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Huron Expositor, 2015-12-09, Page 15Wednesday, December 9, 2015 • Huron Expositor 15 Premier Wynne talks bridging the rural -urban divide Galen Simmons Postmedia Network Of all the small rural towns in Ontario she could have visited this week, Pre- mier Kathleen Wynne chose to speak in Mitchell about bridging the rural - urban gap at the Rotary Club of Mitchell's Rural Urban Night Thursday, Nov 26, attended by approxi- mately 275 people. "I actually have a lot of connections to Mitchell. There are people in Perth - Wellington who I have known for a number of years and it was great to be back among them. This is a fine community and the fact that Rotary was doing this Rural Urban Night was really meaningful to me," she said. "I think that this is the kind of initiative that helps us to understand each other, so I very much wanted to come and be part of it." Although the Rotarian organizers weren't sure how exactly the rural -urban theme fit into the evening of good food and socializ- ing, Wynne came prepared to speak about the efforts of people - both within and outside of the provincial government - who are working to bridge the gap between rural and urban communities. After recognizing the three Members of Provincial Parliament (MPP's) in attendance at the dinner event - MPP for Cambridge Kathryn McGarry, MPP for Kitchener Centre Daiene Vernile and MPP for Perth Wellington Randy Pet- tapiece - Wynne spoke about attending the Royal Winter Fair last year and lis- tening to Ashley Knapton, the winner of the 2014 Sen- ior Canadian Young Speak- ers for Agriculture competi- tion, talk about using social media to create a common ground between rural and urban communities. "She talked about how using Facebook, Twitter and YouTube could be used to cultivate the common ground between rural and urban, connecting farmers to one another and better connecting all of us to the food we eat and the people who grow, produce and process it," Wynne recalled. "I liked Ashley's positivity about the future of agricul- ture in Ontario. And on a simple concept - that the only gap between the rural and urban is our geography - the rest is perceived." The illusion of the rural - urban gap, Wynne contin- ued, masks so much com- mon ground as well as many of the ways rural and urban communities rely on each other to create the quality of life Ontarians have become accustomed to. The issue of bridging the rural -urban gap has been on Wynne's mind since she was first elected back in 2003. In partnership with former Perth -Wellington MPP John Wilkinson, Wynne helped to develop a program dubbed AG -101 - which saw urban MPP's and their families travel to Perth -Wellington to spend time with their rural coun- terparts and their families, who then travelled to Toronto to see how the other half lived. "Ag -101 helps explained why it was so important for me to take on the role of Minister of Agriculture and Food during my first year as Premier," Wynne said. "That too was about breaking down the divide and send- ing a message that rural issues are everybody's issues. Our rural communi- ties create prosperity across the province - and there is only one Ontario." Wynne then went on to describe how her govern- ment has used this mindset of "one Ontario" to inform its approach towards investments in infrastruc- ture - citing the govern- ment's Moving Ontario Forward plan to invest more than $31 billion - half of which is going toward projects in communities outside the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area such as a new Highway 7 alignment between Kitchener and PARK THEATRE 2m ®'rte a uLcihRi Li = , I z, 24 x.51 MOVIE INFORMATION.. 114. WWW,movrieFi-BQ0-265.3438 Guelph and improvements to Highway 401 towards London. "I was just talking to (West Perth) Mayor Walter (McKenzie) about the Con- necting Link program and he's going to apply for the eleventh time for the same project - I said the eleventh time is lucky, Walter. But you need to understand, we have a Connecting Link program now, we've rein- stated the Connecting Link program because it has to be there every year for communities to be able to stay on top of those pro- jects that are so important," Wynne mentioned. "When I was Minister of Transpor- tation I was frustrated because it was ad-hoc every year, it was a question of whether there was going to be any money left and whether we could put some money into a Connecting Link program, so we've reinstated it:' Wynne said her govern- ment has made it a priority to split this government funding evenly and transpar- ently between rural and urban communities. To ensure this, the provincial government has created a stable and predictable $100 million per year fund dedi- cated to communities with less than 100,000 people for critical infrastructure like municipal roads, bridges, water and wastewater plants. "There's also only one Ontario when I travel abroad to promote our businesses and create investment opportunities. I promote all of Ontario - our manufacturers, our tech sector, our agri-food industry, our resource sec- tors - the whole province," Wynne said, citing a recent trade mission to China, Ontario's second largest importer of agri-food products, with the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Jeff Leal. "China's market represents huge opportunities for Ontario producers, and Jeff is working hard to open them up." As of two weeks ago, Wynne said Leal had reached $2.5 billion worth of deals and partnerships with Chinese organiza- tions. As a result of a meet- ing between Leal and online Chinese retailer JD.com back in April, the company signed a $100 million deal to sell more Ontario produce and agri- food products in China on JD's massive e-commerce platform. "I know stories like this don't offer much comfort to those fallen on hard times, especially to the 214 people from the Kraft Heinz plant up the road and their fami- lies," Wynne admitted. "The hard truth is that as a player in the global supply chain, there will be corporate con- solidation decisions beyond our control. But they are a small part of the Happy 50th Anniversary Married Dec. 4 196 GORD and IRMA PRYCE Love Your Friends & Family picture. And they don't change what makes Ontario strong." The food and beverage sector, Wynne continued, is outpacing the province in terms of growth, while the number of food processing companies operating in the province continues to grow. Recently, Perth County Ingredients in St. Marys was awarded an Agri -Food Innovation Award. Although the company is only three years old it has already grown from 10 to 27 employees, and the owners are expecting to add an additional 10 jobs by spring. "And they're taking appli- cations from former Kraft Heinz employees," Wynne added. "Their reason for making St. Marys their home is simple: go where the quality eggs are. So while the global market can be unpredictable - beyond 1 1 our control - remember that we control the quality of things we grow and pro- cess. We control what we build with innovation, the strength of our educated and skilled workforce and the dedication and passion our farmers and processors brings every day." Yet Wynne said these strengths can only be developed when all of Ontario is pulling together, regardless of geography. After she spoke, the Rotary Club of Mitchell presented Wynne with a few tokens of appreciation, one of which was an hon- orary Mitchell Hawks' Jr. C hockey jersey, as the embark on celebrating their 50th anniversary sea- son next year. Once the official program ended, Wynne chatted and had her picture taken with attendees before heading home to Toronto. 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