Skip to content

Liberals say budget has plenty for North; NDP's Campbell disappointed

Michael Gravelle called Thursday’s provincial budget a strong one for Northern Ontario.
370376_34769429
Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle says Thursday's provincial budget has plenty in store for Northwestern Ontario. (FILE)

Michael Gravelle called Thursday’s provincial budget a strong one for Northern Ontario.

The Liberal Minister of Northern Development and Mines said a reconfirmation of $1 billion for Ring of Fire infrastructure shows the province’s commitment to the region.

And it’s just a start, Gravelle said, reached by phone on Thursday from Queen’s Park, where Finance Minister Charles Sousa unveiled Ontario’s $131.9-billion economic blueprint.

Gravelle pointed to the already-announced $120 million annual commitment to make the northern industrial energy rate program permanent as further proof.

And, he added, so too is the increase to $580 million of the northern highways program.

“That’s an increase of about $60 million from the last fiscal year,” Gravelle said, noting the plan includes funds to continue the four-laning of the Trans Canada between Thunder Bay and Nipigon.

“This is a budget that’s very, very focused on building our province up and building up the North. And from the moment Kathleen Wynne became premier she made it very clear that Northern Ontario was going to be an incredibly important part of building the economy of the province.”

Not surprisingly Kenora’s NDP MPP Sarah Campbell was a little less enthusiastic about the financial direction her Liberal counterparts are taking.

Her initial reaction was one of disappointment, she said in a phone interview with CKPR Radio.

“I know from talking to people from across the province, but most notably people from the Northwest, that people are looking for a plan for health care, education, jobs and affordability of everyday life.”

The Liberal budget simply doesn’t deliver, Campbell said.

“This is a budget that does nothing for those priorities. And I know for a fact Ontarians didn’t vote for cuts and privatization,” Campbell said. “We had an election less than a year ago and Ontarians as a whole rejected an agenda of cuts.”

The province has already started plans to sell off Ontario Hydro. The budget has also faced criticism from the Ontario Health Coalition, concerned it will lead to devastating health-care cuts. The Opposition Conservatives called the budget a “farce,” while the Green Party called it a “fire sale.”

The budget is free of major spending cuts and also does not include any personal or corporate tax increases.

Instead Sousa said they’ll use economic growth and targeted savings to eliminate its $10.9-billion deficit, promising to slowly reduce it until balancing the books in the 2017-18 fiscal year.

Critics have said the plan could possibly succeed, but it will be difficult.

Gravelle is proud of the fact the budget will cut the deficit to $8.5 billion this coming year, and is projected to fall further in successive years.

“While that’s a significant figure, that’s the lowest deficit forecast since the global recession back in 2008 and 2009,” Gravelle said.

“What we’re doing is we’re building the province up, making extraordinary, if not historic investments in infrastructure, while at the same time moving forward to a balanced budget in 2017-18. I think that is evidence that we have consistently delivered on that commitment to follow that path to balance.”

At the same time, he said, the province is making decisions that allow the economy to move forward and grow.

“And that’s really what I think was the theme of the budget today and why I’m so proud to be part of a government that is taking this approach as to how we can build up the economy,” Gravelle said.  – With files from the Canadian Press and CKPR Radio



Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
Read more



push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks