On the Origins of the Germans of the East Bruce-West Grey area.

To my father, Harold, upon the occasion of his 66^th birthday.

 He may not tell stories, but does offer invaluable clues.

In Canada, German block settlements are more commonly associated with Manitoba and Saskatchewan, yet there are some well known areas of Ontario like the Kitchener-Waterloo region that boast a large German-Canadian population. In addition to these, there is the area along the boundary of Bruce and Grey counties that was settled Germans, evident today by the names of towns there.

It was to a rural area of Southwestern Ontario that my German, or rather Pfalzlander, ancestors first moved when they immigrated to Canada. Originally arriving in Waterloo County, they moved to Carrick Township, Bruce County, near a town called Beaford, which later (in 1877) became Deemerton. Deemerton derives its name from Anthony and Thomas Diemert, the group leaders of sorts who organized the Pfalzlander’s and led them to Canada. Deemerton is an English corruption of that German last name with the suffix –ton which denotes a town, added to it. Etymologically it mean’s Diemert’s Town, with the two t’s blended, and the ‘i’ changed to an ‘e’ to reflect the German pronunciation when read is English, the de facto language of Ontario. Presumably, had this change not been made, Anglophones would have thought the town name too grave, as they would have pronounced it as ‘dye-mer-ton’ (the sounds of e and i are interchanged in German as they are in English).

The first Lingenfelder (or Lingenfelter) to be born in Canada (1 August 1860) was Sebastian Lingenfelder, my great-great-grandfather. His father, Franz Xavier, and mother Philipina (nee Lambertus) came to Canada along with other Pfalzlanders and yet more Germans in the first half of the 1850’s. But what made them come to Canada? I’ve always been in search of this answer, always wondering what circumstances, events, or reasons caused them to uproot from where their families had lived for presumably centuries and set out for what must have been an unknown and mysterious land across a vast ocean with only a humble population and the minimum of comforts that they had been accustomed to.

Lets first follow a trail of clues, and then by stitching them together we will mutually go on this journey to not only find the origins of our ancestors, but the drivers that persuaded them to come to Canada. Place Names of Ontario by Alan Rayburn is a fascinating and informative lexicon of how and why and after who or what towns are named in Ontario. Reading Place Names is like delving into the minds of our collective ancestors, almost like sharing or being part of their hopes, dreams, and most importantly, memories. Alan Rayburn worked tirelessly gathering information from sources from all across Ontario, be that information found in museums, or from the elder’s in the villages and towns.

In the first part of our journey we will focus on the German settlement of East Bruce-West Grey (EB-WG). Here we find the town names of Alsfeldt, Biemans Corners, Carlsruhe, Deemerton, Habermehl, Hanover, Holstein, Lauderbach, Moltke, and Neustadt, all in the former townships of Bentinck, Brant, Carrick, Egremont, and Normanby . This cluster is centered on the Hanover-Neustadt area which straddles the boundary between Bruce and Grey counties (Holstein is the outlier, but none-the-less of crucial importance).

When my father first told me that Sebastian was born in Deemerton and my love for maps later took off, I looked for that town on the Ontario Road Map and noticed the German settlement and the names of that area, but I could not put together what these place names had in common. Half are family names (Biemans, Diemert, Habermehl, Moltke) which at first suggested that they were nothing more than having been derived from early pioneer families. The others were a collection of German place names varying from small towns (Alsfeldt) to large cities (Hanover). Common was the practice to name a settlement after the place where one had come from, and considering that none of the places named after other towns and cities were found in a relative close proximity to each other in Germany, I originally thought a connection did not exist.

Some years past and then one day in 2014 I thought to map these place names, to see their proximity to one another. I should have done this years ago! Instantly a pattern formed, rather a somewhat straight line down the heart of modern Germany.  But to understand what these places have in common other than seemingly being in a geographical line, we must understand some history.

Germany as a unified nation did not take form until 1871 when the dominant Kingdom of Prussia through a series of wars and coercion brought together what until that time had been a plethora of independent dukedoms, earldoms, principalities, city-states, and any and all other sort of noble and royal holdings, known by historians at ‘the German states.’ Following the Napoleonic Wars (from their end in 1815 onwards) the Kingdom of Prussia gained large swaths of land in Saxony, Westphalia, and the Rhineland, the latter two being separated from Prussia proper by a corridor of independent states. Amazingly, and possibly the most pivotal clue, is that this corridor between the two areas of Prussia just so happens to be where all of the place names from the EB-WG German settlement originate. This discovery shows what those place names have in common: that they were all located in areas that were not aligned or part of Prussia. From that perspective it does not seem enough to bring different areas and regions that do not have much in common other than speaking varying dialects of German together. However, what they did have in common was either freedom from or opposition to the growing dominance of Prussia within German speaking Central Europe.

Let’s take a look at where each one of these places fell within that area of separation from north to south, and the ongoing struggle for civil liberties during the timeframe that our ancestors emigrated:

-          Hanover: capital of the Kingdom of Hannover (1814-1866), not aligned to Prussia, and only 13-18 years since the 123 year personal union with the United Kingdom had ended that the Germans immigrated to Canada. Relatively untouched by the Revolutions of 1848, however when protests did erupt, the king threatened handing the kingdom over to the Prussians, which quickly ended any opposition to his rule.

-          Alsfeld and Lauterbach: small towns in the Electorate of Hesse (1814-1866), in 1831 the electorate adopted a constitution, more reforms came in 1848, all of which were reversed in 1852, caused by the political turmoil that preceded. This is about the time our Germans ancestors immigrated to Canada.

-          Carlsruhe[Karlsruhe]: capital of the Grand Duchy of Baden (1806-1918), during the Revolutions of 1848, Baden was a center of revolutionist activities. In 1849 it was the only German state that became a republic. The revolution in Baden was suppressed mainly by Prussian troops.

1848 is known as the Year of Revolutions where all across Europe democrats and those seeking civil liberties and freedoms rose up against the established absolutism and autocratic monarchies that had reigned for centuries. While some revolutions were moderately successful (achieving reforms, having constitutions instituted, and other desired changes) many of the revolutions were squashed by the forces loyal to the rulers who held domain where insurrections had taken place (or stronger, uncompromised foreign forces brought in to quell the insurrections). Additionally at this time began a period of what is known as the German wars of unification that lasted until 1871, culminating in the German Empire under the control of the Prussian kings.

It would be foolish to assume that all of the German immigrants that came to Canada played a part or were caught up in the Revolution of 1848; however, many may have been affected by the events that occurred during that tumultuous time. Perhaps some did play their part and ended up on the losing side, and therefore sought a new life in a seemingly peaceful land, far from the continuous and ongoing struggles that steered the course of European history. After all, the United Kingdom and her colonies (Canada included) were rather devoid of any uprisings during that period, the United Kingdom having enjoyed their Bill of Rights since the Glorious Revolution of 1688-1689.

What leads me to believe that the Revolutions of 1848 and any other political reasons had anything to do with the German immigration to the EB-WG area at that time is the names of two other towns: Holstein and Moltke.

