Finance committee  Last Saturday we started to talk with the first nations people, face to face. The town council of Hearst and the band council of Countess Lake 92 got together and learned a lot about each other. I think that our future lies in the far north. The solution is to develop the far no

Finance committee  I am the President of NEOMA, which extends from Matheson to Hearst, about a four-hour drive. I represent all the communities in northern Ontario. The way in which our forest industry works means that each community depends on the others for survival. Plants need each other, for w

Finance committee  My feeling is that, if there are tax cuts, the local government ends up paying. People do not understand the situation. When federal taxes go down, provincial taxes go down; when provincial taxes go down, municipal taxes go up. For me, that is logical, obvious and clear. People

Finance committee  Yes, I could have.

Finance committee  I think it was a great way to help the industries, but for my own municipality, and even other municipalities, I'm going to go a bit further. We face energy costs that are going higher and higher, and I don't know how much control we have over that. We are looking for a green t

Finance committee  Thank you for the opportunity to address this committee. The high Canadian dollar has added more fuel to the crisis situation of the forest industry in northern Ontario and is causing uncertainty and fear in all small communities across the north. The entire economy of northern