northern mayors

 

The mayors of the five largest urban centres of the north met Wednesday in North Bay and one issue seemed to take precedence over all the others.

That issue is Energy Prices.

The Mayor of Sault Ste Marie is Christian Provenzano.

He says it’s so important to the economies of all the northern centres.

Provenzano says all five want their communities to flourish and grow.

He says for that to happen you have to be competitive, attract industry and once you do that get those companies to thrive.

Provenzano says energy proices are getting in the way.

The host Mayor Al McDonald agrees.

He says businesses are leaving and consumers are being impacted too.

They also talked about funding for infrastructure projects, the Ring of Fire and FEDNOR funding.

Provenzano says the funding that FEDNOR is providing is less than the funding, by a fair amount, that Atlantic Canadian municipalities get from the economic development agency out east.

He says Atlantic Canada may have three times the population, but they get 6 times the funding.

Provenzano says the mayors meet twice a year and the discussions are important because they get a better understanding of each other and are sensitive to each communities key interests.