Holstein is part of the modern German state (länder) of Schleswig-Holstein, the area of Germany that borders Denmark. From 1848-1851 the First Schleswig War was fought between Denmark and the German Confederation (Prussia, Schleswig, and Holstein) on the premise of the Schleswig-Holstein Question, which sought to answer who held domain over those lands, Danes or Germans, and the rising associated nationalism associated with it. While Schleswig was predominately populated by Danes and Holstein by Germans, Denmark at the time had control over the two in addition to Saxe-Lauenburg. The Danes were victorious in the war, and continued their control over the area. Holstein, Ontario was named in 1864 by teacher-turned-storekeeper and postmaster N.D. McKenzie. The name was given at a time when Prussia had challenged Denmark for control of Holstein and Schleswig [Second Schleswig War], a contest that the weaker Denmark lost. Given that Holstein, Ontario was named by an educated and informed Scotch-Canadian on the presumptive premise of showing support for a beleaguered nation, it possibly holds no ties to the EB-WG core area, and after all it does lie outside the traditional cluster of German named towns. Or, perhaps there were many inhabitants in the area from Holstein, and McKenzie feeling some sort of affinity towards his neighbours, named the town in their support.

However, what brings Holstein back into the formula is the presence of the town of Moltke. The Moltke name is a prominent one in both Denmark and Germany. Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, possibly the most famous of that name, was a career military officer that became the Chief of the Prussian, and later German, General Staff. However, given the origin of names of the other German towns in EB-WG, naming one after a Prussian general seems highly unlikely. So given the existence of both Holstein and Moltke, it is my theory that as the Danish were not oppressive towards the German population of Holstein, as was seen by the policies of the then Danish king, Frederick VII, who in 1848 granted a constitution to the Kingdom of Denmark, that the town of Moltke, Ontario was named after the first prime minister of Denmark, Adam Wilhelm Moltke (prime minister from 1848 to 1852). Given that a king often took advice from his prime minister, it is not unfathomable to think that Frederick VII was influenced by Moltke, in this case his sympathetic view towards the Germans of Holstein and including them in the Kingdom of Denmark. With this in mind, it almost seems as if the towns were named after those who held similar political beliefs and ideals, or were anti-Prussian at the simplest explanation.

Now let’s look at the town of Neustadt, Ontario and its origins: This village in Grey County, 8 km south of Hanover, was founded by David Winkler in 1855, who persuaded several German immigrants to settle here. Its post office was called Newstead in 1856, but the name was changed the following year to Neustadt, which is German for ‘new town.’ Included here is the mention of David Winkler. Did Winkler simply persuade Germans in the Waterloo region to move further north, or did he travel to Germany on his own accord or as an agent of the British colonies seeking people to populate Ontario? It is my belief that he did indeed travel to the German areas that at the time were free of Prussian control, taking a straight line route through these states and canvassed towns and villages and persuaded Germans there to move to Canada.

As described above, Europe and the German states in particular, had recently endured a time of turmoil and unpredictability, the continent had been ravaged in the early half of the 19^th century by the Napoleonic Wars, and had just gone through a time of revolt, none of which was free from bloodshed. Fearing the potential loss of newly gained freedoms and reforms from the loaming pressure of the expansionistic Kingdom of Prussia, I belief that Germans from Holstein to Baden fled the war-ridden and somewhat oppressive lands for the promise of freedom and economic possibilities that existed in Ontario at that time. If one were to look at a map of 19^th century Germany before it formally existed as a country, the corridor to which these people came from appears quite evidently, somewhat surrounded by Prussian lands.

How does the Pfalz (Palatinate), where the Lingenfelder’s originate, fall into this? Starting in 1808 the Pfalz had been the non-contiguous part of Bavaria, and in 1848 a separatist revolution failed, having been put down by a bloody Prussian military intervention. Additionally the Pfalz is on the left bank of the Rhine where as Karlsruhe, in Baden, is on the right bank. The uprisings in the Pfalz and in Baden, which both worked in concert (at times almost as if they were one and the same) were the last of their kind in the German states and a major shift in power took place at their culmination. No longer was Austria the dominant German state, but now Prussia was correctly seen as holding that position. That oppression at the hands of the Prussians gives the Pfalzanders common ground with all of the other groups that emigrated from the German states. As well, the Pfalz does not stray from the corridor between the two parts of Prussia either, but rather forms its end point in the German states at the time (the lands to its south, Alsace-Lorraine which were a mix of French and Germans, would be united with the other German states following the Franco-Prussian War of 1871 and the creation of the German Empire. The presence of the town of Alsace and the Alsace Road in Gurd, would indicate that the Germans in the Alsace were part of those recruited to come to Canada at the same time as the others, possibly freeing them from French rule).

Whatever the reason for their departure of the German states, whether it be their lack of satisfaction with the current state of affairs in their homelands, calling for more reforms, either having faced or facing Prussian dominance, economic opportunities, over-population and a lack of land in the German states, the Germans that would make up the EB-WG area collectively uprooted and moved themselves to Canada. Persuaded or not, they had all the reason to leave bloody Europe, to come to a new land, and enjoy the full meaning of the cliché ‘the grass is always greener on the other side.’ Thus, our ancestors, and in turn ourselves, have enjoyed the peace, freedoms, and calm of Canada, basking in its many opportunities, enjoying its abundance of safety.

The concrete answers are out there, and I will forever be in search of them. I hope that you enjoyed reading my take and guess on our ancestors flight from Europe, just as much as I have enjoyed researching it.

A list of the towns in the East Bruce-West Grey area that are of German origin

Carlsruhe - Located in Bruce County, 4 km south of Hanover, this place was settled by German immigrants about 1855. It was named by Karl Gehl in 1864 after the city of Karlsruhe in Baden (now Baden-Wurttemberg), Germany, 65 km west of Stuttgart.

Hanover - Located in Grey County, this town (1904) on the Saugeen River was first settled in 1849 by Abraham Buck, and the place became known as Buck’s Crossing. In 1856 it was laid out in village lots and named Adamstown after Henry P. Adams, who had built a dam here the previous year. Most residents disliked the name, and first postmaster Abraham Gottwals proposed Hanover, since many of the settlers came from the area of Germany now known as Hannover.

Holstein - Located in Grey County, 8 km north of Mount Forest, this place was named in 1864 by teacher-turned-storekeeper and postmaster N.D. McKenzie. The name was given at a time when Prussia had challenged Denmark for control of Holstein and Schleswig, a contest that the weaker Denmark lost.

Neustadt - This village in Grey County, 8 km south of Hanover, was founded by David Winkler in 1855, who persuaded several German immigrants to settle here. Its post office was called Newstead in 1856, but the name was changed the following year to Neustadt, which is German for ‘new town.’

Other Towns (without a description in Place Names of Ontario)

Alsfeldt - town in Hesse

Biemans Corners - last name

Deemerton - renamed after the Diemert family who organized German immigrants to settle in the area

Habermehl - last name

Lauderbach - corruption of Lauterbach, a town in Hesse, Germany, 17.7 km from Alsfeld, Hesse.

Moltke - named after Adam Wilhelm Moltke, Prime Minister of Denmark from 1848 to 1852, who served as Prime Minister during the reign of Frederick VII, who was sympathetic to the German population of Holstein.

Renewable Energy

Renewable energy is getting a bad reputation, not because of its cleanliness nor that it is environmentally safe, but rather by the government schemes that have had a detrimental effect on ratepayers electricity bills, the unfortunate environmental mistakes caused by the building of solar and wind farms, and perhaps bad press instigated by those benefiting from traditional energy generation. However, with all things aside I am still a staunch believer in the added benefits of certain types of renewable energy: geothermal and solar to be exact.

