Wynne says Gravelle has moved the government's position on ONTC divestiture

Today Premier Kathleen Wynne took time out to talk with northern Ontario reporters during a telephone conference. The Premier allowed for 30 minutes for questions concerning issues in both the northeast and northwest portions of northern Ontario, which is nowhere near enough time to really delve into the issues but North Bay reporters did press Wynne about the ONTC, Hydro costs and the budding film industry.

Without answering where the status is with the divestiture of the ONTC, Wynne did say that Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle has been very public that the sale of the ONTC is not the only option and is listening closely to the concerns and options the advisory committee has to offer.

“My objective is that we to have a strong transportation strategy for the north. It's not acceptable to me to suggest that we can just have a haphazard approach to the needs of people getting around in the north and that's the Northeast and Northwest.”

“He's (Gravelle) moved our position in terms of divestiture and he knows the concerns and he's listening to the local concerns and I think people would want to see us get that right and would want to see us look at all the options before we move ahead on a plan that might be detrimental the overall transportation strategy in the north,” Wynne tells CKAT reporter Matthew Sookram.

BayToday asked Wynne about the crippling costs of hydro costs on northern businesses and is there relief in sight.

“We have in place the Ontario Clean Energy benefit we have the northern industrial electricity rate in place and both -- those are designed by the northern industrial rate is designed to support manufacturing to support industry in the north, so we’ve recognised that there is a concern.”

She says while electricity costs are an issue so too is the skilled labour shortage.

“Making sure that we have the right skills -- that young people have the right skills so they can actually take the jobs that are available,” she adds.

As for new industries like television and movie productions, Wynne says her government plans to continue to support the cultural industry.

“We are very committed to the cultural industry and in fact in our budget we put in place a $45 million fund,” she states.

“I believe the cultural industry is extremely important to the province as a whole so we have no intention of undermining that.”