David Robinson earned a PhD in Economics from Queen’s University and came to Sudbury in 1987 to teach Economics at Laurentian University.
Many academics remain confined to the ivory tower, focusing on the performance of their teaching duties. That wasn’t the case with David. His introduction to the wider community outside the university campus began with a research project in Elliot Lake, a mid-sized community between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie that was losing its primary source of employment due to the closure of its uranium mining industry.
When asked to do an assessment of Sudbury’s economy, which was undergoing significant change due to mechanization and layoffs, David came to the conclusion that the city’s best opportunity for economic development was its mining supply and service sector that had evolved in the shadow of its primary mining industry.
David was able to persuade the various levels of government that Sudbury constituted a mining cluster that had potential to grow if recognized and promoted. He played an important role in advocating for the establishment of the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA), now known as Mine Connect, and persuaded local publisher Michael Atkins to found Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal. Today, the region’s mining supply and service sector includes hundreds of companies, employs upwards of 10,000 people and exports high value products and services around the world.
David has also studied Northern Ontario’s forestry sector and laments its control by large companies focused on the production of low value-added products like paper and two-by-fours. David is a strong proponent of community forest management to allocate more of our resource for high value add manufacturing of wood products.
One way to make that happen, David suggested, was to establish a school of industrial design in Sudbury. That proved somewhat challenging, so the decision was made to advocate for a School of Architecture.
David and a co-ordinating committee realized the amazing feat of bringing the school from an idea to a ribbon cutting in five years. Not only will the school assist in promoting new uses for Northern Ontario’s wood, but its location in downtown Sudbury is contributing to the resurgence of what was a slowing dying urban centre.
One of the most important pieces of advice David shares in this video is the value of engaging with academics and the use of economic analysis for shaping policy and making decisions to grow and develop Northern Ontario.