KENORA – Reader’s Ledger – Well, the first quarter of the year with Sarah Campbell as our Provincial MPP is almost over, and I don’t think any of us are any further ahead than last year. In my opinion, MPP’s are supposed to do everything they can to increase the quality of life for their constituents. Between shots at Dalton McGuinty and complaining about having the largest riding, Sarah Campbell has done little else.
Our PC caucus is committed to creating good-paying jobs, reining in runaway government spending and providing relief to families. That’s why our caucus voted with the NDP to help Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Michael Mantha’s Private Members’ Bill to take the provincial portion of the HST off home heating bills pass Second Reading. Heating your home isn’t a luxury in Northern Ontario, it’s a necessity. We know that it’s not easy for many residents in the North to pay the ever-rising costs to heat their homes, and the PC party is committed to easing that burden!
Believe it or not, Liberal government members in Northern Ontario voted AGAINST this bill, they, unbelievably, voted to INCREASE our cost of living!
The Liberals and NDP, meanwhile, joined forces to vote against the North and the PC amendment to the Throne Speech that would have created 200,000 jobs in the skilled trades by changing the journeyman-to-apprentice ratio.
I got involved in politics because I want to see Northern Ontario profitable again, to see our riding as an economic engine again; so I’m scratching my head as to why Sarah Campbell and the rest of our Northern Liberal and NDP members would vote AGAINST a PC plan that would create good-paying trades jobs in the North – many of which would be unionized positions…
Northern members of those two parties also voted against a PC Private Members Bill to give local decision making powers back to municipalities on industrial wind turbine developments. The Liberals and NDP would rather leave that power in the hands of their friends, the Toronto bureaucrats. But equally alarming is the fact five our Northern MPPs, including Sarah Campbell, did not stand up for local decision-making and did not cast a vote either way when the bill was defeated! She took the easy way out and stayed out of the room for the vote!!
Hopefully, one day we will be able to make the changes necessary to be profitable again; a climate where Northern Ontario is not an after thought; a time when we get the same support in policy as the rest of Ontario. As long as we continue to elect representatives that fight for Toronto Special Interests, instead of for Northern Ontario, we will continue to be in the background! The Provincial PC Riding Association here in Kenora-Rainy River is working hard to see us successful again in Northern Ontario, and see us all return to the prosperity we once knew!
Dennis Butler
President
Kenora-Rainy River Ontario PC Riding Association
krrpcs@gmail.com