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Mulroney looks for support in Timmins (3 photos)

Candidate wants to boost NOHFC

Caroline Mulroney says she’s ready to fight.

The Ontario PC leadership candidate was in Timmins today looking for support ahead of the party members voting for its new leader next month.

Mulroney, who is one of five candidates vying to be the leader of the Ontario PC party, has been meeting with people in Northern Ontario over the past several days.

The northern tour included stops in Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie. After this morning's event at the Senator Hotel, she headed to Kapuskasing, then Thunder Bay.

Talking to a room of about 30 people, she laid out some of her plans for boosting the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) and took questions from the crowd about topics such as the Ring of Fire and long-term care.

Earlier this week, Mulroney announced that she would double the money allocated to the NOHFC, which helps stimulate economic development initiatives, to $200 million.

“The unspent funds won’t be clawed back, they’ll be rolled over into the next fiscal year. I believe that that money belongs to Northern Ontario and it’s going to stay here under a PC government that I lead,” she said, adding that the eligibility criteria would also be rewritten.

“The north has been ignored for far too long. We are going to prioritize infrastructure that will leave a legacy of prosperity for the next generation.”

Timmins Mayor Steve Black ensured that the Ring of Fire was on the agenda.

He asked about a commitment for a long-term energy deal for Noront Resources.

“It is essential that we develop the Ring of Fire and to do that we need the right infrastructure in place,” she said. “I don’t want to commit to anything right now, but I can tell you that I am committed to making sure that this process is underway and is done well and done right by Northern Ontario.”

As a province, Mulroney said that long-term care is one of the biggest issues being faced and that’s she’s working on it.

“We have to address that our existing long-term care facilities need to be renovated, they need to be upgraded and updated. That is a multi-billion-dollar project in and of itself and then we need to build new beds and new care facilities,” she said.

“We’ve got our fiscal challenges here, so it’s not like there’s dollars just hanging that we can invest in that. We’ve got to find waste where it is so we can invest it where it needs to be invested and we need to find partners to be able to do that.”

A newcomer to politics, Mulroney says she is ready to fight.

“I don’t have the political experience, but I did grow up in a political family and one thing I did learn from my father (former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney) is that making the right decisions aren’t always easy and they’re not politically popular sometimes,” she said, explaining that to do what’s right you have to fight and think about what’s in the long-term best interests.

Mulroney is the second leadership candidate to make a stop in Timmins.

Earlier this month, Christine Elliott was in town to talk to members of the local riding association.

The voting period for Ontario PC party members is March 2 – 8, with a leadership convention March 10.

Ontarians will head to the polls for the provincial election in June.  


Maija Hoggett

About the Author: Maija Hoggett

Maija Hoggett is an experienced journalist who covers Timmins and area
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