I currently reside in Southeastern Alberta, a semi-arid, almost desert like atmosphere with cacti, rattlesnakes, sparsely located bodies of water, minimal precipitation, pleasant temperatures, and near endless sunshine. Along with this there are vast reserves of oil and natural gas, much of which powers the local economy. The City of Medicine Hat itself operates its own utilities provider, not only supplying the residents within its boundaries with natural gas for heating, but to outlying communities as well (recall Rudyard Kipling's stating that the city had 'all hell for a basement' referring to the natural gas in early cellars that would cause houses to explode when candle light was introduced). This municipally owned utilities company has allowed Medicine Hat to sit comfortably on sizable coffers, reaping the rewards of having a steady flow of revenue in which to keep the city and it's infrastructure up to date, and allowing new challenges to be confronted and fixed, rather than feared and leading politicians to go elsewhere when seeking funds.

Not to forget, the city also owns oil fields which in an oil hungry world provide yet another source of municipal income. Medicine Hat operates safely in a world where fossil fuels are extracted and exploited, leading some to argue that when that runs out, this city of 60,000 plus will hypothetically go bust, and dwindle away. While that very well could happen with poor planning, the city could begin investing in solar energy.

First, a few statistics. Manyberries, 75 km south of Medicine Hat, is regarded as the sunniest place in Canada with 2567 hours of sunshine a year, seeing sunshine on 332 days of the year. Medicine Hat itself receives 2544 hours of sunshine a year and 330 days of the year see sunshine. The area that experiences this level of sunshine stretches all across Southern Alberta including Calgary and Lethbridge, while spreading east into Southwestern Saskatchewan as well. This area is ripe for harvesting solar energy, yet so little infrastructure has been devoted to this.

At present, there is a solar farm being erected in Medicine Hat, hopefully the beginning of what will become the norm. Given the number of hours in a year that the sun shines in Medicine Hat, it is only logical to think that this area could supply a greater area of not only Alberta, but perhaps neighbouring provinces as well, with clean and renewable energy. As the city grows (as it has been in leaps and bounds as fueled by the oil and gas sector), more infrastructure will be needed to accommodate new residents, new services, and new infrastructure like hospitals and schools. The oil and gas sector is somewhat like a double-edged sword: it needs its own product to fuel its growth, using up what it could otherwise sell.

In some aspects solar energy has been implemented to power remote pump stations that are located far from the electrical grid, but it seems almost hypocritical to be using the competition to power oneself (albeit ingenious). Aside from the negligible current uses for solar power, I propose its implementation on a much grander scale. While solar energy does have it's drawbacks (storage banks and batteries not being adequate enough to store enough electricity, limited space for erecting panels), the industry and science is continuously growing, products are improving, and getting better and more efficient all the time. So as for the grander plan, I would allocate whatever power onto the solar grid that is conceivably possible, freeing up the natural gas for sale to customers at further distances, to customers that do not enjoy the level of sunshine that Medicine Hat does.

The plan would include such measures as converting all municipally owned buildings to run the lights from solar, while utilizing back up generators when the batteries supply have been depleted and are recharging (however, given the amount of sunshine, this shouldn't be a problem). Next would be the installation of commercial buildings over a certain size (say for example, 2500 square metres) requiring 50-75% of the rooftop being allocated for panels. Any excess energy could be put back into the municipal grid and supplied to properties without their own source. The same could be done to brown field areas, where the ground is unsuitable for most building applications or recreational uses.

As solar energy becomes less cost prohibitive, like all things do, more and more individuals will be able to hook their own houses up with independent sources of electricity generation and thus cut themselves free from the municipal or provincial grid. This could spell disaster for the cities power utility, however the iconic symbol of the city is a gas lamp, and just recently the city has converted nearly all street lights to LED, just an example of the ever changing world we live in.

This model could be replicated across Southern Alberta and Southern Saskatchewan, providing reliable and cheaply derived electricity to remote communities and infrastructure. Government installations, be they federal or provincial, could utilize this technology and not rely on traditional sources or commercial entities that charge a premium when providing a service and supplying a commodity to governments. Not only would infrastructure costs be lowered by the erection of poles and wires, but one community would not be affected by a downing of lines elsewhere. Remote communities would no longer drown in utility bills and delivery charges, yet thrive as independent, sustainable, and stand-alone operations. Small communities could set up cooperatives that supply their own energy, owned by the consumers themselves, and creating and providing much needed local jobs for the initial construction, and the subsequent maintenance and operation of the solar facilities.

All of this could be replicated with the additional source of geothermal energy. Given the soil composition of the Prairie region, not only Southern Alberta, but the whole province and those too of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and possibly even Northeastern British Columbia could utilize with ease geothermal energy. Digging a trench and dropping in a line in prairies soil is incredibly easy, it is only the high cost of geothermal technology that prohibits its further implementation as a readily available source of energy.

I imagine a place, more so a region, where farms are heated by geothermal lines running out from their houses and barns, and lit by solar panels installed on their roofs. Southern Alberta is incredibly resource rich, not only in the traditional sectors of oil and gas, but in the future of solar and geothermal. These very simplistic models that I've suggested can be duplicated in the the sun rich mountain valleys of British Columbia, and in Southwestern Ontario where it is both sunny and the soil provides for non-intrusive geothermal to thrive.

We need to move to renewable models where we can, solar and geothermal are not practical in ever region of Canada, however they are perfect for some, just as biomass is perfect for areas that have dominant forestry sectors (British Columbia, Northern Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick) and areas that produce agricultural waste (the Prairies, Southern Ontario). We can lessen the load of fossil fuels that we use, and save it for those processes that we have yet to develop an alternative for.

Ring of Fire rail line could reduce mining waste

Previously I have written about a rail line connecting Marathon on Lake Superior with Attawapiskat on James Bay, linking the Ring of Fire and the Victor Diamond Mine to more avenues of export. The southern portion of this rail line from Marathon to Nakina would be on already existing tracks or formerly existing lines. However, the northern portion will be built across the muskeg of the James Bay Lowlands, and will require significant infrastructure in its construction.

Personally I am familiar with highway construction, having previously worked in the sector for a few years and coming from a family who has worked in all facets of that sector as well. Building a highway across muskeg or swampy areas involves the removal of the soft earth and replacing it with blasted bedrock, creating a firm base upon which traffic can drive, and will withstand the frost cycles. Rail line construction is similar, however the materials used can be different. Generally speaking, rail line construction uses materials that do not need as much compaction, hence why mine slag is used on some rail lines. This is where my suggestions come in. Instead of blasting out new quarries to supply the aggregates needed for the rail bed, its construction can be made with already existing stockpiles.

Sudbury has plenty of slag piles from the nickel mines, and they are being continuously added to taking up more and more room, and while they may be fascinating to some, they can be unsightly. I propose hauling the slag not only from the stockpiles in Sudbury, but from mines all over Northern Ontario to the Ring of Fire rail line. Scattered across Northern Ontario there are piles upon piles of excavated rock sitting next to operating mines, being added to daily. The at present 'worthless' rock is piling up (an example are the mines along Hwy 17 near Wawa), never to be used, these man-made mountains are a testament to our society's wastefulness and lack of ingenuity.

This wouldn't be the first time that mining refuse will be used in the construction of a transportation corridor, but I feel its a solution to a few problems. Mining companies need to buy property and use up space to store the refuse, they need to pay fees and commission environmental studies to determine the suitability of the ground being requested for such stockpiles. Moving those stockpiles would decrease the footprint mining operations have on the local environment, and ease their budgets slightly.

