” According to Ontario’s 2010 Far North Act, the far north is defined as the lands located north of the Woodland Caribou and Wabakimi Provincial Parks. Thunder Bay sits approximately 200 kilometers below the southern boundary of Wabakimi, which is definitely not the far north. When Stephen Leacock wrote Adventures of the Far North in 1914, he certainly wasn’t talking about Fort William or Port Arthur, his backdrop was unquestionably the Canadian arctic. Moreover, there are dozens of communities in Ontario that are situated farther north than Thunder Bay. Fort Severn First Nation is arguably the most northerly community in Ontario, located near the western shore of Hudson Bay. The most polar community accessible by year-round road transportation is Pickle Lake and it is still 538 kilometers northwest of Thunder Bay. Let’s also not forget that places such as Kenora, Neskantaga, and Marten Falls are all farther north than the Lakehead but also do not qualify as “far north.” As a helpful reference guide, we will outline some of the limitations associated with the term “north,” and most importantly, we will be reviewing what Northern Ontario is, where it is located and hopefully, dispel some misconceptions about the region. So please take a seat, Northern Policy Institute’s geography lesson is now in session.

November 16, 2015 - I had a fascinating meeting with the then finance minister of New Brunswick several years ago. The meeting has come to mind often in the past two years as I travel about Northern Ontario and explain to people the difference between a think tank and an advocacy group. Or, at least the difference between Northern Policy Institute and the research branch for the “northern lobby”.

November 13, 2015 - On Saturday, November 8, 2015, O’Connor Mayor, Ron Nelson, passed away, leaving fellow colleagues, municipal and regional leaders, and everyone at Northern Policy Institute to mourn the loss of a true champion for Northern Ontario.

November 9, 2015 - In late July 2015 the CBC reported that a Pan Canadian Task Force to Reduce Use of Diesel Fuel in Remote Communities was established by Manitoba, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, Northwest Territories, and the Yukon. Ontario’s Ministry of Energy press release noted that throughout the country “there are nearly 300 off-grid communities with a total population of approximately 200,000 people.”  At first blush this number seemed to be very high, but how does this break down for Northern Ontario and where are these numbers coming from? The information was taken from a 2011 report by Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) and Natural Resources Canada (NRC) on the status of remote/off-grid communities in Canada.

November 2, 2015 - Like many other Ontarians, I have been following the debate about the introduction of our very own provincial pension plan with some interest. The latest reasoning put forward in support of the plan has me truly perplexed. As the argument goes, people can’t afford to save for retirement so we must force them to do so. It seems we have decided that it is more important that someone be able to purchase groceries in 40 years from now when they are 65 than it is for them to be able to purchase groceries today when they are 25.