publicpower - Practical Solutions For Northern Ontario : TERRY O'CONNOR, NDP Candidate, Nipissing

publicpower - Practical Solutions
For Northern Ontario

www.publicpower.ca

This election is about your right to choose the best future for you, your family and the future of Northern Ontario.

All of us who live in Northern Ontario understand it takes government leadership and the power of people like you to build strong communities and create jobs in Northern Ontario.

But the Conservatives don’t get it. They believe privatizing vital public services solves everything and that government has no role to play when it comes to building strong communities. Their policies have been a disaster for the North: Job cuts. Plant closures. Sky-high hydro bills. Students and the sick under siege. Communities struggling to survive.

Flip-flopping Liberals are no different. Just like the Conservatives, they supported hydro deregulation. They supported the sale of Hydro One and our generating stations. And they have an open mind about public money going to private schools and private health care.

During this election, Northerners have a choice between two basic ideas: Will you accept the Conservative all-points-south status quo? Or will you put the North back on the political
compass with a New Democratic new deal that rebuilds our economy, revitalizes our communities and offers our young people real opportunity and hope?

New Democrats have clear, consistent, practical solutions for the North.

hydroNorth: We’ll stop hydro privatization and deregulation, move forward with affordable, reliable public power, keep business running and people working.
jobsNorth: Our comprehensive Northern Economic Development strategy will retain and attract business activity and good jobs.
healthNorth: We’ll make quality public health care available all day every day.
schoolsNorth: We’ll make every school an excellent school and give more Northerners the chance to go to college and university or learn a trade.
housingNorth: We’ll ensure decent, affordable places to live.
environmentNorth: We’ll ensure safe drinking water for you and your family. And we’ll keep toxic waste and Toronto’s garbage out of our backyard.
saferoadsNorth: Our plan will mean better and safer roads and highways.
firstnationsNorth: Our plan will mean jobs and justice for First Nations.

publicpower - Practical Solutions For Northern Ontario - sets out a made-in-the-North plan for a future that belongs to all Northerners. Join us. Let’s take back our future.

hydroNorth
practical solutions for affordable, reliable public power

Northerners know the importance of affordable, reliable hydro.

Northern winters are cold - so cold that if you can’t afford hydro during the frigid winter months, you freeze in the dark.

Northern jobs and the Northern economy depend on affordable hydro too. Mines and mills — bedrock industries for Northern communities — are electricity intensive operations. They use a lot of power. If hydro prices go up, that drives up costs. For many operations already struggling to get by, that will mean
job cuts and plant closings.

Hasn’t public power been saved? No - not yet. That’s what this election is all about.

The Conservatives, with the full support of the Liberals, capped retail prices until the election. They both say they won’t sell Hydro One. But that’s just until the election is over.

If they’re elected, the Conservatives and the flip-flopping Liberals — who change their hydro postion every day — will remove the price caps. They’ll sell Hydro One and our generating stations as quick as you can say “public power.”

Then the rates we all pay — homeowners, tenants, mines, mills, schools and hospitals alike — will skyrocket again.

Only New Democrats have clearly and consistently opposed hydro privatization and deregulation from Day 1. The North can’t afford skyrocketing hydro prices — and that’s what the Conservative/Liberal hydro privatization and deregulation scheme is all about.

There is a practical solution: Regulated public power at cost. We also need to make sure we have enough energy to keep the lights on in the future. That’s why we’ll move forward with a strategy to make Northern Ontario a world leader in cleaner, alternative power generation and energy conservation.

Howard Hampton and the NDP’s
Practical Solutions for Affordable, Reliable Public Power:

Stop hydro privatization and deregulation. We’ll put a stop to deregulated hydro’s heart-attack bills and job-killing high prices. We’ll move forward with a public power system that keeps hydro bills affordable, the North’s mines, mills and small businesses running and Northerners working.
Make Northern Ontario a world leader in cleaner, alternative power generation by investing in more small-scale hydro generation and wind power in the North.
Create Efficiency Ontario to take the lead on money-saving, environmentally-friendly, energy efficiency measures like helping people retrofit their homes so they use less hydro, heating oil and natural gas.

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jobsNorth
practical solutions for good jobs and a strong economy

Times are tough in the North. Conservative all-points-south policies have been a disaster for the economy. No matter where you turn, it’s the same story: Job losses. Plants closing. Job-killing, sky-high hydro bills. Communities struggling to survive.

Something is terribly wrong when Census figures show record numbers of young Northerners migrating south because they don’t enjoy the same opportunities their hard-working parents enjoyed just a generation before.

That’s why it’s astounding the Conservatives have absolutely no comprehensive economic development strategy to maintain and grow jobs in the North.

Northerners understand selling off vital public services doesn’t build strong communities. They know it takes government leadership and the power of people - publicpower.

New Democrats say Northerners deserve better than the Conservative all-points-south status quo. The North deserves a New Democratic new deal that rebuilds our economy, revitalizes our communities and offers our young people real opportunity and hope.

