SUDBURY - Projecting themselves as politicians who will listen to Northern Ontarians, Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles and Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie made their respective cases in Sudbury.
“I have never felt that Queen’s Park is further from Northern Ontario than it is now,” Stiles said during her remarks, adding that provincial leaders “are very disconnected from the North.”
There’s “unprecedented opportunity” in the North, Crombie said in her remarks, asserting that her party will support Northern Ontario’s mining sector, tourism and arts and culture in the North.
Both opposition leaders spoke during the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities conference at the Holiday Inn and Conference Centre in Sudbury on May 7.
They chased a series of speeches the prior day from six provincial ministers and associate ministers, to offer a counterpoint to the Progressive Conservatives’ assertion the province is on track.
That said, some Progressive Conservative MPPs clarified during their remarks that more work needs to be done, such as Mental Health and Addictions Associate Minister Michael Tibollo, who said the province still needs to shift from “Band-Aid solutions” when it comes to mental health and addictions to fill out greater continuity of programming, including transitional housing.
For her part, Stiles pledged to “bring the North into the fold on every conversation we have,” adding, “We need to create good-paying jobs, maximize the social and economic opportunities that exist right here.”
If given power in Queen’s Park, Stiles said her party would reverse decades of cost downloading onto municipalities, including for such things as highways and health care.
“Municipalities were never built to provide and fund health care — my goodness,” she said, interrupted by applause from the audience of Northern Ontario municipal leaders.
“We’re going to offer predictable, sustainable and adequate funding so you can make longterm plans.”
Stiles said the NDP would work to improve highway safety, including the four-laning of Highway 69, create more “truly affordable” housing units, and ensure Northern Ontario hospitals have sustainable and predictable funding.
For her part, Crombie admitted past Ontario Liberal Party governments haven’t always gotten it right, and pledged a “fresh start” to help “build a brighter and more affordable future for our children and grandchildren.”
Like Stiles, Crombie lamented provincial downloading of mental health and addictions services onto municipal budgets, which “weren’t designed to deal” with it.
Crombie also pledged to improve highway maintenance, including finishing the four-laning Highway 69 and lowering wait times at hospitals.
Her winding speech ended up narrowing in on education.
The province needs to better fund post-secondary institutions for Ontario to hit its economic potential, she said, describing the current situation as a “crisis of our universities and colleges.”
“They’re crying out for our support. They have no recourse but to rely on foreign students for funding,” Crombie said. “We need to invest in our future.”
While other provinces fund post-secondary institutions’ operational expenses to the tune of around 60 per cent, Ontario only pledges 30 per cent, she said.
Labour-training centres also need greater attention, she said, asserting, “We need to encourage more of our young people to get into them.”
In concert with this is a need to ensure child care is available.
The Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities wraps up at midday Wednesday, and Sudbury.com will be in attendance to report on what takes place.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
