KENORA – The Progressive Conservatives have choosen their candidate in Kenora Rainy River. Kenora City Councillor 
Rod McKay will be the candidate in the upcoming provincial election. Nearly 200 Progressive Conservatives gathered in Fort Frances, Dryden and Kenora on Saturday to listen to speeches and cast their ballots for McKay, a Kenora business person and City Councillor Louis Roussin.
“I’m grateful for the show of support from across the riding,” said McKay, who is the Mill Manager for Kenora Forest Products. “We face tremendous challenges here in Kenora-Rainy River and I will to be an effective voice for our region in Queen’s Park.”
McKay feels that putting people back to work is a key priority for the region.
“We need to return economic prosperity to our communities. Every day that I go to work in a sawmill that is shutdown I am reminded of the failed policies of the Dalton McGuinty Liberals. We have tremendous resource wealth here in Northwestern Ontario; what we need is the right policies and the right leadership to use our resources to get people back to work.” McKay said. “I was impressed with how the PC plan for Northern Ontario, Changebook North, was developed. All of our Northern policy plans had to originate in the North, protect the Northern way of life, and keep our wealth in the North. I believe that this is a plan that will offer real, positive change for all of us.
McKay pointed to specific commitments in Changebook North including a requirement that all the gas tax revenue collected in the North will stay in the North, immediate relief for families by removing the debt retirement charge from electrical bills and a promise to repeal the Bill 191, the Far North Act.
“I think the commitment by Tim Hudak really shows the difference in leadership. Here is a bill that makes large sections of Northern Ontario off limits to any sort of economic development. Prospectors objected, First Nations objected, everyone in the North objected, but the McGuinty Liberals would only listen to Southern Ontario special interests. The NDP platform doesn’t make any mention of Bill 191, so we know where they stand. Only Tim Hudak and the Ontario PC’s have said they will stand up for Northerners and repeal it.”
“I don’t think anyone can take this riding for granted. People are looking for leadership. Having worked for nearly 40 years in the resource industry, from my first entry level job to becoming mill manager, I have the experience to be a strong, effective voice in Queen’s Park.”
