KENORA – POLITICS – Things are in full swing in Ottawa with the fall session of parliament beginning last Monday. As with the start of every session, we begin debating issues that affect Canadians both locally and nationally.
One thing that continues to be on everyone’s mind is the economy. In Northwestern Ontario we need to ensure that infrastructure investments continue to be a priority in order to build our economy, particularly in rural Canada. In our budget, we have committed $125 billion to meet infrastructure needs across the country. The funding includes not only roads and bridges, but also water and wastewater systems as well as community halls and arenas.
We’re also funding more training programs with $85.4 million committed to develop a new framework to support union-based apprenticeship training. In addition, we targeted $15 million over two years to fund much needed Aboriginal skills training pilot projects.
Another important topic that will be a conversation that many Canadians are having across the country is how we best address climate change. I’m happy to say we’ll be hosting a climate change consultation in Kenora on Thursday, October 13. After the consultation, we’ll take your opinions and bring them to Ottawa, so you have a say in how best to move forward. I will provide more details in my column next week on this important subject.
We’ll also host a consultation on electoral reform. As promised in our campaign, we want to hear from Canadians about what they think of the electoral system. This is an important conversation and I am pleased to hold a community discussion in Dryden on Wednesday, October 12. Again, more details will follow in next week’s column.
It’s going to be a busy session over the next few months leading up to the Christmas break. Feel free to follow our Facebook page to keep updated on what’s happening in the riding and Ottawa.
Hon. Bob Nault MP
Kenora
