NOMA says North must be heard

If Northwestern Ontario’s concerns are going to be heard in Queen’s Park then Northerners need to scream, says the head of a regional lobbying group.

The Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association’s Dave Canfield was one of more than a dozen groups speaking to the province’s standing committee on finance and economic affairs in Thunder Bay Wednesday morning. The all-party committee was in Thunder Bay as part of the province’s budget process.

Canfield said it was time for NOMA and Northwestern Ontario to be included in the process. Although the region has opportunities to rebuild its economy, Canfield said the region has so far been left out of the decision making.

"It’s pretty easy to forget about two-thirds of the provincial landmass that only has less than two per cent of the population," he said. "We will not accept being treated as second-class citizens and the province is going to have to step forward and start living up to their commitments as a province."

Canfield said Ontario’s energy policy is just one example where decisions made in Toronto forget about Northwestern Ontario.

"There’s a disconnect there somewhere and they have to be brought up to speed," Canfield said.

Thunder Bay Health Coalition’s Sara Williamson said from hospitals to home care, the province needs to start putting money back in health care.

"So patients don’t end up coming back to emergency because there just hasn’t been enough time to pay attention to little things that turn into big things," Williamson said.
With health care costs on the rise, Williamson said the issues are really more about tax cuts than rising costs. About $1.1 billion could be used for health care, from employer health tax exemptions alone she added.

Hospitals such as Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre have had to leave staff positions vacant because Ontario’s health-care budget hasn’t kept pace with inflation for three years Williamson said.

"It’s getting tighter and tighter for the workers just running around trying to cover all of the things that need to be done. It’s an acute care hospital, it shouldn’t be happening that way," Williamson said.

Committee chair Pat Hoy said he’s heard a lot about the resource-based economy in the North during the meeting. But he’d also heard a wide range of topics from education to health care.

"That’s part of the committee’s work, to come and hear from the people, organizations and group as to what they require," Hoy said.

Once the meetings are complete, the committee will meet again to table a report which goes to the finance ministry. From there, it’s up to the ministry to decide what suggestions make it into the budget.

"That is up to the finance minister after our report is made," Hoy said.