Budget has some good first steps for area's economy

Keeping with tradition Nipissing MPP Monique Smith gathered stakeholders together at the Legion Friday to discuss how the Ontario budget impacts the region.

Both president of Canadore College Barbara Taylor and president of Nipissing University Dr Lesley Lovett-Doust are both pleased that Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan added money for colleges and universities in the budget.

Taylor told Smith during the briefing it was a good day for post secondary institutions and that she was thrilled to see the province continuing with the second career program.

The budget reflects 310 million dollars in funding to create 20 thousand new post-secondary spaces this fall. With the aim to increase the the population attending post secondary institutions to 70 per cent from the current 62 per cent .

President of the Chamber of Commerce Sean Lawlor is also pleased to see that the struggles northern business are facing was taken into consideration by reducing electricity in offering energy credits.

“It's not often you see a provincial budget so focused on northern Ontario,” he says.

“I think the government obviously recognizes some of the challenges we are having here in the north and has come to the table with something pretty significant for a lot of our industrial companies in the north where energy represents such a huge component of their budget.”

“And I think this 25 per cent reduction is going to go a long way to making Ontario, northern Ontario, a more competitive region to do business.”

Not everyone is pleased with what is in the budget both Community Living Mattawa and Community Living North Bay voiced their concerned that the once promised two per cent developmental services increase for their agencies has yet to materialize.

Community Living North Bay spokesperson Darlene Brooks told Smith that the province needs to move closer to affordability, accessibility and availability when it comes to housing needs for their clients. She also notes that with aging buildings and no resources their group living facilities are facing closure.

North Bay Deputy Mayor Peter Chirico also had concern with the announced freeze in public sector salaries. The minister told the province's mayors and councils to follow suit and negotiate with unions for a zero percent increase.

Chirico asked Smith if the province will be telling arbitrators to enforce the freeze. Smith said the province is working on the detials but doesn't have the power to tell arbitrators what to do.

Encouraged that issues of the disenfranchised members of society are addressed, Lana Mitchell of LIPI says there is still so much more that could be done for people in need.

“I'm always impressed when vulnerable people or social assistance, affordable housing and those types of things are included obviously nothing will ever be enough because there is so much need out there.”

“And how you pick and choose I guess I can say I also wouldn't want to be the one to have to make those decisions because I can't fathom they'd be easy because there is not end of need out there at all levels.”

“I'm encouraged by the talk about affordable housing and recognizing the value of that and if people can be stable it gives them a chance to become engaged members of their communities rather then trying to figure out how to survive from day to day.”

“Next step … look at social assistance rates but set it up in a way that says to a family when they first come in the door that okay here we are going to stabilize you,” Mitchell explains.

“Then you look at them in a non intimidating way that says okay we're going to put the resources together and we're going to say okay where do you want to be 5 years from now and what do you need to get there. Is it education, is it re-training, is it support for a special needs child, what is it that you need those are the things that need to come into play.”