Liberals back at it: Trust us, this time

I wonder if taxpayers are covering the cost of MPP Bill Mauro’s current, election-style radio ads on our local stations?

And so it begins, even though the election is a little more than a year away.

Much will be said and debated between now and June 2018. We will hear new and old promises, re-announcements of re-announcements and see photo-ops with little substance.

Premier Kathleen Wynne will try to convince us that she will do better, stop wasting billions of taxpayers’ hard-earned money (e.g., gas plants, Ornge, CEO salaries, the list goes on) and that she will keep her promises — but only if she is re-elected in 2018.

Here’s a case in point: The Ring of Fire.

Wynne made Ring of Fire development a central part of her election platform. I don’t see a single dime for the Ring of Fire in her most recent budget. She’s turned her back on Northerners and First Nations communities — and all those waiting for the thousands of jobs and billions in economic development that the Ring of Fire can deliver. She doesn’t understand how much that means to all Northerners.

As usual, Liberals are more interested in ribbon-cuttings and announcements than in showing respect for the North. Nothing has changed under Kathleen Wynne.

You’ll remember she campaigned in Thunder Bay and said this about the Ring of Fire: “We are making it a priority for my government . . . We will commit $1 billion with or without the federal government involvement.”

When she was in Sudbury, Wynne told Northerners that, “I will not consider my premiership successful unless we have seen significant progress on the Ring of Fire.”

A few weeks ago in the legislature, Mauro was asked a Ring of Fire question. His answer had nothing to do with the Ring of Fire. Why? Because he can’t defend Wynne’s record.

And, so it continues.

This is how it will go down. Liberals will soon, yet again, start talking about how they will be developing the Ring of Fire — after they are re-elected!

Don’t fall for it. And when you hear these promises, you will remember what you’ve just read and know that Wynne must think northern voters are fools.

John Rafferty

Candidate for the NDP nomination

Thunder Bay-Atikokan

Neebing