An MNR Resource Management Technician related a story that will ring true with most of us who
have a problem with the Ministry of Natural Resources in Northern Ontario. He explained how a young,
well educated, female, MNR employee from Southern Ontario was placed in charged of creating a local
land use plan. In her eyes she had created a masterful plan. However, she was devastated when the plan
was introduced at the public meeting and the assembled local inhabitants picked the plan apart. They
questioning the rationale for much of the plan and pointed out mistakes and the lack of appreciation for
historical land usage.

I’ve seen the same in Temagami with land planning created by a group of MNR staff with one
Native representative. No local expertise from the municipalities that were to be affected by the plan were
involved in the creation of the plan. I remember a moose management plan questionnaire with several
questions that members of our stewardship would not answer because they were seen to be bias and
worded in a way to solicit a desired answer.
Isn’t it time that the antiquated, Machiavellian administration of the MNR clued into the concept
that by including local people with local expertise in step 1 of the planning process a lot of issues can be
addressed before they become problems. The plans created might also more accurately reflect the will of
the local people.

Gaye Smith
Former Chairman Temagami Stewardship Council
R.R.#3, Paisley, Ont.
519-353-7275