Liberals guilty of neglecting North: MP

Charlie Angus is calling on Ottawa to partner and work together with Northern Ontario municipalities.

The NDP MP for Timmins-James Bay, who also serves as his party’s national caucus chair, spent a couple of days touring Thunder Bay.

“When I travel to communities like Thunder Bay and I see the development of the downtown, I see the city’s commitment and I see the young entrepreneurs I’m talking to, they’re looking for a partner,” Angus said Saturday.

“They’re not looking for handouts. That’s what the federal government needs to understand. The North is not looking for handouts. We’re looking for a partner so we can build on the incredible opportunities we have in Northern Ontario.”

Angus, first elected to Parliament in 2004, would not answer whether he intends to enter the NDP’s leadership contest.

The party will select a new leader at their leadership convention on Oct. 1, 2017 to replace Tom Mulcair, who lost a leadership review earlier this year in the wake of a disappointing third-place showing in the 2015 federal election.

Since last October, when the Liberals were swept to power ousting the former Conservative government, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not followed through on his campaign pledges, Angus argued.

“We’re seeing the huge disconnect between promises on Northern development, infrastructure, First Nations that the language and the spin and the press releases are not matching what we’re seeing on the ground,” Angus said.

One specific example is with the Ring of Fire.

Angus slammed the Trudeau government, saying he has heard no mention of the Ring of Fire. He also took aim at the province, saying they have yet to hold Ottawa accountable like they did the former government.

“I think what’s really shocking about the lack of action on the Ring of Fire is the Wynne government blamed Stephen Harper and said, ‘well, we’ll move when the federal Conservatives move,’” Angus said.

“Well now you have federal Liberals and provincial Liberals. They should be one big, happy family and we should be moving on that. But you’re seeing no attempt by the Wynne government to hold Justin Trudeau to come to the table and you’re seeing no effort by Justin Trudeau to come to the table.”

Angus, the NDP critic for Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development, also called on the Trudeau government to enhance FedNor.

He called the economic driver a key tool for economic diversification, which is particularly important in resource-based communities.

“This government can fix so much by establishing FedNor as a standalone agency, restoring their funding, giving them the mandate to work with businesses and municipalities to create jobs,” Angus said.