Northern Ontario Heritage Party
Encyclopedia
The Northern Ontario Heritage Party is a provincial political party
in Ontario
, Canada
that was formed in 1977 to campaign for provincial status for Northern Ontario
. No member was ever elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
. The party disbanded in the 1980s, and was re-registered by Elections Ontario in 2010.
The party's founder, Ed Deibel of North Bay
, travelled Northern Ontario in the late 1960s and early 1970s to promote the idea of creating a separate province, and to sign up supporters for the party.
The party later dropped the idea of a separate province from its platform, and continued to promote Northern Ontario's interests within Ontario.
On May 16, 1973, Deibel formed a committee to discuss this idea, and began research about Northern Ontario’s problems. Deibel travelled Northern Ontario recruiting 600 members for the new province committee, and obtaining 6,000 signatures on a petition requesting that a vote be given to Northern Ontario on the question of forming a new province.
In October 1974, Deibel pitched a tent at Queen's Park, site of Ontario’s legislative assembly
, for three days, and gave interviews to the media. This led to a half-hour private meeting with Premier
William Davis
, who refused to allow a plebiscite.
In the spring of 1975, Deibel wrote to Premier Davis, offering to abandon the new province committee if the government met seven demands:
The Ontario government responded to the offer, noting that "Northern Ontario... is strengthened by being an integral part of a very broadly based provincial economy." The government’s response addressed each of the demands, but accepted none of them.
Deibel replied with a demand for the Premier’s resignation, and on September 17, 1976, began to collect the 10,000 signatures necessary to register a new political party. The Northern Ontario Heritage Party was given official certification in October 1977, with 10,600 signatures.
The provincial government subsequently created the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines
in 1977.
The party aimed to expand the existing complex basis (i.e., mining, milling, smelting and refining, processing activities) to first level manufacturing processing industries and second level manufacturing industries, e.g., stainless steel work, nickel plating, zinc galvanizing, wire and cable works, copper and brass mills, secondary smelting, die casting, sand casting, foundries, iron and steel work, brasses, bronzes alloys, nickel alloys, alloys steels.
Northern Ontario is has significant metallic mineral resources: the region produces nearly half of the world’s nickel, and a substantial portion of the Canada’s gold, silver, copper, zinc, uranium, cobalt and platinum metals.
But according NOHP founder Ed Deibel, 100% of Northern Ontario’s raw resources are exported out of the region, and 80% are exported to other parts of the world. Only 20% are turned into made-in-Canada manufactured produces for exports and our domestic markets.
Consequently, Northern Ontario’s economy is concentrated on the extraction and semi-processing (e.g., smelting) of raw materials, which are high-pollution industries.
The NOHP believed that a provincial government could reverse a hundred years of mismanagement by the federal and provincial government of these mineral resources.
The NOHP would have implemented policies requiring that Northern Ontario’s natural resources be manufactured into made-in-Canada manufactured products, with the aim of diverting 50% of its raw materials to manufacturing in Canada.
The NOHP believed that Great Lakes
and St. Lawrence Seaway system would provide cheap transportation for shipping access manufactured goods to the world markets, and that railways, highways and air transportation could be improved to get manufactured products to world markets.
Furthermore, the region’s highly educated labour force, access to energy, and non-renewable natural and renewable raw resources would be an excellent basis for a strong manufacturing sector.
The NOHP would focus on state of the art technology to minimize pollution and pursue sustainable development
.
Strategies for achieving these goals would include:
Article prepared with the kind assistance of Mr. Ed Deibel.
In its current platform, the Northern Ontario Heritage Party stops short of advocating full separation of the region from the province, but instead calls for a number of measures to increase the region's power over its own affairs, including increasing the number of Northern Ontario electoral districts in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and the creation of a special district for the region's First Nations
voters.
The party received 683 votes in the 2011 Ontario election.
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
that was formed in 1977 to campaign for provincial status for Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...
. No member was ever elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
. The party disbanded in the 1980s, and was re-registered by Elections Ontario in 2010.
The party's founder, Ed Deibel of North Bay
North Bay, Ontario
North Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District, and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing.-History:...
, travelled Northern Ontario in the late 1960s and early 1970s to promote the idea of creating a separate province, and to sign up supporters for the party.
The party later dropped the idea of a separate province from its platform, and continued to promote Northern Ontario's interests within Ontario.
Origins of the Party
The NOHP had its roots in the April 1973 provincial budget in which the Government of Ontario proposed to extend the 7% provincial sales tax to heating and electricity. Ed Deibel notified the local media that he would go to jail before paying the tax. This led to a meeting of about 500 people, and the formation of a tax repeal committee chaired by Deibel. The committee collected 24,000 signatures from all over Northern Ontario on a petition. The government withdrew the proposal. Out of this committee came discussion about establishing a new province.On May 16, 1973, Deibel formed a committee to discuss this idea, and began research about Northern Ontario’s problems. Deibel travelled Northern Ontario recruiting 600 members for the new province committee, and obtaining 6,000 signatures on a petition requesting that a vote be given to Northern Ontario on the question of forming a new province.
In October 1974, Deibel pitched a tent at Queen's Park, site of Ontario’s legislative assembly
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
, for three days, and gave interviews to the media. This led to a half-hour private meeting with Premier
Premier of Ontario
The Premier of Ontario is the first Minister of the Crown for the Canadian province of Ontario. The Premier is appointed as the province's head of government by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and presides over the Executive council, or Cabinet. The Executive Council Act The Premier of Ontario...