The logistics to move these mountains of blasted bedrock and slag would not be monumental. Most mines are connected by rail lines, used to ship the heavy materials that have been extracted. Throw a few more trains on these lines during the construction of the Ring of Fire rail line and within a short manner of time the stockpiles will have been reduced and the rail line will be built on a solid base.

The handling of this operation could be done by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, utilizing their rolling stock to move the materials. This would revitalize the ONTC, giving them a boost, and doing what they do best: building a stronger Northern Ontario. While this could mean the purchasing of new locomotives and additional rail cars, it would also mean the use of those that may be sitting unused. Not only would this have a great affect on the ONTC, it would also create local jobs at the mine sites while the construction of the rail line is ongoing. Workers and machinery would be needed to load the materials onto the rail cars, as well for the construction of any spur lines that may be required to get to some stockpiles (these spur lines may even be utilized after the stockpiles have been depleted and could benefit the mining operations themselves).

A big question is the cost of all of this. Either way it will cost billions to have this rail line built, in whatever shape or form it takes. The movement of the mining refuse will not come cheaply, however it could be made cost effective. Instead of the government expropriating land for quarries and paying to do so, they could simply draw from an already existing source. Now, does the province pay for the refuse, or do the cooperating mining operations simply get some sort of rebate?

Private industry would obviously be looking at how it could make a buck, while the province would be looking at how it could save that same dollar. This may prove to be the most contentious issue about my proposal. I see it as a win-win for all parties. The incentives that could be given to the mining companies could be a number of things: waving of environmental fees in exchange for the rock; a possible reduction in mining royalties (not my favourite idea); contracts to move the rock themselves; or a the softening of other associated fees involved.

Ultimately it would be preferential if both sides saw the positives with this proposal: the province doesn't go deeper in debt in an attempt to rescue itself from its ever increasing deficit; private industry is presented with a solution to reduce costs and environmental impact. Additionally, new rail lines and access points built across Northern Ontario would only boost the economy, giving new avenues for exporting the materials, and increasing the ONTC's portfolio by expanding further out from its Northeastern corridor with increased business.

We should not forget the ever slumping forestry sector in this proposal. Simply put, the rail ties used on this new line should come solely from Northern Ontario, making it a northern line, northern built, with northern materials, with the royalties to benefit infrastructure, investment, and economic development in the north. The supply of rail ties across the proposed thousands of kilometres of rail lines would not alone rescue the sector, but it could give a small spike into northern forestry where it is desperately needed.

Also worth addressing is the environmental impact associated with the building of this rail line. The pristine and up-to-now untouched areas surrounding and including the Ring of Fire will be forever changed. Not everything will come without consequences. Perhaps the use of mining slag will prove to be unsound in the view of environmental conscientiousness. But whatever way this rail line will be built, it will require a base made of aggregate that is found few and far between in the lands north of Nakina. However this rail line is built, 'foreign' sources of material will need to be brought in. What better than natural bedrock that has been removed, is uncontaminated, and is simply sitting in stockpiles scattered across the north?

Pulling all of these together, the province, the private sector mines, the ONTC, local communities, will have so many positives for Northern Ontario that the Ring of Fire should be a game changer. The Ring of Fire is destined to reshape the northern economy. If an approach is taken that includes all stakeholders, it could reverse the fortunes of the north, it could drastically reduce the unemployment rate, and inject cash flow back into the northern communities and pave a way to a prosperous future.

Bancroft County: why does it not exist?

Looking at the map of Ontario counties and their general size, things start to get bigger as you look towards Central Ontario, or Cottage Country. The obvious reason is population: Central Ontario is situated on top of the Canadian Shield and thus does not support a strong agricultural base. While a farm alone does not bring cities to mind, cities are never located too far from the farms that sustain them, so in the case of Central Ontario: no farms no cities (figuratively speaking). But with all that aside, there is a peculiarity in the eastern portions of Central Ontario that has always struck me as something forgotten. Counties seem to stretch into this area, becoming cumbersome to cover the leftover area that early planners didn't know what to do with. Large tracts of lands were assigned to counties who's centre's are further away, and these march lands seem distant and altogether different from the rest of the county.

The area that I am writing about is comprised of what would be northern Hastings, western Renfrew, and southern Nipissing District. Perusing over maps as I usually do, long ago I noticed that the Township of South Algonquin looked to be an extension of Hastings County. It is three geographic townships wide, corresponds to both the east and west boundaries of Hastings, and together with the former Jones Township (now part of Madawaska Valley, Renfrew Co.), it completed what would be a natural extension of Hastings. I can only assume that the decision to include this area in Nipissing District was made simply because early planners had figured Hastings already extended far enough north (as it begins on the on the Bay of Quinte [part of Lake Ontario]). Since the area was and to some degree still is sparsely populated, it would have only seemed natural to include it in a northern district, in this case that of Nipissing District.

The same argument can be made for the western reaches of Renfrew County. Extending into the central highlands of Southern Ontario (Algonquin, Madawaska, Opeongo highlands) the western portions of this county are primarily comprised of Canadian Shield granite outcrops, contrasting the fertile soils of the Ottawa Valley that make up most of the eastern and larger portion of Renfrew. Early on Renfrew County was viewed as a frontier of the province, supporting communities centered around the lumber industry. It would have only seemed natural to add swathes of land to this county that did not already belong to some other district.

If one looks at Renfrew (at present 7440.81 sq/km) and Hastings (at present 6103.48 sq/km) counties, they rank first and second respectively, in land area for all counties in Ontario (only Northern Ontario districts are larger). It goes without saying that it is only natural for the counties that abut Northern Ontario to be larger, sharing common traits in population and geography. That said, Renfrew, Hastings, Haliburton, and Muskoka (the latter two in fact only establishing two-tier governance in the last quarter of the 20th century) are a transitional zone, a sort of buffer from south to north, between county and district.

All of the areas mentioned above intersect near Bark Lake east of Barry's Bay and north of Bancroft. Geographically they are nearly identical in soil, minerals, forests, and even the population densities are mirrored (lessening closer to Algonquin Park). The histories of these townships echo familiar tales of colonization roads opening up the interior, mining towns experiencing boom and bust, logging and lumber providing a pivotal role in development, and small farms contributing to sustainability. Roads do not end at county boundaries, but rather continue on as links between them all. Although South Algonquin is covered by Nipissing for ambulance services (to name but one example), it is part of the Renfrew school board, so even the children of the township are brought up well integrated into a wider and more interconnected system of inclusion (as opposed to the exclusion from the rest of Nipissing District, being that South Algonquin is the only tract of that district that lies south of Algonquin Park).

To be more specific and to draw a picture of the entire area, here are the townships that make up the area, that in this blog will effectively be called Bancroft County: of Nipissing District there is only the one township: South Algonquin; of Hastings County there are four: 1) Hastings Highlands, 2) Carlow/Mayo, 3) Faraday, and 4) Bancroft itself; of Renfrew County there are two: 1) Brudenell, Lyndock and Raglan, and 2) Madawaska Valley. Many of these municipalities are made up of two or more former geographic townships, having been amalgamated to solve the problems that small population densities have on providing services at the municipal level.

