Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to rise in the House today to speak to Bill C-309. This bill proposes, at a significant cost, to create a new federal agency to administer economic development programs exclusively to northern Ontario, which includes the great Kenora riding.
Bill C-309 proposes to duplicate what FedNor, part of Industry Canada, is already doing and doing quite well. Having seen first-hand over the years the benefits to the people of northern Ontario and to its communities and businesses, I recognize and appreciate that this organization has continued to grow and thrive under the Minister of Industry's leadership.
That is something that needs to be emphasized. The Government of Canada is working successfully with individuals, organizations and communities to promote and enhance economic development throughout northern Ontario. The northern Ontario development program and the community futures program are two major programs administered by FedNor under its mandate of regional economic development in northern Ontario.
New programs and measures as part of Canada's economic action plan will have a direct and positive impact on the economy of northern Ontario. FedNor will continue to work closely with communities and industry leaders to ensure that our efforts to meet the specific needs of northern Ontario are taken care of.
Today I would like to focus my remarks on the value of the community futures program administered by FedNor and its impact on northern Ontario. Across the country, the community futures program is delivered by the individual regional development agencies. In the Atlantic region, it is the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. In Quebec, of course, it is the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec. In Ontario, and this is important, it is Industry Canada's FedNor, exclusively for northern Ontario. In the western region, it is a much bigger organization, Western Economic Diversification Canada.
In Ontario, community futures programs support 61 community futures development corporations, or CFDCs as they are otherwise known, serving all rural areas of the province. Twenty-four of these serve the needs of northern Ontario.
Community futures development corporations are incorporated, not-for-profit, community-based development organizations. What makes these organizations so effective is that the boards are composed of local volunteers who bring to the community futures development corporations their expertise in a variety of sectors and their intimate knowledge of the communities where they live and work.
Community futures development corporations are true grassroots organizations. Local needs, of course, are always best identified and dealt with locally by those living, working and raising families in the community. The community futures development corporations, or CFDCs, help their communities to grow, work towards economic sustainability, and achieve a brighter economic future, by offering a number of services.
These services include repayable loans to small and medium-sized businesses, business information and planning services, strategic community planning and socio-economic development, and support for community-based projects. This assistance has resulted in improved business practices, increased entrepreneurship, and new, viable business start-ups.
Mr. Speaker, listen to the enthusiasm for the program.
The CFDCs' services also help strengthen and expand existing businesses, leading to further job creation. The CFDCs also help to build community capacity for socio-economic development, an important focus in rural and isolated communities. In 2007-08, community futures development corporations invested more than $50.6 million in over 1,100 northern and rural Ontario businesses effectively and efficiently.
These investments, in turn, helped to leverage a further $86 million in investments from other sources. As a result, 8,800 jobs were created or maintained, and thousands of businesses were started or expanded.
It is quieter now, Mr. Speaker. These are impressive results. They are just as impressive as the vision of community futures development corporations from across northern Ontario, which have formed investment pools to promote larger economic development initiatives.
Operated independently in the northeast and the northwest, these collaborative investment pools allow members of CFDCs to offer loans of up to $500,000 to support worthwhile local projects.
The CFDCs' investments are contributing to a regional economy where businesses can grow and people can prosper.
Here is an example that illustrates the important role of economic development performed by the community futures program and FedNor's northern Ontario development program.
In 2002 both FedNor and the South Temiscaming CFDC saw the economic development potential being offered by a small regional food festival, la Foire gourmande. Recognizing that this festival provides an excellent showcase for the offerings of agri-food producers from across the Temiscaming region, FedNor and the local CFDC provided la Foire gourmande with support to expand.
The result is that in 2007 a record 35,000 food enthusiasts from across Ontario, Quebec and as far away as the east coast descended on la Foire gourmande, making it northern Ontario's gastronomic event of the year. Each summer regional farmers, food producers and area restaurant and hotel operators have seen a tremendous boost to their bottom line.
The success of this project and many others can be attributed to the role that FedNor, the regional economic development organization for northern Ontario, plays in supporting the growth and prosperity of communities and businesses in northern Ontario.
FedNor administers various programs, including the northern Ontario development program, the community futures program, the eastern Ontario development program, and other Government of Canada initiatives.
Our government has positioned FedNor well to implement our economic action plan. It is an economic action plan that will strengthen northern Ontario communities, and in fact already has and will continue to, while making investments to promote long-term growth.
FedNor's enhanced budget, including the portion of the community adjustment fund for northern Ontario communities, has already had an immediate impact on the lives of northern Ontario residents.
FedNor's effectiveness as the regional and community development organization for northern Ontario has remained constant, even as it has grown to deliver more programming and special funding initiatives over the years.
It will continue to be an effective regional economic development organization as it works with northern Ontario communities and businesses to help protect the jobs of today and create the jobs of tomorrow.
We need only speak to mayors, community leaders and other stakeholders in northern Ontario for confirmation. They will tell us that FedNor support has been there for northern Ontarians throughout the years and that it is working very well in its current form. It will continue to do so.
One of the issues related to Bill C-309 is the suggestion that regional development can only be properly delivered through an agency.
For nearly 20 years now, FedNor has proven that the form is not important; the strategies and the design of the programs meeting the needs of the communities and businesses are what is important.
There is also the perception that a full-fledged agency would have superior status instead of being located within Industry Canada, that there is a danger that FedNor could be shut down tomorrow, and that the program is not safe because it is not an agency. Nothing could be further from the truth.
This government was the first to provide FedNor's northern Ontario development program, thanks in large part to Leo Bernier, with guaranteed base funding for a five year period. No other government had previously put the northern Ontario development program on such a solid footing.
FedNor can deliver a number of Government of Canada initiatives designed to target a specific need, and at present, it is well positioned to do so.
FedNor is a flexible organization that has administered focused initiatives, including the softwood industry community economic adjustment initiative and funding for the economic development of official language minority communities in Ontario. It will continue to deliver portions of the community adjustment fund in northern Ontario.
As I said earlier, these added responsibilities do not reduce FedNor's northern Ontario specific budget or detract at all from its focus on the north. To the contrary, what they will do is allow FedNor to grow as needed, depending on the Government of Canada's program needs, in its rightful place in Industry Canada.
This ensures that when the government needs to deliver new programming, it will do so in an efficient and cost effective manner using the tried and true vehicle we know and love as FedNor. My colleagues and I are confident that when we need to call on FedNor in these instances, it will deliver.
In short, FedNor's location within Industry Canada is beneficial to all, but especially to the communities and businesses that need it and depend on its services, like those in the great riding of Kenora.