Although NDP leader Howard Hampton welcomes the $6 billion which will be spent by the federal and provincial governments on infrastructure projects in Ontario, he said he wonders why it took so long for the agreement to be reached.
“While New Democrats welcome today’s infrastructure announcement, municipalities across Ontario are still in an infrastructure deficit and communities are suffering because of it. Some of the projects, including highway improvements in my riding of Kenora-Rainy River, have needed government money for years,” said Hampton, in a release.
“Dalton McGuinty, Stephen Harper and their deputies could have hammered out this deal long ago. Instead we were treated to a tit for tat barrage of insults and finger-pointing between Queen’s Park and Ottawa. Ontarians were not well served by the childish antics that held up this kind of announcement.”
Hampton noted the province's infrastructure investments are far short of the money municipalities urgently need to replace aging roads, bridges and water systems.
“We’ve often been treated to infrastructure photo-ops and made-for-television spectacles from the McGuinty government. Since the beginning of last year alone, there have been five such grand announcements. Let’s get the money flowing and the shovels in the ground,” he said.
