Nipissing MPP Fedeli sends open letter to Bartolucci

Hon. Rick Bartolucci,
MPP Minister of Northern Development and Mines
Room 5630, 5th Floor, Whitney Block
Toronto, ON M7A 1W3

Dear Minister,

Recently, large employers in the mining sector in my riding of Nipissing announced either substantial layoffs or closure of operations in North Bay. Today, Boart Longyear announced the layoff of 127 men and women, bringing their total to 175 layoffs. Prior to that, Sandvik became yet another casualty of the jobs crisis in Ontario, sending our brightest and most driven workers to
seek employment outside our Province. Nearly 70 employees were affected. Atlas Copco has also laid off more than a dozen workers.


Sandvik relocated part of its North Bay operation to New Brunswick, now ranked the #1 mining jurisdiction in the world. Ontario once laid claim to that distinction, but sadly under you and your government’s watch, we have fallen to #13. Coupled with the implementation of your government’s Far North Act, which puts half of the North off limits to exploration, and electricity rates that have doubled since 2003, we are facing a jobs crisis in Ontario.


Minister, it should not be this way. Ontario has a workforce whose skills, knowledge and drive to succeed are second to none in North America. The government – which you are part of – should be maximizing business opportunities in our Province.


Ontario can and will lead again, but only by adopting bold new ideas such as the Ontario PC party has proposed to kick start job creation and economic growth. We need to implement the fundamentals that will get us there, like affordable energy – the cornerstone of economic growth;
lower taxes to kick-start job creation and get the 600,000 Ontario men and women who woke up without a job this morning back to work; spending restraint and deficit reduction to ensure we’re still able us to safeguard the things we care about most, like health care and education; and revitalization of the Northern economy by properly using our tremendous resource and transportation assets. Your government needs to take action now.


On behalf of the residents of Nipissing,


Sincerely,
Vic Fedeli
MPP, Nipissing