http://www.thesudburystar.com/2016/09/13/premier-praises-sudbury-mpps-work

Premier praises Sudbury MPP's work

By Jim Moodie, The Sudbury Star

Tuesday, September 13, 2016 11:37:18 EDT PM

Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne along with Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell entre the Ontario Legislature at Queen's Park for the reading of the Throne Speech on Monday September 12, 2016. Dave Thomas/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network

A tour of Northern Ontario in August may not have been the catalyst for changes announced this week at Queen's Park, but Premier Kathleen Wynne says the visit did add to her government's resolve to address some disproportionate challenges in the region.

"It confirmed what we were already hearing," Wynne told The Star on Tuesday. "We had known for some time that electricity prices were a challenge. It's why we put the Ontario Energy Support program in place for low- and middle-income people, and why we took the debt retirement charge off people's bills, which is about a six or seven per cent relief."

In her throne speech Monday, Wynne outlined a further way for Northern Ontarians to catch a break on rising hydro costs through a 20 per cent rebate for rural and Northern customers.

"When I asked Glenn Thibeault to take on the role of minister of energy, he knew that this was going to be part of his mandate, to work on electricity prices," said Wynne.

The premier said she is pleased with the way the Sudbury MPP has embraced his new role.

"He's very strong," she said. "He really has the big picture, and looks at policy issues through a very intelligent lens. I can already see how he's tackling this file with common sense, but also a real understanding of how policy works."

His knowledge of the region is another asset, said Wynne. "I thought it was important to have that Northern perspective on this file."

Wynne said the relief announced this week builds on other steps to help mines and mills remain competitive, such as making the Northern Industrial Energy Rate Program permanent.

The Ring of Fire received only cursory mention in the throne speech, but Wynne maintains development of the mineral-rich region is high on the government's to-do list.

"I see the potential for building a road and opening up that part of Northern Ontario as extremely important," she said. "Not just because of the mineral development and the potential wealth there, but also because there are communities that will benefit that will be much more connected once we get that infrastructure in place."

Wynne noted she was in the Yukon this summer for a meeting of premiers — at which time she was also able to squeeze in a canoe trip on the Yukon River with her partner — and "was really struck, in my conversations with political leaders and community folk, that all of the communities except for one are connected by road."

That connectivity occurred because of work done during the Second World War to link the territory's far-flung villages and reserves, she said.

"I believe there's a direct relationship between that access and the ability of communities to be successful with economic development and, quite frankly, to have different capacity around self-governance," she said.

The province has committed $1 billion to a transportation route in the Ring of Fire and Wynne said by 2018 she expects to see progress on that project.

"We have to do that in consultation with the First Nations, and that's the work we've been doing," she said. "But there are companies working with us and First Nations working with us, and I believe that we'll get there.

"It takes years to realize one of these developments," the premier said. "I know it seems slow to some people, but we're there, and our commitment remains in place."

The province also anticipates "the federal government will be working with us," she added. "I do expect there will be substantial investment, we just don't have a commitment on that yet."

Along with offering hydro help and reaffirming its position on the Ring of Fire, the throne speech pledged $130 billion in public infrastructure, such as schools and hospitals, and $29 billion for transit and transportation, some of which will go to the North.

"One of the things that the minister of Transportation is doing as part of his mandate is looking at is how do we make the bus system rational in the whole of the Northern Ontario, and how do we make sure that the right connections are in place, whether it's roads or bridges or regulations around coach lines," said Wynne.

Monday's speech also committed to 100,000 licensed child-care spaces over five years, which "recognizes only about 20 per cent of families with kids aged zero to four have access to licensed child care," said Wynne. "We want to make sure we get that up to 40 per cent at least."

Looking forward over the remaining half of her mandate, Wynne said she wants to "make sure the health-care system and education system are progressing, and are increasingly excellent."

The government will also "continue to invest in hospitals and schools and roads and bridges and transit," she said. "We know those investments we've been making have created jobs, and they've also built the foundation for future prosperity."

Ontario has seen six per cent growth over the last two years, "and we're predicting 2.5 to three per cent growth over the next couple of years," she said. "That's the kind of success I want to see continue, because that kind of economic success and growth means that we can make the investments in people."