'It's wrong. It has to be called out'

An Opposition Member of Parliament wants to know why $11-million of economic development funds earmarked for Northern Ontario were returned to the Treasury unspent.

Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus, a member of the New Democratic Party (NDP), said $11-million of FedNor funds has been returned to the Treasury Board and not spent on economic development in Northern Ontario, as they were intended.

“That $11-million in FedNor money would make a huge difference in our northern communities, especially the ones that have been hit by the downturn in the forestry sector,” he said.

“They (Conservatives) stand up and promise record investments and then they don’t spend the money. then they announce they have a surplus and will blow it on whatever they figure will win them an election,” said Angus.

Conservative MP Greg Rickford, minister for FedNor, admits some of the money did go unspent.

“There has been some monies returned over the past four years to the treasury, which is a responsible way to treat taxpayer dollars,” said Rickford.

He said the reason funds go unspent is often because projects are announced between budgets and between elections both Federally and Provincially, which complicates how the money is distributed and when.

“I can assure you, if you’re from Timmins, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, just to name a few, you have not lacked any support from FedNOR or Build Canada funds,” he said.

Rickford added, “To be clear, the NDP MPs in Northern Ontario have never supported any of these initiatives. To say they have the full support of parliament is nonsense.”

Angus said that kind of response from the FedNor minister is juvenile.

“You make that promise, you follow through. That’s the kind of certainty that Canadian expect from government, instead it’s a shell game,” said Angus.

“They spent the first seven years of their mandate blaming the old Liberals and now they are blaming opposition for everything, but this is about the choices they make and the fact they are not delivering.”

Rickford made announcements this week which will make FedNor funds more accessible to smaller communities for projects in the north, as well as money to support 95 interns for small businesses within small communities.

Many small communities, including some First Nations, have difficulty accessing FedNor funds because they may lack economic development officers (EDOs) to apply for money for projects.

“So today’s announcement, spread out over the next couple of budget cycles to deal with the reality that we will bring on EDOs or managers that will bring specific applications to FedNor,” said Rickford.

Angus said the unspent funds are resulting in missed opportunities in Northern Ontario, such as in the chromite-rich Ring of Fire.

“This is a government that promised a special ministry for the Ring of Fire. We have companies pulling up stake and leaving the country. They’re not delivering,” he said.

Angus said the Conservatives are creating a surplus at the expense of Northern Ontario and Canada’s veterans.

“They did the same thing with the billion dollars that was promised to veterans and not spent, it went back to the treasury board. On First Nation education they promised $300-million to build schools in communities, some that didn’t have schools. They took $80-million and held it back. This is how they are building this notion a budget surplus, they are not delivering when they have made promises,” he said.

“It’s wrong, it has to be called out.”

(FILE PHOTO: Charlie Angus.)