IGNACE – For the past four years, incumbent mayoral candidate Penny Lucas has been working hard towards bringing new economic development to the Township of Ignace. Wanting to see these projects through, Lucas has decided to run again for mayor in the municipal elections.
“I am running for office because I have a vision for Ignace moving forward,” said Lucas. “I would like to see some of those things that are in my vision become reality.”
One of the biggest parts of Lucas’s vision is economic development.
For quite some time, Ignace’s economic sector has been dwindling. The town took a major hit when Resolute Forestry Product shut down the local sawmill in 2019 due to a downturn in the American lumber market. Resolute did eventually restart the mill in 2021, but the mill wasn’t operating at capacity.
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization could someday fill that void, if Ignace chooses to vote for Lucas.
“NWMO’s Deep Geological Repository project is huge for economic development,” said Lucas. “That project should come to the community if the community decides that’s what they want. I’m looking at the economic benefits of that project.”
Lucas spoke about how the town will benefit from NWMO’s development of the Centre of Expertise, especially when it comes to retaining and recruiting new people to the community.
One such benefit is the educational hub for students.
The Centre of Expertise will provide “training for our students,” said Lucas. “That’s one of the things that I really worry about. The problem is we have to send our students away from the community, and a lot of time when they get away from the community they don’t really want to come back, or they don’t come back until later on. So, we need someplace specifically where our students learn here and they can stay here.”
Another benefit of the development of the Centre of Expertise is the effect on tourism. Ignace relies on tourism as its main industry; however, due to COVID-19 and the pandemic restrictions, tourism wasn’t yielding many returns for the town.
“The more traffic there is, the more economic development you’ll have,” said Lucas. “Just having this in town is going to make our tourism that much more different than it is now. We have the hunters and fishers that come here now, and we are absolutely thankful for that, but I think [the Centre of Excellence] is going to bring a different kind of people, because it is going to be an international project. I think we are going to find a lot of different people than we are used to, and that’s always good for the economy.”
Lucas also talked about how having NWMO developmen of the community has already opened up Ignace to the international stage.
“I just happened to be able to go to Finland and look at their facilities,” said Lucas.
Since that trip, Lucas recounts how she has been receiving calls from all parts of the world asking her opinion on the Deep Geological Repository and its effect on the community.
“I was really proud to represent Ignace in Finland, and I think it opened up the international world to look at Canada and Ignace in particular,” said Lucas.
Lucas addresses the challenges that are ahead for the community. Due to the major flooding in the spring, Ignace’s culverts are in serious need of replacement.
Aging infrastructure in the town needs a commitment of capital to bring sewers, water, transmission lines, and building up to code, she said.
“When you are looking at stuff that’s 40, 50, 60 years old, it’s a challenge,” said Lucas. “And when you are a small community, you are always looking at ways to bring the money in so you can do those things, because you want your people to be able to have the comforts that they need to be able to live in their own homes, especially when you are looking at a local population that is 30 per cent seniors.”
“It’s a lot of hard work,” said Lucas. “There are a lot of little pieces to put together, but I enjoy doing it. It’s about the people.”
Note: Ignace mayoral candidate Bill Gascon declined to speak to NWOnewswatch for a candidate profile.
