PC leader tours Northwest

Whether it’s energy, health care or justice, Northern Ontario is on a substandard level compared to the rest of the province, charges the Official Opposition leader.

That was an allegation levelled Tuesday by Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown, who is in the middle of a tour of Northwestern Ontario.

Brown has already visited Atikokan and Fort Frances, meeting with municipal and First Nations leaders and accused other provincial politicians of neglecting the region.

“I don’t think any of the parties in Queen’s Park are listening to Northern issues,” he said.

In particular, Brown took direct aim at Premier Kathleen Wynne and her Liberal government’s provincial energy policy.

He said the Wynne government’s proposal to sell-off 60 per cent of Hydro One, of which 15 per cent has already been sold, could result in significant consequences in the North.

The number of municipalities which have passed resolutions urging the government to halt the sale is evidence it’s a short-sighted and misguided plan, Brown said.

“A private company isn’t going to have the same public interest to build transmission lines. Hydro One infrastructure in Northern Ontario is lacking,” Brown said.

“When you look at some of the needs we’re going to have for the development of the mining sector, for example, if it’s simply on the basis of a private company there isn’t going to be the business case there.”

Brown visited the New Gold mine in the Rainy River district earlier Monday and said it is a “good news story” for the region.

But he said the Hydro One sell-off could impact the ability of other potentially lucrative developments, like the Ring of Fire, from moving forward.

He accused Wynne of “almost killing” mining projects and said her commitment to the Ring of Fire is “non-existent.”

“They’re out of people to blame. Frankly, they’ve let down Northern Ontario,” Brown said.

“This is a generational opportunity. This is exciting. It could be employment like we’ve never seen before and Kathleen Wynne has shown no commitment to it. I guess what I’m hearing is everyone is tired of excuses.”

The Ontario PC leader also didn’t mince words when asked about energy rates in the region.

Calling prices “out of control,” Brown pointed to the continued signing of renewable energy contracts that he said aren’t needed and sending energy to Quebec, Michigan and New York for “pennies on the dollar.”

“Frankly, I think it’s a lot worse than simply bad policy,” Brown said, adding Auditor-General Bonnie Lysyk issued a report late last year that found Ontarians were overcharged $37 billion for electricity between 2006 and 2014.

“I think it’s even more nefarious than that. The fact that most of these companies are major donors to the Ontario Liberal Party certainly doesn’t pass the smell test. The fact she’s signing contracts she knows we have to give away because we can’t store is infuriating.”

Brown also heard concerns from municipal leaders about the state of health care.

He identified the elimination of 50 medical residency positions and other funding cuts as being particularly impactful in the region.

“We have two-tiered health care in Ontario. We’ve got one standard of care in southern Ontario and we have a different standard of care in Northern Ontario,” Brown said.

“There’s a huge lack of physicians, too many people in Northern Ontario without a family doctor, huge shortages of specialties, a lack of support for hospital infrastructure.”

Brown argued the government has put too much emphasis on funding health administration, taking away from the front lines, and said he would dismantle the local health integration networks.

He cited an auditor-general report which found 39 per cent of home care costs were spent on administration.

Brown also said he heard a lack of judges and Crown attorneys in the region is harming the criminal justice system.

The PCs are holding a caucus retreat in Kenora later this week.