| The purpose of this thesis is to explore the historical traditions of economic development in primary resource dependent communities in Northern Ontario, and to show how these are changing, in order to allow for a new era of economic planning once the resource extraction industries have down-sized. In particular, the thesis looks at the idea of integrating environmental management techniques into any economic planning, so that the sustained use of the local resources can be achieved. This is to lessen the dependency of the communities on the traditional industries, and allow for increased self-sufficiency and self-determination.;Four communities were chosen, from across the region of Northern Ontario, to serve as case studies for this examination. Each of the communities is utilizing economic planning in an attempt to lessen the traditional dependency. Each of the case studies is investigated and analyzed, using the criteria of local self-determination, diversification of the economic base, and ability to integrate the needs of the surrounding environment into economic planning, to determine the appropriateness of existing planning and possibilities for the future. |
