FedNor operates well under Industry Canada: Clement

A stand-alone agency for FedNor means more bureaucracy, a high-profile Conservative candidate said during a local visit Tuesday.

Tony Clement, who was the federal industry minister in charge of the $50 million FedNor portfolio before Parliament was dissolved, said a Liberal and NDP call for a stand-alone agency would mean less money for actual programs and more money administering it.

"The fact of the matter is there’s no real difference between an independent division or a division of industry Canada. You still have to account for every dollar. You still have to report to Parliament on how the funds are expended. That's basic accountability," Clement said.

 "What (the NDP and Liberals are) actually proposing is increasing the bureaucracy and quite frankly I don’t see the need to increase bureaucracy. I don’t think that’s a good use of FedNor dollars. I’d rather spend FedNor dollars on services, on projects."

Clement, in town to support Conservative Thunder Bay-Superior North candidate Richard Harvey, said he’d rather see the money go to projects, jobs and opportunity for Northern Ontario.

While the NDP have proposed doubling the FedNor budget to $100 million if elected, Clement said the Conservatives are the only government to commit funding to FedNor for five years, starting in 2006, and added an additional $4 million in the 2011 budget for the Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute’s cyclotron.

"We do more than promise," Clement said. "We actually do."

The Conservatives have their sights on both area ridings, currently held by the NDP. The Parry Sound Muskoka MP was also in the NDP riding of Sault Ste. Marie earlier Tuesday in an effort to pick up support for his party in Northern Ontario.

"As much as the NDP would like to deny it, the fact of the matter is people are looking for new leadership here locally," said Clement. "I think there’s no question this is on our list of potential pickups as the Conservative Party of Canada."