THUNDER BAY – MPP Kevin Holland has joined the cabinet as the new associate minister of forestry and forest products as part of the ministry of natural resources.
In an interview with TBnewswatch, Holland said around 60 per cent of the work he does in his riding is in some way related to forestry and mining.
“When the premier phoned me on Friday morning and asked me to take over the associate minister role for forestry and forest products, I was humbled by it and immediately excited by the opportunities that he was providing for me.
“Forestry is a huge component of my riding in Northwestern Ontario in general.
“Being a minister and a member of cabinet now just affords me the opportunity to participate in cabinet meetings and speak more directly with my colleagues at the cabinet level . . . to provide that perspective for Thunder Bay and broaden it for Northwestern Ontario,” he said.
This new role will result in more visits to many of the communities and mills across the province, Holland said.
“It will be a little bit more travel, but the work itself is something I feel comfortable with and confident in, because of the extensive experience I've had in that field already."
Holland said the industry itself is struggling right now.
“But I look at that as it's a good time for me to be coming into the file," he said.
“With the expanded role that the premier gave me to include forest products, it furthers my opportunity to really start addressing a lot of the things I've been talking about over the last two years with regards to the value-added business associated with the forestry sector and capitalizing on the bioeconomy.
“This will be key to helping our industry sustain themselves and to grow and attract the investments that are going to be needed to rehabilitate or renew the mills,” he said.
There is tremendous research that has been done, Holland said.
“Now, it's time to look to see how we can move forward with the marketing and commercialization of those products to sustain the industry.”
Holland said he will be at the table and when the topics come up he’ll be able to provide that input with the perspective and the realities that residents face in Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario.
“Having said that, I have developed over the last two years tremendous working relationships with all ministers currently sitting at the cabinet table.
“I really didn't have any problem in being able to reach out directly to the ministers and talk to them, which I think really shows the leadership of Premier Ford.
“Our ministers are a member of caucus, first and foremost, and we're there to support each other and help each other. The ministers were really looking to the rest of the caucus to provide that input from their region, which is listened to, received and quite often acted upon."
Holland said the government ‘knows about Thunder Bay,’ but this will provide the opportunity for a little bit more of a voice.
“I've been involved with the Terrace Bay mill since the closure. I was involved with meetings at the NOMA Conference in April in fact, with the alliance that met with Minister (Graydon) Smith.
“In this role, for example, today I met with the mayor in the towns of Terrace Bay and Schreiber. We discussed the impacts of this mill closure on their communities.
“We are absolutely committed to working with the communities to help them through the immediate concerns they have with new skill trades development for the workers to get back to work. But we're also in constant contact with the mill owners themselves.
"We're committed that if a buyer is found for this mill, we're going to work with them, do everything we can to get this mill back up and operational.”
Holland said he wants to see that happen.
“A lot of the issues are outside of our control, but we will continue to engage with the mill and the town and the union to mitigate it,” he said.
The Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP was named parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Long-Term Care in July, a position that he no longer holds now that he's in Ford's cabinet.
