Opposition to FedNor insulting, say New Democrat MPs

NEWS RELEASE

TONY MARTIN, MP

*************************** Conservatives all smoke and mirrors as they fail FedNor

“They won’t use FedNor as a tool to create jobs” - Layton

OTTAWA - (June 19) - The Conservatives’ lame excuses in opposing independent regional development agency status for FedNor – too bureaucratic, a waste of taxpayer’s dollars – are an absurd insult to northerners, Northern New Democrat MPs said today.

“The Conservatives contradicted themselves all over the place. They went ahead and created a $1 billion regional development agency for Southern Ontario and never found that a waste of taxpayer’s dollars and run three full agencies for the rest of Canada,” Sault MP Tony Martin said. “We are happy to support an agency in Southern Ontario but New Democrats say in hard-hit Ontario, both the north and south need full regional development agencies like the other three regions have. It’s only fair.”

In Question Period today, New Democrat leader Jack Layton cited FedNor as he attacked the federal government’s refusal to support the largest light-rail project in North American history.

The City of Toronto and Ontario government are announcing  a $1.2 billion streetcar contract in Thunder Bay today without federal participation.

“We know this government is opposed to FedNor and won’t use it as a tool to create jobs, but why are they refusing to support the largest light-rail project in North American history?”  Layton said.

FedNor critic Claude Gravelle (Nickel Belt) said the Conservatives’ explanation for voting against a bill to create FedNor as a stand-alone agency was “smoke and mirrors. Last Parliament, when we introduced that bill, they completely ignored our point that a third of FedNor’s funding was already flowing to Southern and Eastern Ontario. Now they say a full agency would cost too much money and be bureaucratic. Are they saying the agencies in Atlantic Canada, Western Canada and Quebec are bureaucratic and costing taxpayers too much money?”

In defending their refusal to stand up for Northern Ontario, both Industry Minister Tony Clement (Parry Sound Muskoka) and Greg Rickford (Kenora) hid behind Speaker Peter Milliken’s comments that the private member’s bill will probably be ruled out of order because it involves government spending.

“Well, make the bill a government bill and we will all cheer, especially northerners who need a much stronger and better funded community driven FedNor,"  said New Democrat Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay). “What is  good for the goose in the west and east and Quebec is good for the gander in Northern Ontario.”

*************************** Earlier SooToday.com coverage of this story

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