Fedeli reads ONTC petition in the legislature

Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli
News Release

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QUEEN’S PARK -- Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli rose in the Ontario Legislature Wednesday afternoon to read this petition on Dalton McGuinty’s plan to sell off the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission.

The text is as follows:

TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO:

WHEREAS on April 22, 2002, Premier Dalton McGuinty signed a pledge in North Bay to NEVER privatize the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC);

and WHEREAS high energy prices have forced Northern Ontario businesses to close or move, including Xstrata, which moved its Timmins smelter operations to Quebec & had made up 10 per cent of Ontario Northland Railway’s business; and

WHEREAS some 60 lumber mills have closed across Northern Ontario in recent years with a loss of 10,000 resource jobs, and

Ontario fell from being the #1 mining jurisdiction in the world to #23 due to high taxes and government red tape, resulting in the erosion of Ontario Northland’s commercial customer base; and

WHEREAS the Far North Act has banned development, turned much of Northern Ontario into a virtual museum, is the biggest barrier to new job creation in Northern Ontario and cost Ontario Northland business; and

WHEREAS the ONTC was completely omitted from the province’s Northern Growth Plan issued two years ago; and

WHEREAS the former Liberal MPP for Nipissing staged an election campaign announcement on September 30, 2011 regarding what is now known to be a non-existent strategic alliance between the ONTC and Metrolinx; and

WHEREAS the Government of Ontario on March 23, 2012 announced it would wind down and divest itself of the ONTC & its assets with no prior consultation with community stakeholders in Nipissing & across Northeastern Ontario;

WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, hereby demand Dalton McGuinty come to North Bay, look workers in the eye, and explain why he broke his word and has abandoned Northern Ontario.

Fedeli encourages his constituents to forward any and all petitions on this issue so he can present them in the Legislature, or go to www.fedeli.com and sign the petition on his website.

“Ontario Northland is my number one priority and I wil will act to make your voice heard on this critical issue for Northern Ontario,” Fedeli said.

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