Latest news with #NorthernOntarioMunicipalAssociation
CBC
24-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Northern Ontario Municipal Association names new president
Social Sharing The new president of the Northern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA) says he's excited to lead the organization for the next two years. Rick Dumas, mayor of Marathon, was officially named new NOMA president at the organization's annual conference in Thunder Bay on Wednesday. He takes over from Shuniah Mayor Wendy Landry, who stepped down as NOMA president after eight years in the role. "My vision right now is just take the organization to the next level," Dumas said. "We have a growth plan and strategic plan. We want to continue working on that and making sure that the Government of Ontario and the federal government understand what NOMA is all about." Dumas said one of his first official duties will be representing NOMA at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference this summer. "I'll bring the issues forward and make sure we identify all the issues in northern Ontario, and see how we can make progress with the government," he said. He outlined several priority issues faced by northern communities including homelessness, mental health, addictions, highway safety, mining and energy. Landry, meanwhile, will stay on as past-president. "A little sad on my part," Landry said. "I feel so passionate about northwestern Ontario that I am happy that I get to still be on the board, to still contribute." Speaking to media before the official end of her term, Landry said her goal when she first ran for NOMA president was to raise the profile of the organization. "I think we've done that as a board and as an executive," she said. "We've still got some work to do. We're still far away from Queen's Park, so we need to still keep our voices loud." Ten provincial ministers are set to appear at this year's NOMA conference, as were provincial NDP Leader Marit Stiles, provincial Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie, and provincial Green Leader Mike Schreiner. "I think it's a validation that we are important, and people find it important to be here with us," Landry said. This year's NOMA conference began on Wednesday, and will run through to Friday. The agenda includes a number of addresses covering topics like northwestern Ontario's power needs, strong mayor powers, next steps for the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, and rural and remote physician services coordination. Another topic for discussion is the decline of international students coming to the region, and the impact that will have, Landry said. "I think Marathon has like 80 or 90-odd job openings right now," she said. "Red Lake, I think there's over 140 job openings. Atikokan's CAO just shared with me ... all the postings that they have, everything from municipal roles to roles in their communities that are not being filled." "In southern Ontario, they have an abundance of immigrants and abundance of new Canadians," Landry said. "In northwestern Ontario, we don't have that, and the students really filled some of those gaps."
CBC
31-01-2025
- Business
- CBC
Tariffs would 'decimate' northern Ontario softwood industry: NOMA president
Northern Ontario's softwood lumber industry would be decimated if United States President Donald Trump implements a tariff on Canadian goods, the president of the region's municipal association said. The White House confirmed earlier Friday that Trump plans on implementing 25 per cent tariffs against Canada and Mexico, and a 10 per cent tariff against China, on Feb. 1. "This is something that's going to be really serious for us in northwestern Ontario," said Wendy Landry, president of the Northern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA) and mayor of Shuniah. "We've been paying a 14 per cent tariff already on softwood lumber going to the United States," she said. "Adding a 25 per cent would put us over 30 per cent on tariffs on our softwood lumber." "That will decimate our lumber industry here, especially for our small towns that depend on that industry that are left in northwestern Ontario." Ian Dunn, president and CEO of the Ontario Forest Industries Association (OFIA) said softwood lumber duties are expected to double this year, as well, to about 30-35 per cent. "In reality, Ontario lumber producers could face 60 per cent tariffs at the border, which would effectively wipe out all US shipments," Dunn said. "In terms of global exports, Ontario exports about $7.9 billion of forest products per year." "Ninety-seven per cent of that ... goes to the United States," he said. "So if there's another 25 per cent tariff on the border, that's another $2 billion year impact, at least." And, Dunn noted, the 25 per cent tariff would not just apply to softwood lumber. "It is on all exports to the United States," he said. "I don't think there is one company in our membership that has 25 per cent margins. This is going to put everyone underwater." There would be a cascading effect, as well, Dunn said. "Sawmills, of course, produce lumber, but they also produce residuals," he said. "They produce wood chips, which typically are being consumed by the pulp and paper mills in the province." "Currently, there are only three that are operating," Dunn said. "There used to be many more, but there are only three." Meanwhile, Dunn said sawmills have already seen impacts from the high softwood lumber duties. "If there's additional impacts, and there's less production at the sawmills, there is less raw material for the pulp and paper mills," he said. However, the tariffs also provide an opportunity to make more use of Ontario forest products locally. "Ontario imports about $1.7 billion of American natural gas every year, primarily in the GTA," Dunn said. "We have member companies that are looking very closely, or in the process of, making syngas (synthetic gas) made out of forest biomass." "We can heat homes with forest biomass, we can create a transportation fuels using forest biomass," he said. "So absolutely it's an opportunity to really strengthen what we have."
