Shame Shame Shame

The NDP didn’t have the stomach to stand up for Northern Ontario and vote against the Budget and didn’t have the stomach to support it. So instead of doing their job, they take a page from their Federal Counterparts playbook by not voting at all and claiming victory by giving Ontarians a tax hike which McGuinty didn’t even ask for in the budget. Now they expect us to buy their rhetoric, spin and excuses and yes continue to support them.

If you want an alternative government in Northern Ontario whose sole purpose is to protect the interests and prosperity of the people of Northern Ontario then please support the Northern Ontario Heritage Party. Get involved now before Northern Ontario as we once knew it is gone forever. How many mills, railroads and small business in your community have to be shut down to the detriment of growth and local prosperity because of government policies crafted for the masses of the Greater Toronto Area, before you have had enough?

Its all about the Andrea Horwath optics
...Really...Are you kidding me!! Read more

McGuinty’s Assault on the North Continues!

Well, the Drummond Report did recommend the privatization of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission but it also recommended many other things that have been costing the province significantly more or will. Trouble is, all of those tend to have an equal effect on southern Ontario where all his votes are so it is slash and burn the North, save those votes in the south.

It is amazing how the short-sightedness of the current government can overlook that financial albatross called all day kindergarten. They are prepared to leave its $1 Billion plus in the budget and axe the poor old ONTC which they admit to providing subsidies in the amount of $450 Million over the last 9 year to keep it afloat. Excuse me, but with my limited grasp of high finance, that is tantamount to spending a dollar but saving a nickel!

While the immediate wail and cry is about the loss of vital services such as the Northlander passenger train and job losses that have not yet been confirmed as to numbers, we here in the North stand to lose much more. None of us should ever lose sight of the fact that it was the ONR’s predecessor, the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway that was created in 1902 to open up Northeastern Ontario to settlement. While originally intended to provide access to the fertile soils of Temiskaming and Cochrane Districts as well as the vast timber stands, a hammer thrown at Cobalt changed all of that.
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Sorry Northern Ontario

The Greater Toronto Area does not want an election

The NDP leader Andrea Horwath stood in the Ontario legislature and delivered her party’s response to the provincial budget and the closing down of the Ontario Northlander.

Rather than drawing a line in the sand protecting the economic engine of North Eastern Ontario she is ignoring the cries of her own Northern MPPs and signaling in both her statements and tone that the interests of the GTA not wanting another election will prevail.

Once again the Mantra of the Northern Ontario Heritage Party can be heard all over the north. When the interests no matter how important to the North are in conflict with the interests of MPPs from the GTA, the GTA wins out every time and with every party.

Mr. Bision (Transportation Critic) and Mr Vanthof (Critic for Rural Affairs) both have important porfolios within the NDP caucus designed to be the protective voice of Northern Ontario. They both make grandiose statements about how unjust this budget is and how the Liberals can go ahead and shut down the Northlander without even consulting the communities it affects. As sincere as these cries may be, they do not trump the interests of the GTA.

Northern Ontarians have to realize it does not matter what the issue is, we can have the smartest, most articulate and dedicated MPPs in the legislature voicing the concerns of Northern Residents, but at the end of the day, it is just back ground noise in a Southern Ontario dominated caucus, regardless of the party.

The Northern Ontario Heritage Party is calling on all Northern Ontario MPPs to do the right thing, and cross the legislature floor and sit and be heard as one united Northern voice. Until that happens life in Northern Ontario as we once knew it will continue to be cherry picked one issue at a time.

Notice how Winnipeg is even more concerned about Northern Ontario than Toronto is Read More