KAPUSKASING – POLITICS – Mushkegowuk-James Bay NDP members nominated Guy Bourgouin, a union president, and workers’ rights activist, to represent the new riding as their candidate in the next provincial election, set for June 2018.
Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath and Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson were on hand for the meeting and said that increased representation northerners will have as a result of this new riding is a positive step.
“The more voices we have from northern Ontario the better,” said Horwath. “The north has been forgotten for decades by consecutive Conservative and Liberal governments. I know Gilles is disappointed to no longer be representing communities along the James Bay coast and Highway 11 corridor – but I also know that Guy will step into and be a very strong voice for those communities at Queen’s Park. I’m absolutely thrilled to be welcoming Guy to the NDP team tonight.”
“I’ve been fighting to make life better for northern families my entire career,” said Bourgouin. “People are struggling right now just to get by. The Wynne Liberals’ hydro plan, which the Conservatives have vowed to leave in place, will mean that hydro bills will skyrocket right after the election. Northern families are already hard hit by Wynne’s Hydro One sell-off, and we can’t afford for our bills to go up again.
“It really comes down to this – Ontarians are ready for something completely different. In the north, we know the only party that is truly on our side is the NDP — and we’re going to be a part of electing an NDP premier in June.”
Bourgouin outlined his top priorities – including fighting for better access to health care services for northern families, restoring the Northlander and improving bus service to northern Ontario communities, making it easier for folks to join a union, and working to implement Andrea Horwath’s universal pharmacare program, because he says, no one should have to empty their wallet to get the medicine they need. And, putting Hydro One back in public hands with Horwath’s hydro plan — a plan that will save all hydro customers about 30 percent on their bills.
Bourgouin, who is proudly Métis, was born in Dubreuilville and has lived in Kapuskasing for 22 years. He is married with two children.