After an event Friday announcing funding for communication technologies through FedNor's Northern Ontario Development Program, MP Anthony Rota took questions from the media regarding issues facing Northern Ontarians.
Recently released Statistics Canada 2016 census data showed that North Bay's population had decreased by 3.9 per cent or a decline of 2,098 people since 2011. When asked what action the federal government's Northern Caucus planned to take on the subject of population decline, Rota replied, "We've been working hard, it's just like we've done today, where we get businesses growing. We've seen [population decline] happen over the last while and it's time, there's a new government that's been here for a year and is starting to turn everything around.
"We are seeing some growth in the surrounding communities, and when you look at communities right across the country, especially in Ontario, where you are seeing the bedroom communities growing.
"We've seen this in the past, where you see bedroom communities starting to grow and people don't mind driving 20 minutes, half an hour, an hour to work. And then they kind of come back into town. So, it's kind of a pendulum, and we seem to be at the other end."
Rota continued, saying that, "We're hoping to keep the growth going in the bedroom communities, but also bring it back into the larger communities as well."
When it was pointed out that the growth in the outlying areas of North Bay is minuscule compared to the exodus from the city itself, Rota responded, "They are not all going to bedroom communities. Some of them are going to larger cities and that part of it is demographic. You have younger people who are going away, getting educated and not coming back and that's something that we are working on, and trying to get them back.
"I've been meeting with the mayors and their economic development departments to see about getting people back, and that's an issue that is pertinent right across the country and something we have to work on. We do have a large country, and if we're serious about keeping it all populated, not just in five cities, we have to concentrate on it."
On the subject of electoral reform, Rota expressed that Prime Minister Trudeau's backtracking on an election issue that he campaigned on was "a bit of a surprise to me as well. It came out, and obviously, it didn't go where they wanted.
"When they went to committee, they kind of left it wide open instead of being very specific about what they were going to accomplish. There was no focus or no consensus when it was done, which was a bit of a disappointment."
When asked if he was happy with the electoral system as is, Rota expressed that, "It's the system that we have, we have to work with it. It's not perfect, I'm not sure that there is a perfect system out there, there may be better systems out there. Unfortunately, it's like anything else in life, you work with what you have."
With Trudeau and new US President Donald Trump set to meet Monday in Washington, the MP was asked about the significance of the encounter. "I think it's very significant for both countries, the states, the northern states especially, have a significant amount of trade with Canada. So, when you have a neighbouring house, is the best way to put it, and a new neighbour moves in, you want to make sure that it starts off on the right foot."
