My excellent plan for the ring of fire.

• Author: Robinson, David
• Position: ECONOMICALLY SPEAKING

Ontario's northwest is one of the last great frontiers. It is a country-sized chunk of land still outside of the transportation network that links productive communities to the global economy. Ice roads, small planes and bureaucrats are all that tie the region to Canada.

But northwestern Ontario's place in the global economy is changing. The trigger was finding enough ore near McFauld's Lake to justify building a road or rail link. With bulk transportation, 100 other potential mines become economic.

This comes when China plans to build urban homes for 250 million people by 2025 and will want Northern metals and wood. And when economic recovery in the USA will help push resource prices back up. And when warming climate will make ice roads impossible and another port on Hudson's Bay inevitable.

A good plan starts by looking at best practices from around the world. The Finns, for example, would probably be planning an independent Aboriginal-dominated regional government for the northwest. The Swedes would be designing a style of architecture that suited the climate and respected traditional culture. The European Union would insist that everyone up there have high-speed internet and phone connectivity. The Russians would already be shipping building supplies in with their giant hovercraft, and planning to barge a portable nuclear plant up the Attawapiskat River to provide safe green power. The Chinese would have already started to build the railroad north and invited the world's leading architects to design their new city. The Koreans would start planning a port on Cape Henrietta Maria to link the region with the growing Asian market. And if California were a country they would have put in an order for hybrid airships, a low impact approach that could serve the mines and all the surrounding communities.

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Since Queen's Park seems a bit lost, imagine using modern ideas and technology to leapfrog the new northwest well into the 21st century.

First, face the fact that there will be a lot of mines and that the Arctic is opening up. Plan a city of 40,000 to be the development centre for the entire region. Ask First Nations to design the city so that it supports their traditional values while helping newcomers to integrate into the native-friendly new community.

Since a major problem for mining companies will be attracting and holding labour, make the city one of the...