McGuinty Liberals stand up for the North

QUEEN'S PARK, ON, Dec. 13 /CNW/ -

      Today in the legislature John Tory and the Conservative caucus, including their Northern Affairs Critic, voted against the McGuinty plan to stand up for the North and protect the current 11 ridings by voting against Bill 214.

      "We are proud to stand up for the North and make sure their voice at
Queen's Park is heard and protected," said Liberal MPP Monique Smith. "We made
a commitment to Northern Ontario and we have stood by that by implementing
Bill 214. Why would he want to take away a northern voice from Queen's Park?"
This legislation does three things: protects Northern representation,
sets fixed dates for future elections, and implements real time disclosure.

     This is just the latest in a long list of Tory attacks on Northern Ontario:

- Upon taking office the Tories cut Northern highway spending by
17.2 % - that's $20 million.

- The Harris-Eves government moved thousands of government jobs from
Northern communities to Southern Ontario and did little to help create
new ones.

- The Harris-Eves government cut Northern health care: they closed
hospitals, fired nurses and did little to locate more doctors in the North.

- They closed 25 of the North's schools.

- Harris-Eves used the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund as a slush fund to
make up for basic infrastructure spending instead of using it for economic stimulation as originally designated.

     "John Tory comes to the North and says he supports Northerners but goes back to Toronto and votes against us. You can't get away with saying one thing in the North and another in Toronto," added Smith.