THUNDER BAY - The Ontario Progressive Conservative Party candidate who was to run in the 2022 provincial election has announced she will be stepping down, citing concerns on the government’s decision to sever the Northern Ontario School of Medicine from Lakehead University.
“The government has decided to hastily introduce legislation without consulting Northwestern Ontario or the people of Thunder Bay. This legislation will create new administrative costs for the taxpayer rather than directly funding medical education in Ontario’s North,” said Maureen Comuzzi, former Ontario PC candidate in a statement issued on Tuesday.
Earlier this spring, the provincial government announced it is moving to make NOSM a fully independent institution as a result of the insolvency of Laurentian University, which co-hosts the medical school along with Lakehead.
Comuzzi is urging Premier Doug Ford to reconsider the legislation because it will not only impact post-secondary education in the north, but the entire community.
"We are removing a faculty from a university is serious. A faculty of medicine is even more serious. And having two universities in one community, the cost would be substantial," she said. "I am urging the premier to remove schedule 16 from the bill, go back to the table, have some serious, methodical, respectful consultation. There are solutions to every problem and I am confident there is a solution to this one."
How health care is delivered in the north will also be affected, Comuzzi said, and removing it from Lakehead University will make it more difficult to attract students.
"We are a hub. This is a world class facility," she said. "I am here to support my university and school of medicine. Keeping it here at Lakehead University and a faculty of medicine is important."
Comuzzi was acclaimed in March to run as the Ontario PC candidate in the Thunder Bay-Atikokan riding.
This was her first foray into provincial politics after having run for the federal Conservatives twice in 2011 and 2015, where she finished second and third respectively. She also ran locally for a seat on Thunder Bay city council in 2018.
“Finding waste and efficiencies in government, while delivering for Northern Ontario is why I sought the Ontario PC nomination in Thunder Bay-Atikokan,” Comuzzi said. “This legislation does exactly the opposite of what I wished to accomplish as PC Member of Provincial Parliament for our region.”
Comuzzi praised Premier Doug Ford as a strong and thoughtful leader who cares about the north but she said she is deeply disappointed by the government’s decision involving NOSM and ignoring the concerns of the people of Northern Ontario.
"I have been a conservative all my life and I am fiscally responsible," Comuzzi said. "This is not a fiscally responsible decision. This is the opposite of why I became a candidate. I wanted to bring more jobs and opportunity to Thunder Bay, not take them away from Thunder Bay. Severing the medical school from Lakehead is doing exactly that."