These municipalities if brought together to form the new Bancroft County would have a population of 17559, it would be 4061.18 sq/km, thus having a population density of 4.32 people/sq/km. This almost mirrors Haliburton County which has a population of 17026, is 4071.18 sq/km, and the population density is 4.18 people/sq/km. So that brings up the question of: if Haliburton County exists, why doesn't Bancroft County? The two counties which would actually lie side-by-side, and resemble one-another not only size and population but geographical land formations too.

Haliburton County only became a county in 1975, before that being known as the Provisional County of Haliburton (basically a step up from being a district). While being striking in beauty and offering endless tourism and recreational activities and amenities, Haliburton has for a long time occupied the lower end of the economic scale of Ontario counties. Haliburton had the distinction of being the only county in the province that did not have either an agricultural, mining, or forestry, based economy. Is this perhaps a deterrent to creating a Bancroft County? I have mentioned how they would be nearly identical in size and population, and geography, however, what Bancroft would have is an agricultural based economy. The Hastings and Renfrew municipalities that would make up the new county are agriculturally centered, therefore providing that necessary source for sustainability.

While I am sure that there are boundary road agreements and cost sharing agreements for county roads, these things can all be amended to address the new county and the new boundaries proposed. Not to say that they would be rid of their responsibility for these municipalities, but Renfrew and Hastings counties would be able to focus their attention on their more populated eastern and southern stretches respectively. Would the separation of these municipalities hinder either Renfrew or Hastings? I am of the opinion that it would not. Shrinking the size of these counties while losing minimal population would actually be a benefit to the newly re-sized Renfrew and Hastings.

That leads to the question: would a Bancroft county be able to sustain itself? Would there be a large enough and substantial enough tax base to provide for county services, or are these areas subsidized by the larger counties they already belong to? If comparing Haliburton and the yet created Bancroft, there are many more kilometres of roads in Bancroft, but most are mainly municipal. Renfrew does maintain a few county roads in the proposed separated municipalities (most being former provincially maintained secondary highways). Just like Haliburton there would be two hospitals in the two largest communities (Bancroft and Barry's Bay). A reorganization of social services and linking of new services derived from the former counties would need to be undertaken, which could prove to be a monumental task (or perhaps not).

When looking at roads, Hastings only maintains three county roads in the north, contrasting the numerous ones maintained in the area by Renfrew. Even natural links between county roads are not completed by Hastings, such as extending County Road 62 (Peterson Colonization Road) to link up with County Road 10 of Haliburton County. Additionally, South Algonquin is serviced by the provincial secondary Hwy 523, it's southern terminus being the boundary with Hastings. The roadway continues on as Madawaska Road belonging to the Municipality of Hastings Highlands, and not the county. From this perspective, it almost seems like Hastings County has neglected its northern municipalities, a scenario seen played out before. Another striking fact is that there are more county roads connecting the area I have proposed for a new county, than that connecting those Hastings municipalities with the rest of the county. In actual fact, there are NO county roads connecting the two parts of the county, but only one provincial highway (Hwy 62), and only five municipal roads.

It is easy to see how, perhaps, those living in northern Hastings would favour a new county, but it may not be the case for western Renfrew. Not only are the county roads extended into the area, as mentioned before South Algonquin is included in their school board which shows a willingness to provide services to the far reaches of the county, and even beyond the present boundaries. Additionally the population of western Renfrew has been historically linked. My proposed boundary would divide the ethnically Polish population in two. However, there is a solution to this: instead of only adding two Renfrew municipalities to the new county, a third, Killaloe, Hargarty and Richards, could also be added, thus keeping the community together. Not only for something as superficial as ethnic ties (please do not take offence to that), but this move would also shrink Renfrew's size even more, while maintaining a similar population, and it would actually add a larger tax base to the new Bancroft County (K, H&R has 2402 residents, is 395.98 sq/km, density is 6.1 people/sq/km).

As for the case of South Algonquin I think it would overall benefit the township to be part of this county. Obviously the tax payers would be introduced to a whole new tax system, new mill rates would be introduced, and in all likelihood taxes would increase. That is the biggest deterrent to joining the new county, and would be the largest drum that the opposition would be beating. However, the township would no longer be cut off by an impassable provincial park from its district centre, it's tax dollars would be going locally and increased services would be provided. After all, districts provide considerably fewer services directly than that of counties. South Algonquin would no longer be cut off from the district it's been lumped into (it's essentially an exclave of Nipissing), but rather it would be integrated with the communities it has long associated itself with.

The new county would be able to market itself inclusively of all its communities, instead of northern Hastings being overshadowed by the Belleville area, Trenton, the Bay of Quinte, and western Renfrew being overshadowed by the Ottawa Valley. Instead of these three areas being divided, they would make a newly unified part of Central Ontario. Renfrew County would now be solely part of Eastern Ontario; Hastings would continue to occupy that transition between Central and Eastern; and South Algonquin would no longer be part of Northern Ontario (something of which it had stopped being part of long ago).

While South Algonquin and western Renfrew are part of the same provincial and federal ridings, the northern Hastings municipalities belong to another riding altogether (Prince Edward-Hastings). This may present a problem, but could be easily rectified by adding the newly created county to the existing riding of Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke and renaming it Renfrew-Bancroft-Pembroke without affecting the population or size of the riding's both provincially and federally in a massive way (R-N-P (or R-B-P) would obviously gain size, but its population would be on par with that of most other riding's).

Bancroft County would occupy the seventh spot in the rankings based on size, while Renfrew would maintain first (even while being substantially lowered), and Hastings would fall to fourth with Simcoe and Grey moving ahead. As for population, Bancroft would be third last (48th out of 50), while Hastings would move from 18th to 20th, and Renfrew from 26th to 28th, both minimal movements in overall ranking of total residents.

Is the creation of Bancroft County necessary? Not particularly. Are things working the way they are? Yes, as there isn't as of yet, or unknown to me, to be a movement in this direction. Could things possibly be better without over-stretched and cumbersome counties? There is a good chance. Would problems compound with smaller counties without a substantial population? There is the possibility. Is the provincial government unwilling to create another 'Haliburton'? Most likely.

This is just a case study of looking at what seems to be over-stretched counties and districts and an analysis that only touches the surface of the possibility of creating a new census division in Central Ontario. Things can always be better, perhaps this is a solution to some of the problems encountered in the region.

P.S. If this county does come to fruition, hopefully we are not left with another municipality with a name like the Municipality of Dysart, Bruton, Clyde, Dudley, Eyre, Guilford, Harburn, Harcourt and Havelock. By all means don't leave anyone out, but don't leave them with a mouthful either. (This municipality could easily be renamed the Municipality of Central Haliburton, as you know, that is the area of that county it occupies, but this is another topic altogether).

Northern Neglect, Economic Conspiracy, and Western Alienation: Northern Ontario's place in Canada.

I am not the least bit savvy when it comes to finding antiquated legislation when I am limited to a Google search hoping for something to pop up because a quick trip to the archives would involve a long trip and airfare. That which eludes me is from 1899 and is the piece of legislation that regards the Ontario-Manitoba Boundary Dispute, settling the present boundary between the two provinces.

Mayors from Kenora and Fort Francis, and other influential people in Northwestern Ontario have for a while now wanted to separate from Ontario and join Manitoba, taking with them Kenora and Rainy River districts, most likely with exception to the eastern half of the Patricia Portion which was added to Ontario and thus Kenora District in 1912. Their argument of neglect is not all that far off from the truth, if it is off at all. Being part of Northern Ontario their neglect only strengthens the resolve of those in the north who want to separate from their southern masters.

