Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus was in Sudbury on Friday calling for the governing Liberals to restore FedNor to a full fledged, independent economic development agency.
Speaking at a news conference held at the corner of Durham and Elm streets, the New Democrat MP said the Trudeau government has continued downgrading FedNor, just like the previous Conservative government.
"FedNor is the poor cousin of all economic development projects across Canada,” Angus said. “It is the only agency that is not independent, so we have no ability to control how the funding happens at FedNor. We have no transparency."
From a high of $76 million 10 years ago, he said FedNor's budget is less than half that today, and has suffered since it was put under the control of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains, who's also the MP for Mississauga.
"FedNor plays an incredibly important role in our region, right across Northern Ontario for economic diversification," Angus said. "But we've had cut after cut after cut to FedNor that's limited the ability of the organization to do the work of diversification."
He also took issue with funding for a food cooperative being handled through the Ontario Natural Food Co-op, a provincial agency based in Mississauga.
"We now have a situation where we have a minister in Mississauga speaking for Northern Ontario,” Angus said. “And lo and behold, they're putting funding into a project in Mississauga. Now, I bet it's a great project in Mississauga, but the last time I checked, Mississauga is not on the map in (Northern) Ontario."
The government's Bill C24 will remove the post of the FedNor minister, he added, further marginalizing the agency.
"So we will lose our voice in Northern Ontario," Angus said. "So rather than be reactive, I've decided to be proactive. I will be placing a private member's bill in the House of Commons when we return to call on the federal government to establish FedNor as a standalone, independent agency with its own set of funding and its own minister so we maintain that voice for Northern Ontario."
While private member's bills rarely succeed in the House of Commons, Angus said he thinks everyone can work together to pass his bill.
"I'm actually hopeful we can work with our Liberal colleagues in the North,” he said. “This is not a partisanship issue. Economic diversification helps us all. And I know the MPs in the North supported the idea of an independent FedNor agency during the last election.
"We're supposed to be in the era of sunny ways, so I'll be reaching out to my Liberal colleagues."
But Sudbury MP Paul Lefebvre said what Angus is proposing wouldn't help anyone in the North.
"By going to a standalone agency ... basically staffing goes up by 25 to 35 staff in Ottawa when that happens, so it takes away from the budget of what should be invested in Northern Ontario," Lefebvre said. "That means more money going to Ottawa, not Northern Ontario."
Lefebvre also denied that FedNor funding was going to Mississauga.
"Angus made a mistake there -- he was not well-informed," he said. "The money we announced last week from FedNor is going to the Northern Ontario Coop based out of Sudbury, for coops in Northern Ontario. That money is being invested in Northern Ontario -- 100 per cent."
And while FedNor's budget was cut under the Harper government, Lefebvre said $10 million in one-time funding was added since the Liberals took power. And under Harper, FedNor was almost the only funding Northerners received.
Post-secondary institutions have received more than $80 million, while the city has received more than $40 million.
"We have been investing heavily in infrastructure, in post-secondary education,” he said. “In Sudbury alone, we have made record, historic announcements in one year.
"Charlie Angus may want to focus on what's happened over the last 10 years, but we're looking forward. He's looking back. There are a lot of good things happening for Sudbury and Northern Ontario."
And Nickel Belt MP Marc Serre said people he's talked to in the North want support for projects important to them, regardless of where it comes from.
"People in Northern Ontario want to see results, not more bureaucracy,” Serre said. "Instead of being on the sidewalk doing press releases, I prefer to be meeting with mayors. I prefer to meet with chambers of commerce. I've been doing that all over Northern Ontario.
"Can we look at more funding for FedNor? Sure. That's something we are advocating for."
As for whether Angus' private member's bill will get his support, Serre sounded doubtful.
"It's No. 139 on the private member's bill list and it will probably be a year and a half, two years before it's discussed in the House,” he said. “So I'll look at that bill in a year and a half, two years from now."
