We all need to find common ground on regional issues

I sometimes wonder why we isolate ourselves so much. District municipalities from Atikokan to Rainy River belong to the Rainy River District Municipal Association. The RRDMA meets twice annually and come together with other regional municipal organizations once a year to meet at the Northern Ontario Municipal Association.
Yet as communities across the Rainy River District, we don’t meet often enough to grapple with issues that affect all the people of the Rainy River District.
There is a second separate governing body across the district. Each First Nation has an elected chief and Council. Each too appears isolated from another first nation. They are all members of the Chiefs Secretariat that meets far more regularly that the RRDMA.
They too grapple with many of the concerns of the members of the RRDMA. There is not a municipality or first nation that does not require upgrading or improvements to both drinking water systems and sewer systems. It is a common ground that all municipalities and first nations share.
Every local government shares concerns on learning and education.
There is not a single first nation or municipality that feels that it has all the necessary funding to build and repair roads and streets.
A doctor shortage cries out across the Rainy River District and affects the lives of every man woman and child in the district. Every government across the district has concerns about the health care system.
So I wonder, “Why do we not lobby together the more senior levels of government to improve the communities in which we live?”
It was quite clear that the issue of toxic land clean up that Couchiching First Nation was seeking, impacted every community that draws water from Rainy Lake or Rainy River. Yet the Rainy River District Municipal Association did not fire off letters to the Ministry of Environment, or any other provincial ministry demanding the land on Couchiching be made clean.
When other Northern Ontario municipalities have sought assistance and requested support from Fort Frances, frequently the community has supported those requests. Often even prior to the community formally asking for support.
Through the leadership of several First Nation leaders, Riverside Health facilities gained the Dialysis facilities. That has benefited all in the district.
I would suggest councils meeting together should be able to identify priorities that are common to everyone. I would even suggest that in finding common ground on the most important issues facing councils may make finding common ground on issues that tend to divide governments is easier.

–Jim Cumming,
Publisher