Northern Ontario MPP calls on province to sell homes it owns in rural community

A northern Ontario MPP wants the provincial government to sell around 20 properties it owns in the community of Gogama so workers at a nearby mine can purchase them.

Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas says the province has owned the properties, which include homes, for over a decade and she's been asking for it to sell them for the last five years.

But she says the government has responded on several occasions that each property would need to be assessed before it is sold.

"It is not reasonable for a government to take five years to assess a $200,000 house," Gélinas said.

"It cannot be seen as anything but you don't care about northern Ontario ... Because if you cared about northern Ontario, you would have assessed those homes, they would have been put up on the market."

Because Gogama, home to about 300 people, is in an unorganized area outside of municipal boundaries, the province came to own several buildings that were abandoned when forestry mills in the area closed. 

The province has continued to maintain those properties, but hasn't sold them despite multiple requests to do so.

Gélinas notes it's a two-hour drive for workers at IAMGOLD's Côté Gold Mine to travel from Sudbury to the mine site, located near Gogama. It's a similar distance for workers driving in from Timmins. 

"They have stable employees who would like to not have to drive two hours from Sudbury," she said.

Many of those employees stay at a camp at the mine, with its own cafeteria, for multiple days at a time while they are on shift. 

CBC News has reached out to the Ministry of Infrastructure for comment but has not received a response.