Hudak tours Nothern Ontario

Ontario’s Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak says the American economy will rebound, and any housing demand should be supplied by Northern Ontario wood.

"We see enormous potential particular in the resource sector as developing nations, like China and India, continue to grow," Hudak said. "We do know the American economy will bounce back and we want to make sure that we can supply the demand of the housing market with Ontario wood."

The PC leader is touring Northern Ontario to talk about his party’s job plans for this region. On Friday Hudak was in Thunder Bay, a stop that came after visits in Dryden and Fort Frances.

He said his party has a plan for the North and is calling for policies that will create reliable and affordable energy as well as competitive tax rates to help improve this region’s business environment.

Hudak also said that his party would like to see projects moving forward in the forestry industry.

"What we would like to see is a better use of our Crown land for new projects, in residential development, tourism development and resource development" he said. "Then for these new projects to see the revenues from the crown land to be re-invested into Northern Ontario for infrastructure to support future job creation."

But there’s one hurdle that the forestry sector is having trouble jumping over – energy rates. Hudak said that has been a major part of his discussions with Northern Ontario business leaders. He accuses the current Liberal-led government for putting together policies that have driven Ontario’s hydro rates well above most other provinces.

The PC leader says the province needs to increase its energy supply to help bring hydro rates down. Moving forward with nuclear power is one example of how the province could put more power into its grid, he added.

"We need to address this global adjustment that has placed an enormous burden on our recourse sector and industry that has resulted in jobs being chased out of our province," he said.

"We believe by increasing the supply, getting a lot of the fat out of our system, and encouraging the private sector to get involved in energy production."