Becky Walker

Line up our young men and women; capable, and with potential for growth. Like proud Northern Jackpine, row upon row, they are the harvest of these cold barren lands.

Whenever I meet someone new here in Peterborough, and they ask me where I'm from, I reply that I'm from North Bay. You can see them do a double take. The most common responses are "wow.that's really far away!" or "What's it like up there?" I often reply with "are you sure you're not thinking of Thunder Bay?" and if they are, I receive a sheepish grin. Or I say, "Well, in a lot of ways, it's like living anywhere in Ontario." They nod and smile, but act like they don't really believe me. To them, Peterborough is northern Ontario while to me, it is southern Ontario. I was born and raised in North Bay and if my choice in job permits it, that's where I'll choose to work, live and raise a family. If not North Bay, then another city in northern Ontario.

Many of my friends in their last year of high school couldn't wait to leave North Bay for schools in southern Ontario. They said North Bay was too small or there was not enough to do at night. I, however, disagree with them. If I have a choice, I would never leave North Bay, now that I know what it's like to live out of northern Ontario. I'm not one for the big nightclubs and I don't really care for all the brand name fashion. What I care about is the community feeling that comes from living in northern Ontario. Yes there are things I don't like, but no community is perfect and I'd rather live in a community where I don't have to be afraid about walking out my front door. I don't need to wear the latest trends or go club hopping at the trendiest bars.

Northern Ontario promotes this sense of community because our cities are not as big and anonymous as most southern Ontario cities are becoming. Nor are we 'hick' towns either, where flat fields and tractors are a common sight. Instead, I take a drive and see a terrain that's ever changing; rocks always shifting, people leaving messages, graffiti messages, and pictures, and the trees changing from green to red, gold, orange, falling, and then coming back to life almost overnight. The area beyond and behind the rocks is another world to explore. You can't see for miles and miles. Rather, it's a place to discover, to mark as your own. You can show people you've been there by creating an Inukshuk, or experience the wonder of seeing a beaver or moose in their natural habitat.

To most people, northern Ontario seems like a foreign country; some place they need a passport and a plane to get to. I tell my Peterborough friends that I am only 3 ½ hours away from my home in North Bay. They can't believe I travel that far in one day. I love the idea that I get can from one side of North Bay to the other in under an hour. I love the idea that I can get to know most parts of the city. North Bay is not a small city, but when I go out, there is a good chance that I will always meet someone that I know. Since the north is so community based, it's hard not to meet new people all the time. I love the idea that my family has been going to the same grocery store near our house for as long as I can remember. I love the idea that some of the clerks know us by name and ask us how we're doing and actually seem to care about what we tell them. Also, my brother, who is autistic, can be accepted into these types of communities. He has opportunities to go out and do things that he couldn't do in the bigger cities of southern Ontario. He makes friends wherever he goes. People come up to my family in stores and ask if we're related to him. When we say 'yes', they start talking about how nice and polite he is. You can't buy this type of community. People here won't be lured to the bigger and 'better' cities of southern Ontario. These are the people that make the community.

Once I finish school, and perhaps do a bit of traveling, I'll come back to North Bay, not just because it's home, but because of the community feeling and the varied landscape. Flat fields are nice change of scenery, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life looking at them. I need the mystery of not knowing what's over that rock face and I need to freedom to go discover whatever is there. To me, northern Ontario means freedom. The land isn't disappearing to businesses. If I want to watch the sun set over a lake, I have my choice of beaches. There might be me, some wildlife and perhaps a family or two just having fun. That's what I want in my life. I don't want to worry about high rates of crime, people who don't know how to smile, or being kicked off my land. I want the mystery, the freedom to discover it and a place to feel safe and that's why people should choose to work in northern Ontario.