Report recommends ideas to grow northern economy
- EFN Staff | December 09, 2014
The Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce has released its Northern Business Task Force Report which contains recommendations focused on finding creative solutions to accelerate Northern Saskatchewan’s economic and social development. The 12 recommendations coming out of this report focus on the individual citizen of the north more than typical business issues like tax rates.
“In order for business to improve in the north, life has to improve. You will see a strong focus on the resident in this report,” said Geoff Gay, co-chair of the Task Force and also CEO of Athabasca Basin Development, a large employer in northern Saskatchewan. “Obviously the stronger the resident it makes for better employees and retention and brings better training. Think about the impact on the children and schools by having better band width and proper nutrition and food that is affordable. Everything on the list will contribute to a better quality of life in the north.”
The report included 12 recommendations that addressed issues such as electricity rate codes, ice road closure dates, telecommunications coverage, and increasing subsidies for healthy foods.
“There is no way you should be paying $17 to $19 for a four litre jug of milk in Fond du Lac when I can buy that same jug for $4.50 in Prince Albert,” added Gay, who explained that northern Ontario communities receive $1.20 per kilogram subsidy compared to northern Saskatchewan’s five cent per kilogram subsidy.
The Task Force held meetings throughout 2013 and 2014 and also hosted two tours of numerous remote northern communities that involved participants from the business community, government, and media.
Steve McLellan, CEO of the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, says the recommendations are all achievable and can be acted upon quickly.
“We wanted to make a difference right away. We see some of these items as foundational changes. If we get internet across the north it will make a difference for educators, students, public safety and it’s going to make it easier to do business. That’s not inexpensive or easy, but it could be done quickly,” said McLellan. “Our vision is to make Saskatchewan a better place to live, work and invest. If you can’t live here, in this case the far north because the cost of food is too high, people aren’t going to get workers and they won’t invest here. If families can’t get nutritious food to their families then the student that is hungry is a tough one to educate.”
The Task Force was co-chaired by Doug Gillespie, the CEO of West Wind Aviation. The Chamber intends to do one more northern tour in the coming months and even made a recommendation that the Premier and some cabinet ministers come along on the trip.
According to Geoff Gay, those people have to see what opportunity there is for tourism and business and how it can be enhanced with the right investments.
“There is a lot to do in the north. This report is a starting point. There are lots of recommendations that are easy wins and we can make progress on right away.”
Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce Northern Business Task Force Report Recommendations:
- Increase efforts to encourage energy efficiency
- Change all northern communities from E03 electricity rate code to E02 code
- Adjust ice road closure dates on an annual basis
- Increase the provincial budget for northern roads by a meaningful amount every year
- Build the all‐weather Garson Lake Road from La Loche to Fort McMurray
- Build an all‐weather road from Highway 905 to Wollaston Lake
- Increase awareness of career opportunities and training options among northern residents
- Ensure that educational opportunities and attainment standards are comparable to southern Saskatchewan
- Ensure comparable access to bandwidth and cellular coverage for northern communities
- Increase Nutrition North Canada subsidy for healthy foods
- Continue to improve internal communication and cooperation between Crown Corporations and Ministries on northern issues
- The Premier and appropriate Ministers should visit Saskatchewan’s remote northern communities
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