QUEEN’S PARK – Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli again today voiced stern opposition to a measure in the 2013 Liberal budget that threatens hundreds of Northern jobs. Fedeli delivered a Members’ Statement in the Ontario Legislature this afternoon at the Liberal plan to eliminate the Apprenticeship Training Tax Credit for Contact Centres in Ontario.
Text of Fedeli’s prepared statement is as follows:
Speaker, for a decade now, Liberal policies have crushed growth, jobs, and prosperity in Northern Ontario. The latest hit from this government can be found on page 262 of the budget, which outlines the elimination of the Apprenticeship Training Tax Credit for only Contact Centres.
There are 25,000 Contract Centre jobs in Ontario, — 8,000 of those in the North. This move directly threatens at least 2,000 Northern jobs, perhaps more. Ironically, the $45 million this is deemed to save is the same amount the new Liberal subsidy being given to the Toronto music industry.
The day after the budget I talked to the President of one of the largest Contact Centres in North Bay. He told me how valuable this training is and how vital the tax credit is to the industry. Without it, there will be no new hires and the sector, predominantly located in Northern Ontario, will shrink or close up.
Recently, the mayors of North Bay, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins, and Thunder Bay wrote to the Premier to ask that this budget item be reversed.
The PC party and our leader recently unveiled a firm vision to get the North back on track. Northerners figured out long ago that this government can’t be trusted, and it’s time to change the team.
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