Near English River time changes from the over-sized Eastern Time Zone to the Central Time Zone, still within Thunder Bay District. Eastern Time should end just west of Kapuskasing and just east of Elliot Lake, slicing Manitoulin Island down the middle and meeting up with the Canada-U.S. border that runs between Ontario and Michigan down the centre of Lake Huron (Windsor, ON actually lies within the solar time zone that is associated with Central Time). The only reason why Eastern Time stretches so far west, well beyond where it should end and from there affecting every time zone in Canada by shifting each ever more west than it should be, is so that 'Ontario' can substantiate it's claim over Northwestern Ontario. Ontario was formed in 1867 and much to the surprise of many southerners, Thunder Bay was already part of it, in fact the entire Canadian portion of the Great Lakes Watershed made up the province in those early years.

Everywhere outside of the Canada's and the Maritimes at the time belonged to the British Crown in one form or the other. As pieces were handed over to the guardianship of Ottawa, new provinces were created and some expanded. When it came to the land between the original Red River Colony (Manitoba) and the Great Lakes Watershed (Ontario), both provinces had a claim over it. As today, and even more so then, Canada was controlled by the 'Laurentian Pact': Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal. The odds were stacked against Manitoba's claim: a small outpost (as everywhere in the Dominion was seen in those days), made up of a formerly rebellious Metis populous, yet untamed Aboriginals, pioneering farmers, rail workers, and the lowly and distanced mercantile class, all together were fewer in number than those of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands that made up the bulk of Parliament and thus the majority of decisions made in favour of.

In large part the early settlers of new provinces or colonies west of the Great Lakes were emigrants of southern Ontario and the St. Lawrence region of Quebec. If they were not reporting back to the 'motherland', sending back revenue, representing the larger companies based in Toronto and Montreal, then they were somehow branded as traitors to the provinces they had left, abandoning those lands for opportunities that were no longer available to them (two people cannot farm the same piece of land). Regardless of whether these new Manitobans were on the side of Ontarians or not, they're requests, claims, issues, regardless of how factual they were, fell on deaf ears. How could their claim be more important than that of mighty and egocentric Ontario's?

Nothing is more important in Ontario, and some like to think Canada, than what matters to the those who live within 50 km of Hwy 401. Although the highway did not exist in 1899, the corridor did and the same mentality was thriving just as it does today. Ontario gaining Northwestern Ontario beyond the Great Lakes Watershed is nothing more than greed and the hubris of the south. It has nothing to do with logistics, it has nothing to do with Northwestern Ontario being geographically part of the Canadian Shield and Manitoba (then) being mainly Prairie. What that decision all boils down to, is that Ontario wanted it, and therefore got it.

It's not as if Ontario can service Northwestern Ontario any better than Manitoba could/can, it is evident that they can't, as most southerners don't know and seem to be afraid of what's north of Orillia (some with money have discovered Muskoka, but hardly a comparison of distance between Huntsville and Kenora from Toronto). If we are going to discuss distance, it is over 1300 km from the front steps of Queen's Park to downtown Kenora, while it is not quite 200 km from that same spot to the front steps of the Manitoba Legislative Building (the differences from Fort Francis to Winnipeg and Toronto do not make the latter's case any stronger).

Distance aside, the difference in legislative representation is astonishing. While Manitoba has 57 seats in its Legislative Assembly, each representing just over 21,000 people, Ontario's has 107 each representing over 120,000. That's nearly 6 times more! (Granted, Ontario's number of MPP's based on the same representation would be 612). If Kenora and Rainy River districts were to join Manitoba, they'd have 3 and 1 seats respectively, that's more than the 1 they currently share at Queen's Park (with a few exceptions that really don't make a difference). Would their issues be heard in a Manitoba legislative assembly more so than their current level of just registering enough for a beep now and then on the 'care-scale' of southern politicians? I'd like to think so.

Am I advocating for Northwestern Ontario to secede from Ontario and join Manitoba as Eastern Manitoba? Absolutely not. Am I now suggesting that Northwestern Ontario is in a tough-luck situation that they cannot get out of? Absolutely not. So then what am I advocating? As I always have, that Northern Ontario needs to secede from Ontario and become the 11th province of Confederation.

Just as Northwestern Ontario feels it is neglected and shunned by the 20-so MPP's from Toronto alone, so too does Northeastern Ontario, which begins just 200 km's north of their 'gleaming' (yeah, right) metropolis. If by nothing else, both Northwest and Northeast are united in the lack of attention either receives from Toronto. Sure the south is seemingly all fired up about the Ring of Fire (ha!). They are only fired up because of the prospect of mining royalties paying for subways in Toronto, more hospitals for southern cities that already boast more coverage alone than that of any hospital in the north, and even more scandals associated with the state of electricity in the province.

The differences between Northwest and Northeast are clear: 2/3 of the population lives in the Northeast; the Northeast is clearly bilingual...and that's about it. Just as some parts of the Northwest are few and far between for a resident to be found, so too is nearly all of Sudbury District. Just as the Trans-Canada Highway bottlenecks around Kenora and Thunder Bay, two lanes do little to serve the the Trans-Canada from Sault Ste-Marie to North Bay via Sudbury, and Hwy 11 (Trans-Canada as well) between North Bay and Cochrane.

'Ontario' often boasted how it was the economic engine of the country, it only became so by shortchanging the north by stealing its resource royalties to shore up the over-priced and inflated wages of the manufacturing sector of the south. If Ontario once was the economic engine of Canada, then how come it is the province with the least amount of the Trans-Canada Highway to be expanded to a divided freeway style highway? It was more than half a century ago that the TCH came to fruition, and since then lowly-then mighty-now Saskatchewan has completed their stretch of Hwy 1. Aside from Quebec closing the link with New Brunswick, there are very few stretches left that do not have divided highways, and in defence of British Columbia's case, those mountains are a whole lot more difficult to build a divided highway through than the pristine and rugged hills of the north shore of Lake Superior. And really, if Ontario was so mighty it would have conquered this feat long ago.

It's not just about highways, but I do often hear that the longest stretch of road on a coast-to-coast trip across Canada is through Northern Ontario. Granted Ontario is the widest province in an east to west context, but it also had the widest wallet for the longest time. Continuing on this thread, I firmly believe that Ontario's neglect of Northern Ontario has indeed contributed to Western Alienation. While all four Western Provinces have banded together to construct Hwy 1 to a similar if not identical standard, Ontario has done very little to connect the rest of the country to it. But why would they?

One could argue that if Ontario really was 'stealing' the resource royalties and revenue from the north, then they would build better infrastructure to get it faster. I'm not one to believe in conspiracies, but growing up and living in the north and going to school in the south the case for such a conspiracy exists. The mines of the Northern Ontario yield a substantial royalty for their minerals, far more than any southerner can scrape off his fields. If the south was to reinvest the money in the north, it would prove that there is enough to do so, and from that would come the realisation that the agriculture, manufacturing, and service sectors of the south are not as profitable as they are made out to be. In addition to that things like GO Transit, En Routes, all those nice hospitals and new schools would come to an end, and well we just can't have that, a world where the south goes without. So those who are in control will continue down the same course, cutting off their nose to spite their face.

