Wayne Snider is the city editor for The Daily Press, the city of Timmins newspaper. Contact the writer at news@thedailypress.ca.
OPINION: Conservatives must be committed to following through
The Progressive Conservatives won’t have a problem selling their platform in Northern Ontario this provincial election. The big question mark for the Tories is whether or not most Northerners will believe the sales pitch. As the saying goes: If an offer seems too good to be true, then it probably is.
Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak revealed the platform, changebook North, last week. It reads like a political wish list for Northern Ontario.
It includes promises things such as the cancellation of the Far North Act, giving all municipalities a share of the gas tax, letting Northern communities decide how they should grow, and ensuring First Nations are real partners and will benefit from the wealth creation in the North. From reduced hydro bills to cutting HST on home heating, a promise is in there.
“The people calling for change the loudest are from the North, and with good reason,” the document’s intro states. “If Ontario is the engine of Confederation, then Northern Ontario is the fuel — the lumber, the minerals and the minds that power us forward. But for too long, the needs of the North have been ignored.
“The Southern Ontario special interests, with their fantasy view of what Northern living really is, have far too much say of the decisions that affect actual Northern families. The North needs change.”