OP-ED – A Report from Your Northern Ontario New Democrat team

By: Guest Columnist

By Glenn Thibeault and Claude Gravelle, on behalf of the New Democrat Northern Ontario team

In 2008, Jack Layton’s New Democrats swept into Northern Ontario on a promise to finally give you a voice in Ottawa. You told us you were tired of watching local jobs shipped abroad, and tired of having to drive for hours to see a family doctor. But most of all, you said you were tired of being ignored by Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, and taken for granted by the Liberals.

Today, we are pleased to report back to you on behalf of your Northern Ontario New Democrat team.

In less than three years, we’ve made great progress on that 2008 promise. As a team, we’ve tackled this region’s unique challenges and held the Conservatives accountable.

When Xstrata and Vale Inco used record profits to kill hundreds of local jobs – after promising not to – NDP Mining Critic Claude Gravelle stepped in and demanded the government hold them accountable for breaking their contractual agreement.

He went one step further by proposing changes to the Investment Canada Act to protect jobs from risky foreign takeovers and to make sure local communities are consulted before Stephen Harper rubber-stamps any more takeovers. The goal was to make sure we learn from past mistakes.

Claude even introduced the first-ever National Mining Strategy to ensure we benefit from our future developments, like the Ring of Fire.

When the recession hit and families had trouble paying their bills, we led the fight to make your life more affordable. From fighting against Stephen Harper imposing the HST on Northern Ontario to Glenn Thibeault’s plan to cap outrageous credit card fees, we worked to give you a break.

Glenn also launched a national effort calling for an inquiry into sports concussions. We need to protect our athletes and youth from injuries that could cripple or shorten their lives.

Our colleague from Thunder Bay-Rainey River, John Rafferty, stepped in to protect workers by introducing a bill to put your pension at the front of the line when a company goes bankrupt. The Conservative approach is to let corporate creditors and Stephen Harper’s Bay Street friends get their money before workers do.

And just last September, Charlie Angus, MP for Timmins-James Bay teamed up with the community of Attawapiskat to ensure that every First Nations child has access to a decent school and a quality education.

It’s been more than two years of practical results, but our work isn’t done yet. If we are going to build a truly vibrant future for Northern Ontario – the kind of place to raise a family – we must build on these successes.

Our team is ready to do that. Working with Jack Layton and the whole New Democrat caucus, we’ll build strong communities with good jobs, so our young people don’t have to leave home to find work. We’ll do this by supporting our mining, forestry and clean energy sectors right here at home.

We’ll work with the provincial government to train thousands more family doctors and nurses so every family has someone local to go to when a loved one gets sick.

And we’ll continue to make your life more affordable by eliminating the federal portion of the HST on home heating, fighting unfair gas prices and reducing small business tax.

That’s our commitment to you and your family for the future.

Be sure to contact our campaigns (Glenn at 705-562-1239 or Claude at 1-888-475-9220) for a copy of our recently released Northern Ontario Platform, and visit http://www.ndp.ca/ to download the national platform.

On May 2nd, you can help the progress continue by voting for your Northern Ontario New Democrat team.