https://www.thesudburystar.com/news/local-news/hunter-promises-better-deal-for-north

She may have been born in Jamaica and raised in the GTA, but the Liberal leadership hopeful Mitzie Hunter has spent time in Northern communities, too, and wants to see the region prosper.

“Having a strong Northern Ontario makes Ontario stronger,” she told The Star on Monday. “Having a Northern understanding is very important for me, and it’s not just now that I’m in the race.”

As education minister in the Kathleen Wynne government, the Scarborough-Guildwood MPP visited the region on multiple occasions and introduced policies to benefit residents.

“I paid particular attention to the North and issues affecting the North,” she said. “As minister I provided additional funding for mental health and support staff for Northern school boards.”

She also worked with Indigenous trustees in Northwestern Ontario on a mentoring program to help First Nations students graduate from high school.

One of two sitting MPPs vying for the Grit leadership — the other is Don Valley East member Michael Coteau — Hunter said she made a point of heading north again just prior to formally tossing her hat in the ring.

“I actually started my thinking and listening tour in the North,” she said. “I’ve been to Sioux Lookout, Dryden and Moosonee. I’ve been to Timmins three times, and drove out to Cochrane while I was there, and of course I’ve been to Thunder Bay and Sudbury, as well.”

Last week, in conjunction with her appearance at a leadership debate in Sudbury, Hunter released a set of policy priorities for Northern Ontario.

The candidate is pledging to provide more relief to hydro customers, pump more money into the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, and enhance transportation infrastructure and broadband connectivity, among other goals for the region.

“My campaign is focused on affordability and opportunity, and recognizing that living in Northern Ontario is costlier in terms of the travel, distance and services,” Hunter told The Star. “We want to make sure that businesses feel they are competitive and that they can employ people in the North, and that it’s affordable to live there. Not many southerners understand the need to have your car battery warmed up, to keep it charged overnight, but I know the cost of electricity is something people are sensitive to.”

Transportation options are also limited for Northerners, especially with changes to long-haul bus service, the candidate noted.

“One of the things I wanted to look into was how do we connect communities, and what is an effective way of doing that,” she said. “Is it using bus links that we’re able to gain access to? I am very committed to connecting people to jobs and also to institutions — health-care services, post-secondary education — so we have to find ways to make sure that happens.”

Hunter said it is also essential “to work locally,” because “too often we’re not talking with our municipal partners.” 

She said she is committed to creating a better mechanism for provincial representatives to meet with Northern mayors and other local leaders to “discuss some of these challenges and find solutions together.”

Hunter envisions “some sort of table where ministries can go and talk to local municipal leaders,” although she would also like to see the province play a more active and effective role with existing organizations like the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities.

In her set of proposals for the region, Hunter acknowledges that a quarter of jobs in Canada are connected to the resources industry. 

“Mining is, and will remain, a critical driver of jobs and economic growth for Northern Ontario as resources and technology are applied to extract resources in an environmentally responsible way,” the document states.

A government led by Hunter would “continue and accelerate” development of the Ring of Fire, according to the statement, although the leadership candidate said it is critical to work respectfully with the Indigenous residents of the mineral-rich region.

“There’s no question that there is a tremendous amount of economic opportunity in the resources that are there,” said Hunter. “But how it’s done is very important.”

The province must have “appropriate conversations with First Nations,” she said, and ensure community members can “participate in accessing that wealth. That is something I would initiate in a manner that is collaborative, involving them in the decisions that will affect them moving forward.”

Hunter said the province must also be sensitive to the environmental impact of developing the Ring of Fire.

“From a research, innovation and technology standpoint, how do we do things that respect the natural environment that is there in the North?” she said. “The government has a role, but so do the private sector and communities, in making sure that is in place.”

The Doug Ford regime has reversed environmental progress, Hunter said, by cancelling green-energy contracts, fighting a price on carbon and axing the office of the environmental commissioner.

“The government has silenced that independent voice, so we no longer have that environmental watchdog who can critique decisions and hold us more accountable,” she said. “I believe the role of government is to protect air, water and land for future generations — it’s something we can’t neglect, and there are consequences when that happens.”

Hunter said a Liberal government under her leadership would restore the office of the environmental commissioner, put a price on pollution, implement better protection of water sources and reinvest in tree planting.

“Sudbury knows very well how re-greening and innovations in technology can actually clean up things that were damaging to the environment,” she said. “But we also have to put those protections in place up front.