**TRANSFORMING ONTARIO’S NORTH MEDIA RELEASE**

Stage is set for Northern Summit

September 5, 2018

COCHRANE, ONTARIO: Anticipation is reaching a fevered pitch as Northern Ontario’s top business and community leaders finalize plans to attend the Transforming Ontario’s North (TON) Summit taking place in Cochrane Ontario September 11-13.

The buzz about this unique, first-of-its-kind Summit continues to grow as community and industry leaders, government officials and economic development experts jump on board to be part of the plan that will remove the barriers and set the stage for a more prosperous Northern Ontario.

Leading up to the Summit, there has been excellent media coverage across Northern Ontario. TON delegates heard nothing but positive responses at the AMO (Association of Municipalities of Ontario) annual conference in Ottawa last month where the vision of how to bring prosperity and sustainable development to all of the people in the North was shared.

“It is really gratifying to see such a great response from across the North. Our community leaders know how vitally important it is to get the right plan, an inclusive plan, in place to bring in the development and the prosperity that guarantees our future and the future of our children,” notes Cochrane Mayor Peter Politis.

Finishing touches are now being made the agenda and formatting of the Summit through which participants will help shape the priority statements and attestations guiding economic development initiatives. By the end of the Summit on September 13 it is expected a formative and guiding document will be signed by all participants.

“We fully expect the number of participating communities to grow as we approach the Summit opening and we are right now working to get as many voices to the table as possible,” adds Mayor Politis who observes that both rural and urban northern Ontario, indigenous communities, government leader are well represented at the event.

Background:

With over 87 percent of Ontario’s landmass, one of the most diverse populations in Canada, and holding a treasure trove of mineral wealth, forestry resources, natural attractions, water and energy, Northern Ontario is the future of the province’s economy and prosperity.

Over 50% of Northern Ontario’s diverse population lives in five larger urban centres.  The rest of the North resides in one of the 300 rural communities including 106 Indigenous communities. The TON Summit will engage both the rural and urban north grassroots with the agents of economic development, namely government, business, regulatory agencies and entrepreneurs. Facilitated dialogue will lead to identification of key priorities in overcoming challenges and embracing opportunities in the path ahead for Northern Ontario.

Employing an inclusive approach, the Summit will bring together Indigenous and non –Indigenous communities, business leaders, experts, legislators and regulators in a northern, grassroots driven approach. The outcome will be a visionary set of well informed and articulated recommendations.

The Summit has evolved from the typical plenary and speaker approach utilizing a unique format that will engage experts and audience together in a facilitated, informed dialogue. The audience will be comprised of three main pillars of economic development; regulators, regional leaders and the economic development practitioners from both community and business sectors.

The TON Summit is fully endorsed by the Northern Policy Institute, a non-partisan, federally registered charity that provides fair, balanced, objective and evidenced-based analysis of policy issues that impact Northern Ontario.