This statement was issued May 16, 2018, by Sudbury Liberal candidate Glenn Thibeault
The NDP have claimed that the Liberal government isn’t doing enough for apprenticeship programs. That’s pretty rich. The NDP platform, which the party has been trumpeting aggressively, makes promises for apprenticeship programs, but doesn’t actually allocate funding to them. In the world of political platforms, that’s as good as waving a magic wand.
As the government we have allocated $170 million in the 2018 budget to create 15,000 new apprenticeship opportunities in the province. Our government recognizes the importance of skilled trades, and of supporting young graduates looking to enter these important fields.
What’s worse, yesterday we found out the NDP platform neglects to allocate funding to a number of other programs from our budget, many of which have a direct impact on Sudbury.
For example, they would not keep $4 million in funding for our multi-use sports dome. Everyone knows how important this facility would be to keep our citizens active, healthy, and engaged in sport year-round. This is something that’s been worth fighting for, and they’ve casually decided to omit it.
Nor would they keep the $16 million our government committed to Science North, which is the single largest funding announcement in its history. Science North has been attracting thousands of people to Sudbury through its excellent programming. This funding will renovate facilities, expand programming, and grow tourism and economic opportunities.
They would also deny our 2018 budget increase to $150 million in economic development for the North through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund. This program has been hugely successful in diversifying our economy and supporting Northern entrepreneurs, like craft brewers. It has also been instrumental in supporting our local film industry, which now employs 1,500 people with well-paying, unionized jobs.
Other programs that would go unfunded include a gender-based violence strategy ($300 million) and programs for autistic children ($67 million) – both of which our government has prioritized and allocated funding for.
This is a question of values and priorities. You can’t promise to fund a program, and then leave it out of your fiscal plan.
This NDP budget snafu was confirmed by Ivey Business School economist Mike Moffatt, who reviewed the platform and said “any of those post-Budget 2017-18 initiatives retained under the NDP platform without specific corresponding costing in their platform’s fiscal plan are indeed unfunded.”
There are two possibilities here – either the NDP is not being honest about which programs they actually intend to fund, or they’re extremely sloppy.
Whichever way you slice it, the NDP platform is offering a gaping hole to the people of Sudbury. We deserve much, much better than that.
Glenn Thibeault is the Liberal candidate for Sudbury
