THUNDER BAY – Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford says his party alone is positioned to bring private-sector jobs to Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario.
Ford, who made a brief campaign stop in the city on Saturday afternoon, meeting with Heddle Marine employees aboard the cargo ship Tim S Dool, said if his government is re-elected on June 2 they’ll also ensure the proper training is in place, particularly for those in the trades.
Ford highlighted his government’s critical minerals strategy, a five-year plan aimed at making Ontario a leader in the global supply chain for a variety of minerals, including nickel, cobalt, lithium and graphite.
The Ring of Fire, a long-touted mineral-rich series of deposits of nickel, copper, platinum and chromite, factors heavily in the plan, released earlier this year.
“We’re strong believers in working, first of all, with our Indigenous communities. We have a great partnership with them that’s going to create thousands of jobs from critical minerals,” Ford said.
“That flows all the way down to southwestern Ontario. We’re going to be the No. 1 leader in North America in electrical vehicles, in battery manufacturing, in automotive. But excuse the pun, but the gold mine is up in the North, where all the critical minerals are.”
Stumping at the private event, Ford said the other parties, particularly the Liberals and the NDP, prefer road blocks to progress, stating the Conservatives are the only party able to ‘get it done,’ drawing on the 2022 campaign slogan.
He pointed specifically to his party's jobs record, versus that of the previous Liberal government, whom he defeated four years ago after 15 years in power.
“Under the Kathleen Wynee/(Steven) Del Duca government, we lost 300,000 jobs here in Ontario. As we stand here today, there are 550,000 more people that are employed. We have 338,000 more jobs. Our biggest challenge is we need more people,” Ford said.
Flanked by Thunder Bay-Atikokan candidate Kevin Holland and Thunder Bay-Superior North candidate Peng You, Ford said there’s a reason his government has invested millions in training programs, adding it’s absolutely critical to get more people into the trades, where the Conservative government earlier this year said there could be up to a 350,000 worker shortage across Ontario by 2025.
Earlier this week the province announced $8.7 million for Heddle Shipyards under the Ontario Shipyard Modernization Project, to help train 300 company employees in Hamilton, Port Weller and Thunder Bay in a variety of areas, including 3D scanning and robotic welding.
“We’ve also really pushed the federal government to get contracts,” Ford said. “A lot of the contracts were going to another province and we were able, in cooperation with the federal government, to get some contracts for our friends here in Thunder Bay and the rest of the Heddle organization.”
Ford was also asked what he planned to do to improve the economic fortunes of Northern Ontario’s Indigenous population, to which he responded it will be key to work with communities and community leaders around the natural resource sector.
The Conservative leader, seeking a second term as Ontario premier, earlier in the day in Sault Ste. Marie said he planned to invest $1 billion to build a road to the Ring of Fire and touted an agreement with both Marten Falls and Webequie First Nations, who are expected to submit terms of reference for an environmental assessment needed to build the Northern Link Road.
“It’s not just the Ring of Fire,” Ford said about the need to build the transportation infrastructure to the Ring of Fire.
“These folks fly everything in. They fly everything from gas and food and you name it and now, this is going to change their lives. They’re going to have proper health care. They weren’t able to have someone just drive in there. They’re going to have fuel. They’re going to have fresh groceries.”
Ford is the first of the four major leaders to visit Thunder Bay since the campaign began on Wednesday.
