August 31, 2011
Council votes to stay
in nuke group
by Vance Gutzman
The cheque will be in the mail, after all.
Deep River council has endorsed a resolution calling on the town to
continue its involvement with an organization which bills itself as
being a promoter of economic development for Canada's nuclear industry.
By a 3-2 margin, in a recorded vote, council approved the town's
continued participation in the Ontario East Economic Development
Commission's (OEEDC) Advanced Manufacturer's Group (AMG).
The recorded vote came at council's August meeting, though the issue
first arose at its July meeting, when Deputy Mayor Mary
MacCafferty lashed out at Mayor David Thompson's decision not to sign a
$3,000 cheque for the municipality's registration with the AMG.
The AMG is an offshoot of the OEEDC, which itself is a 125-member
organization with a mandate to promote Eastern Ontario as a preferred
location for business investment.
"The mayor's decision to pull Deep River's registration was read by the
OEEDC as a loss of interest by Deep River in promoting nuclear industry
opportunities and business development for our community, despite being
the key nuclear community in Eastern Ontario," MacCafferty charged in
July.
A motion put forth by the deputy mayor in July, calling on the town to
continue its participation with the AMG, was tabled until the August 17
meeting, in order for council to gather more information on that
group's mandate.
Jackie St. Pierre, executive director of the OEECD, made just such a
presentation at the August meeting.
"We constantly have to look at who our competitors are," St. Pierre
told council in part, adding that her group provides its members with a
united front on economic development issues pertaining to the nuclear
industry.
That includes a great deal of preparatory work, she said, such as the
Organization of CANDU Industries (OCI), which will be holding a
suppliers event in September at Chalk River Labs.
MacCafferty claimed in July that Thompson's decision not to sign the
$3,000 cheque prompted the OEEDC to opt out of that upcoming event.
"You need to go to the conferences to understand the supply chain," St.
Pierre told council.
"You can't just go to a show with your roll-up banner. We set up
meetings for you in advance."
Council debated the matter further following St. Pierre's presentation.
"Hope is not an economic development strategy," MacCafferty told
council.
"It takes initiative, and at this time of such uncertainty, it would be
a sad day, for sake of $3,000, to close the door on economic
development."
Councillor Daniel Banks, while questioning the effectiveness of the AMG
in promoting the town's interests, was still disinclined to opt out of
the group.
"Part of the impact of this is the message it sends," Banks said.
"We do need to be careful of that."
Councillor Terry Myers, meanwhile, felt St. Pierre's lengthy
presentation helped fill in some of the blanks council was facing on
the issue.
"I did hear some good things here tonight," Myers said.
"I'm sensitive to the deputy mayor's concerns."
Councillor Ron Desrochers, on the other hand, had a completely opposite
take on the matter, saying that Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL)
has a much bigger role to play than the town of Deep River in promoting
the nuclear industry.
"The town of Deep River didn't bring AECL here," Desrochers said.
"The big dog is AECL. I don't know why we're waving our little $3,000
flag."
Mayor Thompson, for his part, said St. Pierre's presentation did
nothing to change his mind.
"It's not about the money," Thompson said.
"Show me what you've done. She (St. Pierre) was unable to show me how
her group has brought investment and jobs to Renfrew County."
The motion to continue the town's participation with the AMG was passed
with Banks, MacCafferty and Myers voting in favour and Desrochers and
Thompson opposed.
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