There is a growing movement in the Ontario town of Kenora to join Manitoba, after a decline in the forest industry has some residents looking for a brighter future.

"People are upset because they feel they're being ignored. The livelihood of northwestern Ontario is the forest industry, and we're watching it collapse around us," David Canfield, the mayor of Kenora, told CTV's Canada AM by phone.

Canfied says that Ontario has become one of the most expensive jurisdictions to do business in the forest industry – possibly the most expensive in the world. One of the town's paper mills recently announced it could shut down in October, leaving about 325 people out of work.

"This wasn't created by the present government. This is the previous government, and even maybe the government before, that's driven the cost of doing business up in Ontario to the point where if you're going to pull any supply out of the marketplace, you'll do it in Ontario," Canfield said.

Part of the problem is the rates that Ontario's hydro companies charge businesses, especially during the current energy shortage. On the other side of the provincial border, Manitoba Hydro – a Crown corporation – offers a better deal.

The mayor said he has been trying to meet with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty for two months to discuss the issue, but so far has nothing has been scheduled. Although Canfield's quick to add that this is not a political movement to separate.

"There is a grassroots movement in the community and I think the inaction of the forest industry was the tip of the iceberg that got a local businessman to start a petition," Canfield explained.

The issue is compounded by the town's great distance from Ontario's capital.

"We're only 200 kilometres from Winnipeg, of course, and over 1,800 km from Toronto," Canfield said.

"I think a lot of people figure that because of the distance, the huge distance, we're actually closer to Calgary and Edmonton than to our own capital."

Kenora has a population of 16,500. Ottawa made the town a part of Manitoba over 100 years ago in 1881, when Kenora was the District of Keewatin.

It was only a few years later, in 1884, that Britain's Privy Council decided to make the town a part of Ontario.