The announcements of the 29 projects through the regions and rurality fund are excellent news. Investment into projects that help build the economy and community of the Pontiac is desperately needed.

However, despite how grateful the recipients are for the money and how much of a boon that money will be to the local economy, we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. Specifically, $2,623,469.64, spread over 29 projects is not going to make too dramatic of an impact, especially given the soaring costs associated with building things these days.

For example, an $100,000 grant to build a park from scratch is only going to go so far before more money has to be raised.

This reveals a bit of a problem. Spreading limited resources around multiple different projects might mean that no one single project gets enough to accomplish its full potential. Again, this isn’t to say the money as it is being spent right now won’t make any difference, but maybe a limited one.

In the future, the Pontiac, having a such small population and therefore less of a claim on provincial and federal resources, may need to think a little bigger.

Perhaps the Pontiac needs to start pushing one big project to attract a larger investment. A big, centrally located project that has a built-in need for many well-compensated labours on a sustainable basis would go long way to accomplishing the goal of truly revitalizing the region.

What the project would be is another question.

There’s the energy-from-waste plant proposal, which has been advocated by the Warden. This is the best example of something big that has long been in the works, however, it’s just one of many ideas. Other potential ideas include:

A large-scale tourism project, like a new national park in the region, the extension of the PPJ, or something similar to draw people to the region. This would have a big knock-on effect on pre-existing and future tourism-oriented businesses.

A green infrastructure project. Any investment that is oriented toward the creation of an environmentally sustainable economy could prove to be far more durable than pursuing soon-to-be outdated ways of doing things. This could be in the form of a solar farm, modernizing the hydroelectric capabilities of the area, an investment in green transportation methods, or any other number of potential projects that are desperately needed to reform the way the economy works in order to prevent and adapt to climate change. The more forward-thinking the better.

A large-scale project to build affordable housing. With the notorious lack of affordable housing around the country, offering quality homes people could afford seems like it could be a huge draw to the region. While this would attract many commuters, especially in the short-term, the new residents would have money to spend locally, especially if all their income wasn’t going into housing like in the city. More people inevitably means more economic activity, which means more jobs and investment.

All of this is to say that there are a number of things the Pontiac could be investing in, but it’s not like money is easy to get a hold of. Again the idea would be to pick one project and go all in, at least in regard to public funding requests.

There would be some risk involved, but usually, there is risk in anything worth doing. Questions over ownership and how to make the project truly beneficial to a wide swath of Ponticars would also be very important to answer in ensuring that the big project is done right.

Also finding a project that 18 municipalities could come to a consesus on is easier said than done.

However if done right, the Pontiac is so small in terms of population and so interconnected that one big project would have knock-on effects that would inevitably benefit every community. By pooling our resources and lobbying efforts, with the interest of the community as a whole in mind, big things could happen. It’s something we should consider.

Brett Thoms