Queen’s Park Report – Mike Brown, MPP – Algoma-Manitoulin

2010 Budget Strengthens Northern Ontario

Ontario is continuing to come to grips with the full impact of the global recession.

 Northern industries have faced significant challenges recently.

 The McGuinty government recognizes the unique circumstances that northern communities face.

 That is why our Open Ontario plan and the 2010 Ontario Budget are supporting the northern economy, creating new jobs and enhancing
economic growth in the north.

In order to make northern Ontario more competitive with neighbouring provinces, our government is creating a three-year Northern Industrial Electricity Rate Program.  The program will provide an average of $150 million annually, amounting to electricity price rebates of two cents per kilowatt-hour.  

This would reduce industrial electricity prices by about 25 per cent for large industries. Along with our recent tax cuts for business and move to the HST, our northern resource-based companies will be more cost-competitive, helping to protect and create jobs.

Our government recognizes that we northerners tend to pay more for energy. These costs are higher, for example, because of more severe winters and heavier reliance on more expensive home heating fuels. We will help low- to middle-income families and single people in the North with their energy costs by introducing a new, permanent Northern Ontario Energy Credit. 

Eligible northern Ontarians will receive an annual credit of up to $130 for a single person and up to $200 for a family depending on your income.

In 2010, more than half of northerners will benefit.

Our government is also investing $45 million over three years in a new northern skills training program. This program will assist Aboriginal peoples and northern Ontarians get the skills they need to secure jobs in emerging industries, like development in the Ring of Fire.

When the global recession hit, our
government chose to run a deficit to create jobs, stabilize the economy and protect our schools and hospitals. We won’t put job creation and economic growth at risk by cutting too much too soon. And we won’t spend as if there is no deficit either.

Instead, we will adopt a plan that will see the deficit cut in half in five years, and totally eliminated in eight.

Our government is also calling upon all Ontarians paid with your tax dollars to play a role.   

That is why we are extending the freeze on MPP pay from one year to three years. We are also freezing the pay of non-unionized staff.

While we will respect all collective agreements, our plan provides no funding for increases for future collective agreements, and we will work with our bargaining partners to manage spending pressures, protect public services and hold the line on wages.

Our government understands the concerns of northerners, and recognizes the challenges that they face. The 2010 Ontario Budget (Download PDF) and the Open Ontario plan are designed to address these challenges, to build a stronger economy – a stronger future – for the north.

For further information, contact the Constituency
Office of Mike Brown, MPP, Algoma-Manitoulin,  at 1-800-831-1899 or mbrown.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org

Hyperlinks in this document provided courtesy of www.OntarioNewsNorth.com.