http://www.kapuskasingtimes.com/2016/01/07/2015-a-year-of-ups-and-downs-bisson

Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson.

Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson is looking forward to 2016, but took a couple of minutes to chat with The Times about the year past, both highlights and lowlights.

“If we’re talking about positives, I think we have to look at the continued operation of the Smooth Rock Falls hospital,” said Bisson. “It was having severe deficit issues, which were threatening the viability of the facility. Working with the mayor, council, hospital board, we managed to get the Minister of Health to intervene and get the funding necessary to keep the doors open. That was really good news because a town like Smooth Rock Falls can ill-afford to lose its hospital”.

Another highlight of the year past, said Bisson, was the continued reconstruction of Hwy. 11, which this past year was focused on the area between Hearst and Opasatika.

“ We’ve managed to get much of the highway reconstructed. Last year we were able to do from Hearst coming east,” he commented. “We have a commitment for further improvements on the highway north of Kapuskasing this year. In combination with what has been done in the last several years, we’re doing well on that front”.

The year was not all rosy however said Bisson, as he commented on a high volume of visits and calls from constituents revolving around the cost of electrical bills.

“The big news continues to be the price of hydro. The price of electricity in Ontario since the Liberals came to power, has increased by 337 per cent. There is hardly an individual homeowner, business owner or industrial user that can afford that type of increase,” said Bisson.

“Most of it is directly related to the Liberals’ policy regarding hydro. Our system before the Liberals came to power had the capacity to generate about 25,000 megs. Our demand now is anywhere between 13,000 to 18,000 megs. The Liberals have built surplus power projects to the tune of an additional 17,000 megs of generating capacity and they’ve done it all through private companies, who charge us way more than our provincial provider. So now, we’ve got a huge surplus of generating capacity and are paying more for our electricity. It doesn’t make sense”.

The other big bad for 2015 according the MPP, was the continued lack of movement on the Ring of Fire.

“This project has great potential for the whole of Northern Ontario,” said Bisson. “The government has talked about the importance of this project in two budgets and two throne speeches at this point, saying they were going to work hard to get this mineral development going”.

“At a time when it could have happened, because the metal prices were such that companies were ready to move on it, we’ve instead seen companies walk away, not the least of which, was Cliffs Natural Resources. They were the one in the best position to start development but grew so disenchanted with the provincial government that they decided to pull out of Ontario altogether and now want nothing to do with the project. Cliffs sold their interests in the project to another company, which has now been trying for four years to get their environmental assessment approved. In the meantime, we’re losing jobs in the manufacturing sector and missing out an opportunity to create jobs in the mining sector”.

Looking to the year ahead, Bisson said three issues needed to be focused upon: economics, economics and, you guessed it, economics.

“The major focus has to be the lack of an economic plan for 2016 on the part of the government. I think they’re going to have a severe austerity budget in the spring. We’re probably going to see some hits on the tax side and the services side,” he surmised. “We really need the province to get its economic ship in order. Yes there will be a deficit for a short while, but we have to have a plan to reduce that deficit over a period of time and maintain services. We have to prioritize and get our fiscal mess in order without pulling the rug out from underneath people when it comes to providing services we need to make our communities function, while at the same time enabling us to build a stronger economy”.