Pontiac is largely a forest. So, you might think that of all the industries that could thrive here, forestry would be at the top of the list. Which is why news of the imminent closure of the sawmill in Rapides des Joachims comes as a bit of a shock, especially so soon after it reopened just last year.
From our front-page story this week on this latest mill closure, it would seem that the province has decided forestry is a dead industry, at least here in the Pontiac, and not worth supporting. So, what do they have in mind for us?
Meanwhile, the northern Ontario town of Ignace, not far from Lake Superior, is looking forward to the creation over the coming decades of a deep underground disposal facility for high-level radioactive waste. It comes as no surprise that in such places where employment opportunities are few and far between and poverty is high that even this kind of option might be greeted with enthusiasm by the local community.
Is this what’s in store for us here in the upper Ottawa Valley? We are already familiar with the strong push to locate an above-ground nuclear waste dump at Chalk River, just across the Ottawa River from western Pontiac. All that prevents radioactive waste being housed just a kilometer from the Ottawa River are several First Nations that are taking their fight against the scheme to court.
Is this the kind of battle that awaits us? Will fending off nuclear waste dumps and garbage incinerators that no self-respecting urban population would ever accept forever be our fate? Are these the only kinds of alternatives to seeing our young people either commute or relocate elsewhere for jobs, all while we have the potential for perfectly good renewable resource-based industries right here?
The MRC resolution demanding the provincial government try a bit harder is nice words. But somehow, we’re going to have to do better than that. Pontiac’s economic life is at stake.
Because, if not the forestry industry, then what? Maybe the nuclear waste dump planned for Chalk River will soon be looking for a new willing host.
