Multi-billion-dollar plan to improve Canada's defences could have big impact on one northern Ontario city

The $8 billion in defence spending announced in last week's federal budget could be big news for North Bay.

A good chunk of that money is expected to go modernizing the North American Aerospace Defence Command or NORAD, which is headquartered in the northern Ontario city. 

"Anything that goes to NORAD is good for North Bay. So what it does, is it guarantees that North Bay will continue to host NORAD," said  Anthony Rota, the Liberal MP for Nipissing-Timiskaming. 

The NORAD headquarters and the surrounding Canadian Forces Base North Bay were once one of the city's big economic drivers, with thousands of air force personnel stationed there during the Cold War.

That has shrunk to a few hundred in recent years and Rota says those numbers might not increase that much with this reinvestment, since the focus will be on buying new technology and equipment. 

He says it's too early to know when those decisions will be made and he will continue to lobby for this riding, sometimes putting him into competition with his fellow government MPs.

"There's always competition. You're always working to get the most for your riding. And yes, we have this push and pull from Winnipeg of all places where they have a major base there," said Rota. 

"And there's always been fear that 'OK, we don't want to lose our base so it goes to Winnipeg or anywhere else.'"

Mayor Al McDonald says people in North Bay do remember when there was talk of closing the air base in the late 1980s.

He says he's lobbied for the base since first being elected to the city's top job 12 years ago.

"We've always conveyed that we've been very welcome and open to having more armed forces staff here in our community. Not only do they serve their country, they also volunteer for organizations within our city," he said. 

McDonald says the air base also has "intangible" benefits for North Bay, including improved wireless internet in the north end of the city.