Cash for roads and a gas price watchdog are two elements of the Liberal plan for Northern Ontario being touted by the local candidate.
“I’m glad they’re bringing a watchdog for the price of gas because a lot of senior citizens need cars to go to a doctor’s appointment, groceries and stuff and when you start paying $1.39 a litre that’s high and it affects their pensions,” said Mickey Auger, the Timmins Liberal candidate. “If we have a watch dog to control that there’s no price gouging coming in.”
In the plan released Friday, the party also promised:
• Increasing the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation funding to $150 in the next three years
• Completing the twinning of Highway 69 between Parry Sound and Sudbury, as well as annual funding to four-lane the TransCanada highway
• Building a year-round access road, along with upgrades to existing highways and bridges, to the Ring of Fire
“In the past 20 years, Timmins has had a lack of funding with the NDP so hopefully we can get something done for Timmins for infrastructure, roads, and etc,” said Auger. “When you get a party in power, you should have a member of parliament here with the party, that way you’ll get the funding and things that you need. When you have a member of parliament that’s not with the party, you’re not going to get nothing, like we did for the last 28 years.”
Earlier this month in Timmins, PC leader Doug Ford promised northerners a cut of the money the province collects for aggregate licences, stumpage fees and mining tax. He also committed to cutting through the “special interest and bureaucratic delays” preventing the Ring of Fire and other resource projects.
Priorities in the NDP’s plan for the north include healthcare, roads, and resource revenue sharing.
There are four candidates vying to be MPP for the new Timmins riding.
They are incumbent NDP Gilles Bisson, Auger, PC Yvan Genier and the Northern Ontario Party’s Gary Schaap.
Election day is June 7.
- With files from Rogers Media