Sault Ste. Marie MPP Ross Romano looks back on his time in office

Sault Ste. Marie PC MPP Ross Romano says one of the highlights during his time in office was to watch the population number go up over the years on his city's welcome sign.

"Seeing that was a bit of an emotional time," he said.

On Dec. 12, Romano announced in the Ontario Legislature that he would not be seeking re-election, saying he is keeping a promise he made to his family that he would not stay longer than two terms. 

Romano was first voted in as he won a byelection on June 1, 2017,  and he became the first Progressive Conservative to represent Sault Ste. Marie at Queen's Park in 32 years.

He has held several cabinet positions during his time as an MPP, including as minister of colleges and universities, and minister of government services.

Romano said for much of his time growing up in Sault Ste. Marie, young people would eventually leave, often going to southern Ontario, for their education, or to find work.

In an interview on CBC's Morning North, Romano said one of his main goals when he was elected was to reverse that trend.

He said Algoma Steel, one of the city's biggest employers, was insolvent when he started in politics, but has since exited creditor protection.

"We saw an investment of over $1 billion into the steel plant to convert our operations into an EAF, or electric arc furnace, which is going to assist Algoma Steel in having security for generations to come," Romano said.

He said the COVID-19 pandemic marked one of the more difficult periods during his time in office.

He feels the pandemic made it more difficult to grow the city.

"It was a little bit of a different variation on 'home to stay' than what I was hoping for," he said.

When asked about Laurentian University's 2021 insolvency, which happened while he was minister of colleges and universities, Romano said the government could not have predicted that the school would need to enter creditor protection because of its finances.

"That was the situation that I don't think any member of government could have predicted or been aware of, and certainly not one that they really could have been found responsible for," Romano said.

In her 2022 report, then Ontario auditor general Bonnie Lysyk said Laurentian's financial problems started as early as 2010.  That's when the university started to expand and upgrade its facilities and programs in an effort to increase enrolment, donations and research grants, but with with no documentation showing it had a viable financial plan.

Romano, a lawyer by profession, said he hasn't yet made a decision about what's next for him.

"I believe there's a lot of ways that I could help not only my community, but all of northern Ontario," he said.