THUNDER BAY— “The Ontario Liberal Plan for Northern Ontario is the only plan that will create good jobs in the North”, says Michael Gravelle, Liberal candidate for Thunder Bay-Superior North.
“Only the Ontario Liberals have a detailed plan to create jobs for Northern families,” Gravelle continued. “The Horwath NDP and Hudak PC platforms will not help the North. Both their plans would take Ontario and the North off track.”
Only Ontario Liberals will:
Open at least eight new mines in the next decade, with another six mines reopening in 2012, creating hundreds of jobs for Northern communities;
Save mining, forestry and steel companies 25 per cent off their electricity costs, by making the Northern Industrial Electricity Rate Program (NIER) permanent;
Develop the Ring of Fire, one of the most promising opportunities in generations, creating thousands of jobs;
Boost the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund and make it permanent, and increase the number of jobs created to 4,000 per year;
Help small business by lowering the small business tax rate to 4 per cent.
“The Ontario Mining Association (OMA) is pleased to see the Ontario Liberal Northern Platform speaks to several recommendations from our Action Plan for Ontario: Taking Advantage of a Critical Window of Opportunity,” said Chris Hodgson, President of the OMA. “Showing our pride for the mining industry by establishing a target number for new mines in Ontario, making the NIER (Northern Industrial Electricity Rate) program permanent and supporting the efforts to attract, retain and develop employees were recommendations made by the OMA to encourage mining in Ontario.”