[Ontario] Northern Committee passes vote – by Kyle Gennings (Timmins Daily Press – March 3, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

First step in giving a voice to Northern Ontario

Thursday marked the turning point in history for Northern Ontario that was promised by MPP Gilles Bisson (NDP — Timmins-James Bay) earlier this week.

The motion to create a Northern Committee was passed readily at Queen’s Park via voice vote despite concerns over snags and party politics voiced by NDP House Leader Bisson.

“We’re really happy that it passed,” he said. “There was some concern that The Conservatives would be voting against the motion. “I don’t think that anyone wanted to be seen on the record as voting against it, so they allowed it to pass through voice vote.”

The voice vote allowed MPPs to vote freely on the motion without being held to task by their respective political parities.

The committee will be comprised of all Northern Ontario MPPs — from all three mainstream political parties. It will provide a forum to discuss Northern issues.

Bisson feels it is a momentous moment in the history to bring a louder voice for Northerners sometime in the future.

“The whole point of the vote to me was not the politics of it, but to get the darn motion passed,” Bisson said. “It was less important to me to out the Liberals and Tories than it was to win the motion.”

However, with the motion now passed, the work has just begun for Bisson.

“Now that the house has declared that it wants the committee formed, the next step is to go to the legislative assembly committee,” he said. “It will take at least until the end of spring. We’re now trying to find ways to facilitate things moving forward.”

Bisson admits that this is the first in a series of baby steps towards the reality of a Northern Committee, but he feels that it is a victory nonetheless for Northern Ontario and for the NDP.

Bisson also raised concern over the lack of appearance made by the Liberal representatives who hold their seats north of the French River.

For the rest of this article, please go to the Timmins Daily Press website: http://www.thedailypress.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3489824