Tim Johnston spoke to the Thompson Chamber of Commerce May 4 on behalf of Community Futures North Central Development (CFNCD) to encourage it to become a signatory to the Declaration of Common Values for the Sustainable Development of the Boreal in Northern Manitoba (now more briefly known as Northern Values).
Northern Values was born out of the 2015 Boreal Summit hosted in The Pas where Johnston met Mathew Jacobson of Pew Charitable Trusts’ International Boreal Conservation Campaign. With the financial support of Pew, CFNCD spearheaded the formulation of a unified vision for a development and conservation plan for Northern Manitoba among stakeholders and rights-holders on all levels.
The document outlines eight cardinal values for Manitoban boreal stakeholders, each seeking to maximize benefits to northern communities hosting any future development, whether indigenous or non-indigenous, to ensure all development is feasible in the long term and that communities are earnestly consulted in order to create regionally meaningful policies.
Jacobson presented the declaration to Northern Manitoban chiefs at a Thompson conference in January. For Jacobson and Pew, conservation is the primary priority. But Johnston’s priority was development. Johnston stressed what he saw as the subordinate role that northern communities have played under southern-dominated governments: “I always quote [Thompson city manager] Gary Ceppetelli, he told me this long ago: despite whatever political persuasion has been in government, there’s fundamentally been a philosophy of limited development in Northern Manitoba. Northern Manitoba has undersold itself, and has languished in development because of that concept of limited development.”
Johnston cited the de facto ghost towns of Leaf Rapids and Lynn Lake, single-industry towns viewed as disposable once their mining operations became inactive. Johnston also compared Brandon’s development to Thompson’s since the 1970s to highlight the prioritization of southern development. “[In] 1974, the population of Brandon was 29,000. The population of Thompson was 24,000. If you ever want to see the impact of a limited development philosophy, there’s one.”
Consultation, according to Johnston, has been a key element lacking in northern policy-making. “We had political parties coming up with documents about Northern Manitoba – Northern Manitoba wasn’t saying, ‘This is critical, this is important.’ So our goal is to take this document, put it in front of government and say, ‘Understand, Northern Manitoba has grown up and matured. Everyone’s at the table together, and you’re going to have to listen to what’s important to the north.’”
Pew’s boreal conservation campaign was instrumental in the formulation of Quebec’s Plan Nord, a unified vision for economic development in Quebec’s north that prioritized ecological and economic sustainability, local consultation and respect for aboriginal rights. Johnston pointed out that Plan Nord had been outlined as a model document for the Thompson Economic Diversification Working Gropup (TEDWG) process. The Northern Values declaration’s goal is a comparable economic development plan that prioritizes local consultation and region-specific policies.
Johnston praised the TEDWG process, but noted that a process is just a process without a mechanism for action, but believed that the new Northern Values coalition was a critical next step to accelerate community development.
Current signatories to the document includes municipalities such as Thompson, Churchill, Snow Lake and Flin Flon, industry representatives like Tolko and the Manitoba Mining Association, First Nations councils such as those of Norway House and Grand Rapids, and conservation groups like Ducks Unlimited. “We think we have enough of a cross-section of Northern Manitoba to push for that meeting with government,” Johnston noted, “But we had to make sure we had that critical mass.”
CFNCD intends to approach the provincial government with the declaration, supported by a delegation of representatives from all signatory parties. Following preliminary discussions, Johnston believes the organization should push for an institute of northern development, much like Brandon’s Institute of Rural Development.
“The first step is to get the signatories,” Johnston stated. “Then, let’s have a discussion with the new government about where we can take this, and I truly believe that institute of northern development is the key.”
Chamber president Oswald Sawh asked if the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce (MCC) would be lending its support to the document. Johnston assured that the MCC had expressed their support, but could not say with full certainty that they would be signatories to the document. Coun. Colleen Smook, from her understanding, stated that MCC intended to be a signatory, but did not want to appear to be the first signatory to the document.
Rodney Frost expressed concerns that parties may find ways to exploit the agreement, and that fears of misuse may generate animosity between stakeholders. “You touched base on one of the landmines there, that not everyone will use that document with the same intent.”
Johnston was confident in the signatories’ ability to work towards a common goal: “Even when we go to specific companies in the industry, there’s a tremendous reluctance to be first in. No matter what happens, you’re in the game. The basis for success is a relationship of trust and honesty, and you have to build that with success. But what I was amazed at in The Pas is that those relationships are way further along than we think.”
Johnston cited initiatives like Vale’s POinT (Process Operators in Training) program as an example of northern and indigenous communities entering into fruitful working relationships with industry. “These guys as industry stakeholders are so far ahead of what the public is doing, because they know that if they’re not having that dialogue, they’re not going anywhere.”
Sawh said the chamber board would consider the document at its next meeting.
