Premier doesn’t understand challenges facing Northerners: Mantha
Thursday, March 07, 2013 by: SooToday.com Staff
NEWS RELEASE
MICHAEL MANTHA, MPP
ALGOMA-MANITOULIN
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NDP: Flawed MPAC system endangers Northern communities
QUEEN’S PARK – With communities across Northern Ontario facing property tax repayments to commercial land owners, NDP Northern Development and Mines Critic Michael Mantha called on the government today to revise the MPAC reassessment process.
“Several weeks ago, Premier, MPAC ruled the town of Espanola must pay pulp and paper giant Domtar $4 million following a property reassessment of its Espanola mill. Domtar is one of the world’s largest pulp and paper companies with revenues of $5.6 billion in 2011 alone,” explained Mantha.
“When a small community such as Espanola is forced to retroactively cough up a good part of its tax base to repay a global giant such as Domtar, what is the Premier prepared to do to fix the flawed MPAC re-assessment process?,” asked Mantha, whose Algoma-Manitoulin riding includes Espanola.
“Although the Premier was just in the Sault for her cabinet photo op, it’s clear she doesn’t understand the challenges facing Northerners. Communities such as Dryden, Elk Lake, Fort Frances, just to name a few, are watching these decisions very carefully, and they are concerned with the impact that MPAC is going to have on their communities,” said Mantha.
“Residents of Espanola simply cannot afford a 50 percent tax increase nor to pay Domtar,” said Mantha, asking, “Will the Premier commit to reviewing the reassessment process and, in particular, this devastating decision for Espanola and other communities in northern Ontario?”
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3rd times a charm 3/7/2013 9:53:37 AM ReportEspanola may as well shut the doors to the whole town now...they can't afford this 'reassessment' fee (have you ever seen the paper mill Espanola?)and are about to become a ghost town. 50% tax increases to seasonal workers; the cancer capital of Ontario--what more could you ask for...
and billionaire Domtar doesn't need the money when they are making billions and walking away scott free as they pay no taxes cause of their big tax breaks and government handouts...
No kidding that this new premier doesn't know about the north at all...like every other politician in herr harpo's government...I can't wait for the Canadian government to return to power.
newcon 3/7/2013 10:04:57 AM ReportMantha you're as clueless as some of the contributors to this site. Nobody is exempt from "Due Process" or a contractual relationship. The town of Espanola is a corporation as is Domtar.
Why don't you blame Harper for the volcanoe eruptions in the Phillipines too? Hey how about this...call a press conferance (the media loves left wing diatribe)and blame the harsh economic reality on Harper and George W. Bush?
Why don't you look at the loss of revenue wrought about by misinformed, clueless environmentalists, militant animal rights activists and the irrelevant unions. Have you seen the stats on Canada's GDP? I stand firm on my "informed" assertion that the "new desperate proletariate" (ndp) and the liberal progressives, and the agenda thereof,are bringing us closer to an economic transition...and not for the good.
Newcon
Norm 3/7/2013 10:06:27 AM ReportTo bad the north doesn't have enough voters to oust anyone.
Norm 3/7/2013 10:14:39 AM ReportNewcon, great articulation, though conference, not conferance.
newcon 3/7/2013 10:50:08 AM Report@norm Yeh I realized that when I hit "post"...I did not initialize spell check so I'm winging it...duely noted and please correct me anytime...I can handle constructive critisizm.
newcon
Norm 3/7/2013 10:54:37 AM ReportNo problem.
W. Yote 3/7/2013 11:48:17 AM ReportThis is another example of the government of Southern Ontario applying a blanket formula to Northern Ontario.
My issue is not with the fact that the communities now have to pay back these taxes, which were unfair from the begining, it is that the formula for calculating these taxes was applied to the North in the first place.
Northern Ontario needs it's own governance. It needs to be run by people that understand Northern Ontario. Wynne's "Northern" Cabinet is nothing more than a tactic to score quick points ahead of the upcoming election. In the end we will be subjected to another 4 years of Southern Ontario's agenda.
Time to elect MPP's from a Northern Party.
All Is Well 3/7/2013 12:54:44 PM ReportWe don't have the people nor the tax base to have our own government. And let's throw out any consideration for representation by population because that's, somehow, undemocratic? Taxes paid was miscalculated. It could easily had been the other way in the ruling. While I realize Mantha is all for raising taxes on corporations, a mistake even at the NDP's level of taxation would have still resulted in an overpayment.
AAP 3/7/2013 1:35:36 PM ReportMunicipalities make decisions based on MPAC's assessments. Shouldn't MPAC be responsible for their error's? What about MPAC's due diligence? The "corrected" assessment was only 38% of the original assessment. How can a so-called professional assessment company be out by that much?
W. Yote 3/7/2013 2:07:27 PM ReportOur natural resources can provide more than enough income to support Northern Ontario as an independent entity from Southern Ontario. Unfortunately the government refuses to divulge this data as this would only fuel the unrest in Northern Ontario. If you do some research on the subject, check out some of the interviews with David Robinson (an economics Prof at Larentian) who has studied the economics of Northern Ontario, he suggests that it is likely that the North is subsidizing the South.
Even if we are not quite subsidizing the South, we have more than enough resources to be self-sustainable and with policies that promote business in the North, like the refining of our natural resources, we would be far better off than we are under the current system.
Note: Comments that appear on the site are not the opinion of SooToday.com. Keep discussions civil and on topic. Refrain from obscenity and don't post anything that your grandmother would be ashamed to read. Those who do not abide by these guidelines will have their membership revoked without notice. If you see an abusive post, please click the link beside the post to report it.
