From one fossil to another: put the kids in charge.

• Author: Robinson, Dave
• Position: ECONOMICALLY SPEAKING

Dear Michael Gravelle;

Just having our own Facebook page doesnit magically turn old fogies like us into citizens of the 21st century. We have to learn to think like natives of the Information age. And you and I are not doing too well, Michael.

As an academic, I have to learn to use the web and the media to communicate with students and citizens across the North. As a politician, you have to learn to run an electronic democracy. You have to involve people in decision-making and give them all the data they need to make decisions.

You missed a wonderful chance with the Northern Growth Plan. You could have supplied all the information Northerners needed to really participate in the decision-making process. Instead, you held token consultations without doing any of the background research. You wasted time and money and held meetings before we had the hard data. Then, you buried all the advice and suggestions instead of sharing them with everyone. You sucked information out of the North, instead of putting information in.

In Southern Ontario, research was done to prepare for the[dagger]southern Growth Plan. It was posted on the web. Southerners got implementation documents, technical papers and backgrounders[dagger]on the[dagger]development of planis policies. We Northerners got a short collection of fluff that anyone could have pulled from the web, plus an unsupported population estimate from the Ministry of Finance.

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It really looked like your ministry didnit do the background work that it takes to develop a 125-year blueprinti for northern growth. The academics I talk to certainly donit think you did the work. You can still convince us that you have the research needed for a Northern economic plan: just show it to us.

We need to know exactly how much the province gets from Vale Inco and forestry companies, for example, and exactly how much income tax, sales tax and gas tax you collect. We need detailed information on spending in the North. Ask a few businessmen and women in Thunder Bay whether they would develop a plan without this information.

We need a serious transportation analysis. How much would it cost to develop a deep water port on Georgian Bay? I donit make plans until after I have done a feasibility study. We needed a rigorous study on why our schools encourage young people to leave the North. This...