Harper's Conservatives say no to Rota's FedNor bill

Nipissing‐Timiskaming MP Anthony Rota
News Release

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Ottawa – Just one week after Bill C‐309 was approved for Third Reading by a majority of MPs in the House of Commons, the Conservative Government has single‐handedly scrapped the proposed legislation. The Bill, which was introduced by Nipissing‐Timiskaming MP Anthony Rota, sought to establish a permanent regional economic development agency for Northern Ontario.

According to MP Rota, by denying Bill C‐309 a Royal Recommendation, the Conservative government has essentially ignored the will of Parliament in order to defeat the proposed legislation.

“This is unreal,” says Mr. Rota. “Bill C‐309 had the endorsement of dozens of communities and municipalities throughout Northern Ontario, as well as the majority of Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, and yet the Harper government simply ignored all of this in order to
engineer the Bill’s defeat.”

Mr. Rota, who gave a twenty minute speech in the House of Commons on Wednesday evening outlining the benefits of his Bill, says that he is very disappointed by the Conservatives’ decision to scrap the proposed legislation but not especially surprised by the end result.

“Since day one, the Harper government has done everything in its power to scrap Bill C‐309. The Conservatives have proven once again that it doesn’t matter what the will of the people is; they are prepared to sidestep democracy in order to achieve their own end‐goals.”

Mr. Rota maintains that Bill C‐309 was about making substantial investments in people, knowledge, modern infrastructure, and a sound and efficient financial sector in order to provide the foundation for global success. “And yet,” he says, “For some inexplicable reason, Tony Clement and Greg Rickford made it their own personal mission to ensure that this idea failed.”

“The people of Northern Ontario want to know why the Minister of Industry and the MP from Kenora continue to demonstrate such a blatant lack of respect,” says Mr. Rota. “Well, when you consider the fact that one comes from Toronto, and the other comes from Manitoba, it suddenly becomes much clearer why they are both so out of touch with the issues that matter most to the people of our region.”

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