The blame for the current fiscal situation in Ontario is not, in my opinion, to be placed solely on the Great Recession, and a higher Canadian dollar caused by a lower American dollar resulting in the exodus of manufacturing companies in search of cheaper labour, but rather it is the effect of long neglect. Compare Ontario to a body suffering from an infection (don't dig too deeply into the use of words here): if the infection is not cured quickly or when it is first observed, it will spread and eventually consume the whole body. This has happened in Ontario, where as the north was allowed to fester, to become quite possibly the worst of the have-nots had it been its own province while being part of what once was the best of the have's. That is to say Northern Ontario's long neglect has contributed to the downfall of Ontario as a whole, and it is not the fault of the north at all. While resource revenue was gathered by the south and it became infrastructure heavy, the north went without. When the recession hit and the economic realities hit Southern Ontario, there was not enough of the steady flow of northern resource revenue to keep the province going at its former pace and things began to fall apart. When the bottom fell out of the manufacturing sector, Ontario was left with a long mismanaged finance department, that robbed from the poor and gave to the rich. Ontario took what little the north had and shored up the south, yet their isn't enough to go around. However, nothing was said, or heard, because it has always been easier to make Northern Ontario look the poorer, for who is going to complain, it's 3/4 of a million people? How are the voices of under 750,000 to be heard over those of upwards of twelve million?

It is easy to hide the truth when no one is looking for it. It is even easier when you've eliminated all of the opposition, or in the case of Northern Ontario, subjecting the populace to handouts that make them come back for more and convince them they have nothing at all. Those handouts are being stolen right out of the hands of those that generate them, and handed back at a much reduced percentage.

Coming full circle, all those years ago what is now Northwestern Ontario should have been Eastern Manitoba, the royalties from the gold alone would have gone a long way in Manitoba's coffers. Ontario would have done just fine without the gold from places like Red Lake, but only if the province was managed properly, with the interests of all in mind instead of a select portion of the province that lies along the shores of the two most southerly Great Lakes and the highway that runs north of them. One cannot rewrite history but only speculate on what could have been, but to do so would be a foolish endeavour if it were all that he did.

Perhaps one day Northern Ontario will get its due, perhaps it will realise that economic freedom and potential that truly exists within in districts. Perhaps Northern Ontario will see the day when its young do not leave for the job opportunities that its revenues have created in far away cities to the south, or follow the national migration west. Perhaps that day will come, I just hope I'll be able to see it.

Not only Ontario Northland expansion necessary for Ring of Fire

The ONTC has weathered some storms over the past few years, with the Northlander passenger rail service being axed, and now Ontera to be sold off to Bell Aliant. Successive governments have bemoaned the costs associated with the ONTC, saying that it is too expensive to continue running. However, it seems expansion has never been pondered, but rather the only foreseeable option is continuing with the status quo. Perhaps there in-lies the problem: the business model is too small in scope, not reaching enough customers. Resources and communities are spread wide across Northern Ontario, nothing is compact, nothing is easy. The ONTC is touted as serving Northern Ontario when really it serves a narrow band of Northeastern Ontario chiefly along the Hwy 11 corridor, leaving Northwestern Ontario completely out of its purview.

Sault Ste. Marie while being in Northeastern Ontario and a gateway to trade and commerce in the Midwestern United States lies outside the realm of ONTC rail freight.  ONTC rail therefore primary serves to ship raw materials to Southern Ontario to bolster the economy there, feeding their struggling manufacturing sector. So that raises multiple questions; can southern manufacturing sustain northern resources?; would northern resources be better served with multiple avenues of export? why are northern resources only shipped south?

Since all things in Ontario are controlled by the south, it is only logical to conclude that politicians there have pigeon holed the ONTC to feeding their ridings with resources for their constituents to process. Southern Ontario's manufacturing decline has had a trickle down effect on northern resources. With fewer dollars to purchase raw materials, fewer materials are extracted, demand goes down, therefore fewer dollars to spend of payroll, and so northern unemployment goes up. But what if the ONTC shipped elsewhere? What if materials extracted in the north were shipped to neighbouring Quebec (for starters; however no less better off than Southern Ontario)? Or to manufacturing markets in the United States? Or even Europe for that matter? I am not ignoring that some materials from the north are shipped elsewhere, but the ONTC is not doing the major shipping of those goods as all lines lead south.

Cliffs Natural Resources recently backed out of its plans regarding the Ring of Fire. In my opinion that's not in all a bad thing. I've always been at odds transporting goods twice: once from the mine, and again from where it is processed. Cliffs proposed to locate it's chromite smelter in Sudbury, hundreds upon hundreds of kilometres away from the extraction site. Sure the workforce is there, the industry already existing live and vibrant, the infrastructure, etc. It was a good fail-safe plan, money invested wouldn't be lost if the venture wasn't a boom. However, shipping alone seems to be a bit on the excessive. And why put all of your eggs in one basket? Why would a smelter for a raw material have to be processed in Sudbury if it is extracted hundreds of kilometres away? Situating a smelter and processing plant, which has to be built from ground-up anyway, doesn't necessarily need to be supplanted in a city for say. Why not build a processing facility in Nakina? It has great east-west rail links both by highway and rail, and would do wonders for the local economy (Of course there would be strains of the local infrastructure; housing, hospitals, schools, accommodations, retail, etc., but those would be addressed just like any other town has when it has grown).

In the big picture Nakina lies a stones-throw from Hearst which is the current terminus of the ONTC rail line. Renewing the rail link that once existed between these two communities on the remaining rail-bed would be not only cost effective but fuel future and expected growth. It is inevitable that the Ring of Fire will move ahead from its current stalemate, it is only a matter of time. In order for it to move ahead however, there are necessary steps that need to be taken before anything can get going. It would not be prudent to rely on commercial trucking to do the hauling of chromite from the Ring of Fire to the smelter, wherever it be located. The only real solution to haul the volumes of raw material to make the venture profitable is rail.

A rail line extending from Nakina (currently a rail town on the Canadian National Railway [CNR]) to the Ring of Fire is the best avenue to get the raw materials to market. That rail line wouldn't have to stop at the Ring of Fire, it could turn east passing by the Victor Diamond Mine on way to Attawapiskat. Why Attawapiskat? A seasonal port exists in Churchill, Manitoba operating in the summer months when Hudson Bay is free of ice, shipping grain and other commodities to European markets. In my opinion this model could be replicated by shipping chromite by rail to Attawapiskat, loading it onto sea-going vessels and off to markets in Europe and elsewhere. Not only would a rail line give Attawapiskat another transportation link, it would provide an additional marine link as well. The job creation this would create for an otherwise isolated fly-in only community would be monumental. Goods would not only flow outwards, but would be imported at a new port of entry, opening up Ontario's Far North. Victor Diamond Mine would be able to ship in and out heavy equipment via the new rail line, and would be open to larger shipments arriving from sea. This would serve identical purposes and benefits for the Ring of Fire.

But why stop there? Rebuilding the rail line that once ran from Hillsport (on the CNR) to the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) line adjacent to Hwy 17 via Manitouwadge would open up an entirely new avenue for the export of goods. Where the advantage of renewing this line lies is in the building of a port in Marathon. Marathon has been devastated by the closing of the pulp mill there that once sustained much of the employment of that town. The facilities exist on the waterfront to construct a port, rail lines already lead directly to the defunct mill's docks. Transforming this site into a port for the loading of not only chromite but other goods would have a lasting and positive economic effect on the town. Once loaded on vessels at Marathon, goods could be shipped to the Twin Ports of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin, and other ports on the Great Lakes like Chicago, Illinois, Cleveland, Ohio, and even Toronto, or onto wherever else there is a demand for chromite and other northern materials.

