Provincial politicians snowmobile North

by Karina Hunter

Northeastern Ontario is preparing for the arrival this Tuesday, February 9^th, of key political figures participating in Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Mike Brown’s Annual Snow Tour in Wawa, Ontario to be based out of Wawa, Ontario. In addition to Brown, scheduled participants include the Honourable Gerry Phillips Chair of Cabinet, Responsible for Seniors, the Honourable Kathleen Wynne, Minister of Transportation, Toronto mayoral
candidate George Smitherman (Former Minister of Energy and Infrastructure and Former Minister of Health), and Joe Dickson, MPP Ajax-Pickiering, they will be joined for two days of community outreach and networking events with regional mayors, economic development representatives and other dignitaries from surrounding communities.

The Snow Tour was first initiated by Brown more than a decade ago, facilitating conversation between his constituents and the provincial politicians they might not otherwise have personal access to including, over
the years, those responsible or assisting with ministries such as Transportation, Northern Development Mines and Forestry, Health and Long Term Care, Energy and Infrastructure, Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs, Children and Youth Services, Energy and Infrastructure and Tourism.  This year, before the VIPs depart Wawa February 11^th they will have traveled more than 200km via snowmobile on the trails of the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs gaining first hand knowledge of the challenges and successes of northern communities which have been additionally challenged in recent years with forestry sector difficulties and decline of snowmobile tourism dollars.  Today, Wynne was looking forward to the unique experience “Mike Brown’s Snow Tour will provide me with the opportunity to hear from many local communities on transportation issues” said the Minister of Transportation “I am looking forward to spending time with my colleagues and taking in the awe inspiring beauty that is winter in Northern Ontario”.

Though Brown, like most of his northerner constituents, is quite familiar with snowmobiling only Smitherman and Phillips have previously participated in the snowmobile familiarization tour; it will be interesting as Wynne, MPP Don Valley West and Dickson, MPP Ajax-Pickering, adapt to traveling by snowmobile through terrain referred to by locals as “hills from Hell”. Economically, politically, geographically, and socially Northerrn Ontario is vastly different from the rest of the province, the community of Dubreuilville for example consists of a primarily Franco-Ontarian population, and participants are sure to return south with a wealth of new ideas and a better knowledge of their province as a whole to share with both the constituents they represent and the provincial legislative assembly.

Brown with participants of his 2004 Snow Tour based out of Elliot Lake Ontario.

 

MPP Mike Brown’s riding of Algoma-Manitoulin is the size of all of Southern Ontario stretching from the north shore of Georgian Bay to the communities of Manitouwadge and Hornepayne north of Lake Superior. Algoma-Manitoulin boasts over twenty provincial parks, the largest game preserve in the world, the largest island in fresh water in the world (Manitoulin), over 2,000 kilometres of shoreline on Lakes Superior and Huron, thousands of inland lakes, the premier retirement community in Canada (Elliot Lake), twenty First Nations, thirty seven municipalities, and thousands of square kilometres of Crown Land.