There’s a practical solution: A Northern Ontario Development strategy to bring and maintain good jobs and economic development opportunities in Northern Ontario.

Howard Hampton and the NDP’s
Practical Solutions for Good Jobs and a Strong Economy:

Stop hydro privatization and deregulation and its job-killing, sky-high prices. Move forward with affordable, reliable public power that keeps the North’s mines, mills and small businesses running and Northerners working.
No access to Northern natural resources without a commitment from companies to create and maintain jobs in the North.
Coordinate strategic investment through a reinstated Northern Ontario Development Corporation that gives new Northern business ventures the startup loans they need to get their businesses running and Northerners working.
Launch a Small Business Success strategy that gives Northern economic development corporations more resources to mentor small business owners and help them find markets for what they sell.
Create a cutting-edge workforce through a School2Work Guarantee that gives all young people aged 16 to 19 the chance to learn in-demand trades on the job.
Keep the Ontario Northland Transportation Corporation public and use it to further the economic development of Northern Ontario.
Cut the distance between Northern businesses and their markets by expanding high-speed Internet service throughout the North and by investing in the North’s roads, highways and public rail system.
Streamline Northern Ontario Heritage Fund guidelines so more job-creating projects and business ventures are approved.
Protect good-paying Northern jobs by banning the use of scab labour.
Ensure the maximum value for Northern communities from their resource base including developing more “value-added” products like mining equipment and finished wood products.
Better incentives for Northern Ontario-based companies to invest in badly needed research and development.
Guarantee First Nations communities a fair share of revenues from resource development on their traditional lands. Only a revenue sharing agreement, developed in consultation with First Nations communities and other levels of government, will ensure economic self-sufficiency for First Nations and that everyone shares equally in the development of the North’s mining, logging and other resources. While municipalities automatically share in the proceeds of projects within their boundaries through local taxation, First Nations have become accustomed to watching revenues from their lands flow south.

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healthNorth
practical solutions for better public health care

After eight years of Conservatives, it’s condition critical for health care in the North. Health care professional shortages mean you can’t get treatment when you need it. If you have to see a specialist, you have to dig deep in your pockets to pay travel costs to southern Ontario or hospitals outside the province to get the care you need.

And with Conservatives and LIberals both ready to sell off our public Medicare system and put patient dollars in the pockets of profit-driven companies, things are only going to get worse for the North’s sick and vulnerable.

There is a practical solution: Decisive action to improve access to quality public health care in the North. Properly funded Medicare made sense when New Democrat Tommy Douglas introduced it. And it makes sense now.

Howard Hampton and the NDP’s
Practical Solutions for Better Public Health Care in the North:

Immediately implement the Romanow Report’s recommendations. Create a strong, properly-funded public Medicare system. Stop the privatization of our health care system and ensure 100 per cent of health care dollars go to patients — not profits.
Ensure 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week access to health care by dramatically expanding Ontario’s system of Community Health Centres, where doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses and other health care professionals
work together to make sure quality health care is available all day, every day. Priority will be given to communities with the greatest need.
Attract more health care professionals to the North. Hire new nurse practitioners, pay tuition for nursing students who will work in the North and streamline the training and accreditation of qualified internationally-trained doctors.
Re-regulate and reduce medical school tuition so Northerners can afford to attend.
Cut the waiting time for Northern Health Travel Grant payments from 12 to four weeks so you don’t have to plunge into debt just to travel to see specialists.
Cover the travel costs of patients who travel to see qualified Manitoba specialists.
Introduce an ambitious preventative health and wellness plan to help Northerners stay healthy.
End the privatization of home care. Invest the profits into expanding public home care so more seniors and people with disabilities can live at home with dignity.

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schoolsNorth
practical solutions for real student opportunity

New Democrats believe every student who works hard and plays by the rules should have the chance to excel. It shouldn’t matter where a student lives or how much money is in their wallets.

But that’s not the way things work in Ontario anymore.

The Conservatives have shown reckless disregard for Northern students.

They’ve taken $2 billion out of our public schools. And they’ve put public money into private schools — just like the flip-flopping Liberals wanted to do in the last election.

The Conservatives have allowed a staggering increase in post-secondary tuition fees and student debt — a high price to pay when you consider how far many Northerners have to travel for college or university.

And the Conservatives have no plan for ambitious young people who want to learn in-demand trades on the job.

There is a practical solution: Decisive action to make every school an excellent school, lower tuition and train the tradespeople of tomorrow.

Howard Hampton and the NDP’s
Practical Solutions for Real Student Opportunity:

Immediately restore $2 billion to our schools and classrooms as recommended in the Rozanski report. Place a moratorium on Northern community school closures until that money is restored in full.
Cancel the private school tax credit and put that money back into our public schools.
Immediately cut college and university fees by 10 per cent as a first step in making post-secondary education affordable to all Northern students.
Launch a new School2Work Guarantee that gives all young people aged 16 to 19 the chance to learn in-demand trades on the job.

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housingNorth
practical solutions for decent, affordable places to live

Homelessness isn’t just a southern Ontario problem.

