When it comes to political parties and leaders I suffer from
a severe case of "attention deficit disorder" or "buyer's
remorse." Since the age of 18, I have cast my vote for
Liberals, Conservatives and the NDP on both the provincial and
federal levels.
One of the key issues when I am trying to decide who to vote
for is the economy. We tend to forget that you have to create
wealth before you can tax and redistribute it. The money for
health care, education, social services and vital
infrastructure is funded by the taxes paid by the private
sector and working men and women.
That is why politics is so important. The choices we make
decide how politicians spend our hard-earned money.
Opposition critics have been blasting Northern Development and
Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci - ironically enough - about the
way the enormous amount of money brought into the riding is
being spent and the many, many press releases and media events
put on by him. Is this just sour grapes?
Bears go into a feeding frenzy before hibernation. Politicians
go into a spending frenzy in order to get re-elected. This is
the nature of both beasts.
Bartolucci's website claims that he has brought over $3.5
billion into the Sudbury riding since the Liberals formed the
government in 2003. Including the funding for the twinning of
Highway 69, the vast majority of which is outside the riding,
is stretching the point somewhat. But, to be fair, this is a
critical infrastructure project that greatly benefits this
community.
My only complaint is that the 2017-completion date should be
sooner as the trillion-dollar Sudbury Basin is booming and will
be making a major contribution to the provincial economy over
the next decade when the auto sector is under threat from
developing countries like China. Most metal products are
shipped out of the community via this strategic roadway.
However, there is no doubt investments for the completion of
the local hospital, other new health-care programs,
post-secondary training, various heritage fund initiatives and
my two personal favourites, the $10 million to start the Centre
of Excellence in Mining Innovation and a further $8 million for
other mining research - just to name a few - is impressive.
The investment in the Centre of Excellence in Mining is a
wealth creating "legacy" initiative that will benefit the
community long after the minister retires.
If the federal government does not come to the table - with the
riding being so predominately Liberal, the odds are not good
that the Harper Conservatives will come through - Bartolucci
would do well to try to get more funding from the province.
Should the people of Sudbury re-elect  Bartolucci? Current
opinion polls indicate that this will be a very close election.
It is always beneficial to have a member - especially a cabinet
minister - sitting with the government in power. The odds of
electing a Conservative in Sudbury are not very good. The last
time this happened was almost 25 years ago.
One of the primary reasons I worked on former MPP Jim Gordon's
campaign in the early 1980s - I was painting his election signs
Tory Blue - was to get a sitting member in the Bill Davis
Progressive Conservative government. At the time the three
Sudbury ridings were NDP - Bud Germa, Elie Martel and Floyd
Laughren.
By downplaying the Tory government connection - you practically
needed a magnifying glass to see the Progressive Conservative
symbol on the signs - and promoting the man's popularity as
mayor, Gordon was elected. I don't recall if the community
benefitted greatly but I do remember a cartoon with Davis
standing in a kitchen, by an open cupboard with an apron on,
telling a dejected looking Gordon that the "cupboard was bare."
One of the most prominent and successful local federal
politicians was Liberal MP Jim Jerome who served this community
from 1968 to 1980. He unfortunately passed away in August
2005.  Jerome was the Speaker of the House of Commons from
1974 to 1980 in both the Pierre Trudeau and Joe Clark
governments. His political legacy to this community is the
federal taxation centre. No federal politician has ever brought
such a significant contribution to this community since then.
Construction of the centre was underway during the Brian
Mulroney's Conservative sweep in 1984. At that time, rumours
circulated around the community that Mulroney would have pulled
the plug on the centre but it was too late.
We elect politicians to "bring home the bacon." This is
something Sudbury MP Diane Marleau should think about.
She has represented the riding since 1988, about 19 years.
Marleau was in various cabinet positions yet there has been no
significant legacy in this community from her very long stay in
Ottawa.
In the Queen's Park pecking order, the Ministry of Northern
Development and Mines is near the bottom. It is very difficult
to fight for northern issues when you are competing against the
many other priorities in southern Ontario.
Notwithstanding my many criticisms about Dalton McGuinty's
policies on a number of issues, Bartolucci has been wildly
successful in bringing home the "financial" bacon to Sudbury.
As Martha Stewart would say, "It's a good thing!"
Stan Sudol is a Toronto-based communications consultant and policy analyst who writes extensively on mining and northern issues.[email protected]