William Davis
Bill Davis
William Grenville "Bill" Davis, was the 18th Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the MPP for Peel in the 1959 provincial election where he was a backbencher in Leslie Frost's government. Under John Robarts, he was a cabinet minister overseeing the education...
, who refused to allow a plebiscite.
In the spring of 1975, Deibel wrote to Premier Davis, offering to abandon the new province committee if the government met seven demands:
- Establish a Northern Ontario Development Commission with citizens from Northern Ontario.
- A program paid for by the province to eliminate municipal taxes for ten years for all new manufacturing plants that complete at least 80 per cent of finished form.
- Non-renewable resources to have a depletion tax deposited in a trust fund designed for that area when the project in finished.
- At least 50 per cent of all natural resources to be processed and manufactured in Northern Ontario.
- A billion-dollar catch-up program to provide serviced land for housing industrial parks and social needs.
- Appointment of a provincial cabinet minister with full responsibility for mining.
- Lakehead UniversityLakehead UniversityLakehead University is a public research university in Thunder Bay, and Orillia, Ontario, Canada.Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', or 'LU', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate and graduate programs and a medical school.The school has more than 45,000...
and Laurentian UniversityLaurentian UniversityLaurentian University , was incorporated on March 28, 1960, is a mid-sized bilingual university in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada....
would receive funding for a continuing program of research and development that assures a better quality of life in Northern Ontario.
The Ontario government responded to the offer, noting that "Northern Ontario... is strengthened by being an integral part of a very broadly based provincial economy." The government’s response addressed each of the demands, but accepted none of them.
Deibel replied with a demand for the Premier’s resignation, and on September 17, 1976, began to collect the 10,000 signatures necessary to register a new political party. The Northern Ontario Heritage Party was given official certification in October 1977, with 10,600 signatures.
The provincial government subsequently created the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines
Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (Ontario)
The Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry is responsible for assisting economic development in the Northern Ontario region, and for mining and forestry regulation, in the Canadian province of Ontario....
in 1977.
Party program
The NOHP’s dream for Northern Ontario was to build a totally integrated industrial complex, i.e., Northern Ontario would produce manufactured products from its natural resources, instead of just exporting raw materials. This would create prosperity for the region, and jobs to enable young people to stay in Northern Ontario. (Many young people leave the region to look for work in southern Ontario and other areas.)The party aimed to expand the existing complex basis (i.e., mining, milling, smelting and refining, processing activities) to first level manufacturing processing industries and second level manufacturing industries, e.g., stainless steel work, nickel plating, zinc galvanizing, wire and cable works, copper and brass mills, secondary smelting, die casting, sand casting, foundries, iron and steel work, brasses, bronzes alloys, nickel alloys, alloys steels.
Northern Ontario is has significant metallic mineral resources: the region produces nearly half of the world’s nickel, and a substantial portion of the Canada’s gold, silver, copper, zinc, uranium, cobalt and platinum metals.
But according NOHP founder Ed Deibel, 100% of Northern Ontario’s raw resources are exported out of the region, and 80% are exported to other parts of the world. Only 20% are turned into made-in-Canada manufactured produces for exports and our domestic markets.
Consequently, Northern Ontario’s economy is concentrated on the extraction and semi-processing (e.g., smelting) of raw materials, which are high-pollution industries.
The NOHP believed that a provincial government could reverse a hundred years of mismanagement by the federal and provincial government of these mineral resources.
The NOHP would have implemented policies requiring that Northern Ontario’s natural resources be manufactured into made-in-Canada manufactured products, with the aim of diverting 50% of its raw materials to manufacturing in Canada.
The NOHP believed that Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
and St. Lawrence Seaway system would provide cheap transportation for shipping access manufactured goods to the world markets, and that railways, highways and air transportation could be improved to get manufactured products to world markets.
Furthermore, the region’s highly educated labour force, access to energy, and non-renewable natural and renewable raw resources would be an excellent basis for a strong manufacturing sector.
The NOHP would focus on state of the art technology to minimize pollution and pursue sustainable development
Sustainable development
Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...
.
Strategies for achieving these goals would include:
- Designating Northern Ontario as a manufacturing centre;
- Finding new and innovative ways to turn raw resources into manufactured products for export and for domestic markets;
- Building a culture of innovation and research by encouraging research and development in Northern Ontario universities, and the transfer of new technologies and products to the new manufacturing culture of Northern Ontario;
- Implementing tax incentives for news job created in the manufacturing sector in Northern Ontario; and
- Enforcing the Ontario Mining Act (section 91) condition that patent ores to be treated in Canada.
Article prepared with the kind assistance of Mr. Ed Deibel.
2010 revival
In 2010, Ed Diebel began trying to revive the party. A website was set up where Northerners were invited to join the party. On August 6, 2010, the party was registered by Elections Ontario.In its current platform, the Northern Ontario Heritage Party stops short of advocating full separation of the region from the province, but instead calls for a number of measures to increase the region's power over its own affairs, including increasing the number of Northern Ontario electoral districts in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and the creation of a special district for the region's First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
voters.
The party received 683 votes in the 2011 Ontario election.
See also
- List of Canadian political parties
- Proposals for new Canadian provinces and territoriesProposals for new Canadian provinces and territoriesSince Canadian Confederation in 1867, there have been several proposals for new Canadian provinces and territories. The Constitution of Canada requires an amendment for the creation of a new province but the creation of a new territory requires only an act of Parliament; therefore, it is easier...