Interim Leader of the Official Opposition and Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli says the omission of the Ring of Fire, along with no mention of Northern Ontario in the Speech from the Throne speaks volumes.
The address was delivered yesterday by the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor and opened the third Session of the province’s 41st Parliament.
While Ontario PC Leader Doug Ford spoke with media based in Northern Ontario Friday to address priorities and the party’s commitment to the North, Fedeli says these same issues were not addressed in the Throne Speech.
Fedeli says in a release that Premier Kathleen Wynne’s promises of extra spending are an election ploy.
Meanwhile, Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault is highlighting priorities identified by the Liberal government that are important to Northern Ontarians.
He says reducing wait times for health care by increasing hospital operating budgets, making investments in mental health and addictions services, and providing more college and university students with free tuition through the new OSAP as outlined in the Throne Speech are the next steps to “providing care and opportunity during this period of rapid economic change.”
Thibeault says the plan includes a higher minimum wage and better working conditions, free tuition for hundreds of thousands of students, easier access to affordable childcare, and free prescription drugs for everyone under 25.
The provincial election is June 7.
