Nickel Belt MP Marc Serré reacted angrily Thursday to statements from Timmins' James Bay MP Charlie Angus that the federal government is “muting” Northern Ontario.
In a news release, Angus criticized the Liberals for the fact FedNor no longer is a federal cabinet position.
“This move to mute Northern Ontario voices in Ottawa goes further than even the preceding Conservative government, who at least provided Northern Ontario with a dedicated minister on the file,” the release said.
Angus said the move contradicts Liberal campaign promises.
“In the last election, Liberals said that Northern Ontario needed to vote for someone at the cabinet table,” the NDP MP said in the release. “Now we find out that we’re actually losing our only full-time cabinet minister.
“What happened to all those Liberal MPs who promised to be champions for Northern Ontario in Ottawa?”
Angus said it's clear that the Liberal government is failing to deliver for Northern Ontario’s economy.
“We are tired of being the poor cousin to the country as the only region without an independent standalone agency and now we are losing our own minister,” said Angus. “I don’t understand why the Liberals don’t get that growing our economy is a win not only for Northern Ontario but the entire country. We need to reverse these harmful decisions and instead make FedNor a standalone agency.”
But Serré said Angus is ignoring the reality of what has happened since the Liberals took office late last year.
"It's easy to send out press releases," he said. "I'm really disappointed Mr. Angus is continuing to play politics here and not getting the facts straight.”
Serré said the changes to FedNor were approved more than a year ago, when all federal economic development agencies were put into one ministry -- Innovation, Science and Economic Development.
"When Mr. Angus talks about to FedNor, this happened under the Conservative government,” he said. “When there was a minister, it was Mr. (Greg) Rickford, who was also the environment minister. So there was never a dedicated minister.
"And the cuts happened when Charlie Angus's part was the Official Opposition. What did the NDP do during that time when all these cuts happened?"
While the Liberals haven't fully restored funding cuts implemented by the previous government, they did boost funds by more than $5 million, Serré said.
"Our first budget in 2016, only five months into power, we added $5.2 million,” he said. “Yes, it's one time, it wasn't for operations forever, but at least it was stopping the trend of the cuts.
Serré said the Liberals have been to the North several times, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (twice) and the entire federal cabinet last month.
"And in Nickel Belt and Sudbury, we've had historic investments at Laurentian University, College Boreal and Cambrian College,” he said. “Those three institutions, in the last few months, (have received) $80 million -- $80 million. That's huge.
"And for Maley Drive, $26 million, plus transit and infrastructure -- probably close to $40 million, just for the City of Greater Sudbury. So Charlie can say the North is not well represented, but where does he get that? Look at the results."
Serré said there are several types of funds available for infrastructure projects, and municipalities should look at them all.
"We have to change the way people are thinking," he said.