Homelessness is a Northern problem too. And it’s growing worse every day.

Under the Conservatives, it has been getting harder and harder to pay the rent. Rents across the North and across Ontario are rising at a staggering rate of 15 per cent over the inflation rate.

The Conservatives don’t see how mounting rent increases hurt real people. The Liberals don’t either. They favour developers over tenants too. Time and time again, they have voted against NDP proposals for rent freezes and more decent, affordable places to live.

There is a practical solution: Ensuring decent, affordable places to live for all Northerners.

Howard Hampton and the NDP’s
Practical Solutions for Decent, Affordable Places to Live:

Protect tenants by freezing rents for two years and bringing back real rent control.
Reduce homelessness by building 32,000 new, accessible, affordable housing units over the next four years across Ontario.

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environmentNorth
practical solutions for sustainable development

Nothing is so essential as the air we breathe, the water we drink and the living forests that sustain our Northern way of life. But those essentials are under attack.

In too many communities across Northern Ontario, safe water means boiling your water. That’s completely unacceptable.

That’s not all that’s wrong. Private, for-profit companies looking to make a quick buck are draining our lakes, pillaging our forests and targeting our communities for toxic waste incinerators and Toronto’s garbage too.

There is a practical solution: An aggressive public strategy that guarantees safe drinking water and the sustainable use of the North’s natural resources.

Howard Hampton and the NDP’s
Practical Solutions for Safe Drinking Water and Sustainable Development:

Protect Ontario’s drinking water from source to tap by passing the NDP’s Ontario Drinking Water Source Protection Act.
Provide municipalities with the resources they need to bring the North’s rusting water pipes and treatment plants up to standard.
Stop hydro privatization and deregulation and stop private power companies from draining our lakes to fill their rich coffers when power prices are high.
Keep toxic waste and Toronto’s garbage out of the North by banning PCB incinerators and megadumps.
Keep nuclear waste out of the North.
Promote sustainable forestry by limiting clear-cuts to 260 hectares. Protect the long-term
sustainability of Northern forests and forestry jobs by stopping the practice of condoning clear-cuts the size of 18,000 football fields.
Put more Ministry of Natural Resources workers in our forests to protect our trees, plants, wildlife, lakes, rivers and streams.
Stop U.S. fishing companies from stealing fish from Ontario’s border lakes.
Stop any attempt to ship Northern water to the United States.

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saferoadsNorth
practical solutions for better, safer roads and highways

If you drive on Northern roads or highways, you know the story: Since the Conservatives privatized highway and road maintenance, it’s been slippery, unsafe roads come winter and washboard ruts, cracks and potholes in the spring.

The problem — Public money that should be spent on safe roads is going to private profit.

There is a practical solution: Howard Hampton and the NDP’s saferoadsNorth plan for better, safer Northern roads and highways.

Howard Hampton and the NDP’s
Practical Solutions for Better, Safer Northern Roads and Highways:

Ensure 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week highway sanding, salting and snow removal by stopping the privatization of highway and road maintenance and ensuring 100 per cent of our public money goes to safe roads — not private profit.
Tackle pothole and local road problems through the NDP’s Transportation Trust Fund — which will dedicate three cents you already pay in gas tax to fixing up our roads and improving public transit.
Strike a saferoadsNorth task force to recommend priorities for four-laning and new passing lanes on Northern highways.

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firstnationsNorth
practical solutions for jobs and justice for First Nations

In Conservative Ontario, First Nations are the forgotten people of Northern Ontario.
Economic development, jobs, safe drinking water and simple respect — these are areas where the Conservatives have failed our First Nations miserably.

There is a practical solution — jobs and justice for First Nations communities.

Howard Hampton and the NDP’s
Practical Solutions for Jobs and Justice for First Nations:

Negotiate comprehensive agreements with First Nations on land-use planning, environmental protection, economic development, training and jobs wherever natural resource development projects are to move forward on First Nations’ traditional lands.
Guarantee First Nations communities a fair share of revenues from resource development on their traditional lands. Only a revenue sharing agreement, developed in consultation with First Nations communities and other levels of government, will ensure economic self-sufficiency for First Nations and that everyone shares equally in the development of the North’s mining, logging and other resources. While municipalities automatically share in the proceeds of projects within their boundaries through local taxation, First Nations have become accustomed to watching revenues from their lands flow south.
Recognize Aboriginal and Treaty rights in all resource development projects on First Nations’ traditional lands.
Work with First Nations in a government-to-government relationship of mutual respect.
Expand aboriginal justice programs.
Revise the public school curriculum to reflect the historic contributions of First Nations.
Reopen negotiations, abruptly terminated by the Conservatives, with Northern First Nations to provide fire protection and reduce evacuations of First Nations communities as a result of forest fires.
Immediately call a public inquiry — long overdue and blocked by the Conservative government — into the killing of Dudley George at Ipperwash Provincial Park in September, 1995.

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Campaign Office:
160 King St. North Bay, ON P1B 5Z7
Tel: 705.495.8400 | Fax: 705.495.1329
Email: terryndp@vianet.ca