Of course these plans would take in collaboration with both CN and CP, multiple municipalities, all levels of government, First Nations (which already have an MOU with the Government of Ontario regarding the Ring of Fire), and the private sector. In order for bring economic prosperity to Northern Ontario, new avenues of export have to be established. Materials do not have to be sent to Southern Ontario just to keep it afloat, Ontario's economy does not and should not be expected to hinge on the struggling manufacturing sector of the Lower Great Lakes. Exposing northern materials to multiple markets is only going to drive up demand for them. More countries and more corporations are going to want a piece of that pie when it becomes available, but it has to be made available. That will take the right amount of investment, which will be in the billions of dollars and which is unfortunately somewhat at a shortage of right now in Ontario. However, the money spent to get the materials out of northern Ontario be they processed or not, will be more than payed off in the returns. I am not only speaking of the royalties that Ontario will earn from the private sector extracting chromite in the Ring of Fire, but from the dividends that come from prosperous communities.

Infrastructure is at the heart of successful communities. Communities served by well connected transportation links benefit substantially from the freight and cargo shipped through their jurisdictions by providing jobs and opportunities for local businesses. Job creation means more kids in schools, means more disposable income to be spent at local stores, and an all around higher quality of life. The economic spin-offs from job creation that would come from expanding the ONTC would be enormous and would forever change the landscape of Northern Ontario. It would start with the construction industry laying track from Attawapiskat to Marathon, from Nakina to Hearst, and continue on with the building of ports at the both aforementioned locales. Then would come the building of a smelter in, hopefully, Nakina, located closer to the source, located closer to transportation routes so goods could be shipped in all directions (and contrary to my opinion of shipping goods twice, if processed chromite were to be shipped to Europe via Attawapiskat). The thousands of jobs that would be created would not only be in the Ring of Fire, but in Attawapiskat and Marathon at the new ports, the jobs would be with ONTC servicing and maintaining the new rail lines, they would be found in Manitouwadge loading gold and lumber onto rail cars, as would be the same in other communities served by the new lines.

The extraction of northern commodities whether they be raw materials or not, would greatly benefit from being shipped to new avenues of trade and export. The ONTC needs to play a central role in this, not only to survive but to grow, which is the goal of all successful business plans. Instead of being virtually a one line railway, the ONTC can transform Northern Ontario by taking a leading role in the shipment of goods not only to Southern Ontario, but to other markets abroad. Not only would the expansion of ONTC lines be beneficial to freight, but a relaunch of passenger rail could be explored too. Just this year CNR announced the planned closure of the passenger service between Hearst and Sault Ste. Marie. If the ONTC were to buy that line and revamp the Northlander it could create at a minimum a Northeastern loop, with service between all Northeastern cities with a line built from North Bay to Sault Ste. Marie via Sudbury. This loop would be interconnected with VIA Rail at Sudbury and Oba (south of Hearst) and from there onward to the rest of Canada. And who knows, perhaps a future line to connect to Northwestern Ontario, tying in Thunder Bay, Dryden, and Kenora, not only for passenger rail, but for the movement of freight as well.

Instead of trying to save a government entity that only services a fraction of Northern Ontario's potential, expand the service to reach all of the north. The provincial government needs to invest in the north, the opportunities already exist, the commitment just needs to follow.

North of Nipigon Route

The Trans Canada Highway is funneled into a bottleneck at Nipigon, where all of Canada's cross country traffic must cross a single bridge. For a country so wealthy as ours, you'd think there'd be an alternate route. Canada's cross country trucking would grind to a halt if something ever happened to this bridge. Granted, most travelers heading from one side of the country to the other usually cross into the United States at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and re-enter Canada somewhere in the Prairies (mostly at North Portal, Saskatchewan) to shave a few hundred kilometres of their trip and to avoid the turns and hills that are characteristic of the Canadian Shield topography of northern Ontario.  However, if one doesn't choose to cross the border, then they are left with one option, and that is to cross the Nipigon Bridge.

Recently construction has begun on building a second parallel bridge over the Nipigon River, dividing the highway into four lanes, two east, two west. It is no hidden fact that northern Ontario is the last stretch of the Trans Canada Highway (TCH) not to be upgraded to a divided highway, and recent improvements in Northwestern Ontario have begun to address this. But even with a divided highway from Nipigon to Thunder Bay, all traffic will still have to travel along this route.

A highway that traverses north around Lake Nipigon would alleviate this bottleneck and give motorists an option, and in part growing the economy of the northern Ontario. My proposed route would have an eastern terminus with Highway 11 at Klotz Lake east of Longlac and a western terminus with Highway 17 at Dinorwic east of Dryden. The highway would be an easterly extension of Highway 72 (currently from Dinorwic to Sioux Lookout), it would supersede in their entirety highways 516 and 643, short portions of highways 527 and 584, and be paired with highway 599 for a short stretch. Like nearly all of the TCH the NNR would for the most part follow a route already blazed by a railway, that of the Canadian National Railway's transcontinental main line, and may even benefit the CN by offering better access for rail crews in the area.

The North of Nipigon Route (NNR) would have junctions with the existing highways of 527, 584, and 599, and would spur the lengthening of highways 801 and 811 to eventually link up with the new highway, not to mention the countless logging roads that would be tied into the new road network. With all of these smaller highways branching off and connecting with the already existing Trans Canada Highway system, the NNR would not be isolated and detours would be available should they be necessary.

The NNR would open up a whole new area to opportunities for development and growth, and give communities once served by only one road, multiples route of egress and and entrance. Communities like Armstrong and Nakina would be at crossroads instead of dead-ends. Smaller settlements along the route would no longer have to wait for supplies from intermittent rail deliveries, but rather be opened up to the national trucking route. Existing gas stations, motels, lodges, restaurants, convenience stores, and tourist destinations would not only see business increase, but there would be opportunities for entrepreneurs to build new enterprises.

The northern shores of Lake Nipigon would become accessible to the traveling public, and provincial parks like Nakina Moraine, Wabikimi, Whitesand, and Windigo Bay (to name just a few) would become ever popular. Fishing and hunting lodges could experience an increase in clientele from those who'd prefer to get themselves to the lodge.

The NNR would be 570 km in length, from Dinorwic to Klotz Lake, making it a whole 100 km shorter than travelling between those two destinations via the present TCH. This would cut down on driving times for cross country traffic, and while not significantly, it may be the difference needed for some truckers and motorists. Obviously Thunder Bay benefits from having all east-west traffic flow through it's city limits, however the city isn't dependent on commercial traffic, and the NNR would not result in all commercial traffic avoiding the southerly Lake Superior route. After all, Thunder Bay is an important and vital port for Western Canadian goods being shipped through the Great Lakes, those goods arriving by both rail and truck.

Would the small towns connected by the NNR see more traffic? Obviously. Would their streets no longer be as quiet? Obviously yes. However, there would be an influx of money flowing into their businesses, keeping them afloat at a time when populations in northern Ontario are dwindling. The construction and future maintenance of the road would see a jump in the number of jobs created in Northwestern Ontario. The NNR would bring commercial traffic closer to the mines and logging regions they already service. Fuel prices would become affordable as the cost of transportation would plummet, and the cost of living would go down as commodities would become more realistic in communities that would no longer be isolated.

The NNR would not only benefit the small communities that it passes through, but the travellers and traffic that are passing through them.