MPP Michael Mantha’s News from the Park
MPP Michael Mantha, Algoma-Manitoulin
Last week marked the final day of the public testimonies for the Elliot Lake Inquiry into the tragic mall collapse which took the lives of Lucie Aylwin and Doloris Perizzolo. The first phase of the inquiry which began in March heard from government officials, first responders and community groups wrapped up Wednesday hearing from former Premier Dalton McGuinty. The community is still struggling and coming to terms with this tragedy. All the answers are needed in order to begin the healing process and ensure that this does not happen again. I want to extend my sincere thanks to all those who have been a part of this process and continue working to find answers. The public hearings phase of the inquiry ended on Wednesday and the commission will move into phase two. Some 28,000 pages of testimony will be reviewed in order to form a final decision and list of recommendations. These findings and recommendations the commission will make will be extremely important. We will need to look closely at them and ensure they are not shelved to collect dust. This tragedy has devastated the tight knit community of Elliot Lake and these recommendations are vital in the protection of other communities across this province and taking the appropriate steps to ensure this doesn’t happen again. Also in the legislature this week the Auditor General came out with her report on the actual costs of relocating the Mississauga and Oakville gas plants. Throughout this process it has been strikingly evident that the liberals chose to put their own political self-interest ahead of Ontario families. The cost of saving a handful of Liberal seats is $1.09 billion. The Premier claims she respects the Auditor’s finding but she keeps trying to undermine an independent officer of the Legislature by questioning her figures. This is extremely unfortunate. The Government is paying TransCanada more money for the cancellation than they would have paid otherwise. The government seems more interested in the profit margins of private power companies than they do in the people of Ontario. At every step the Liberal government has attempted to hide the real cost of the gas plant. Despite the Premier’s apologies, Ontarians are still stuck with the burden of the Liberal government crass political decisions. The public is now stuck with a bill worth over a billion dollars that this government spent the last two years hiding the facts This cost is staggering. That same amount of money could have been used to hire 18,000 nurses, provide 247,000 seniors with home care, fund a Job Creator Tax Credit for more than 10 years. We could have purchased 311 PET scanners, built 10,900 units of affordable housing, frozen childcare fees for 1.2 million families and purchased 272 MRI machines. Instead the liberals saved two of their seats. This is beyond upsetting for all Ontarians. It will be up to Ontarians to decide whether they want to continue electing a party that has such a serious lack of respect for their tax dollars and the overall interested of hardworking families across this province. As always, please feel free to contact my office about this issue or any other provincial matters. You can reach my constituency office by email at mmantha-co@ndp.on.ca or by phone at 705-461-9710/1-800-831-1899. Michael Mantha, MPP/député Algoma-Manitoulin
