Are we in a recession or not? That has been at the forefront of news reports this week as the government exercises damage control in the one area they don’t want to show weakness in, the economy. A recession is defined as two back-to-back quarters of declining growth. We have already seen the [Read more]
Will we toss aside our agricultural producers the same way we did our manufacturing sector? The push is on to finalize negotiations on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal and the implications of a rushed deal could harm the growing agricultural sector in Northern Ontario. While we [Read more]
News from the Park Last week I was proud to participate in many Canada Day celebrations across Algoma-Manitoulin. New Democrats across the country partook in festivities and citizenship ceremonies from coast to coast to celebrate the 148th anniversary of the founding of our country. Canada Day [Read more]
Here in Northern Ontario we know what winter driving is. Many in Northern Ontario must drive daily in dangerous conditions, to and from work, taking our children to school and sports practices, driving to medical appointments and so on. Yet-many of those making decisions on how our winter roads [Read more]
The Auditor General is recommending the RCMP investigate the spending of 9 more Senators and has fingered another 21 for improper use of their office budgets. This is happening against the back-drop of the Mike Duffy trial which has soured the country significantly on the Red Chamber. Among the [Read more]
This week legislature rose however the session was marked by chaos, Hydro One sell-off and criminal investigations. Opposition parties were on fire in the legislature debating the sell-off of Hydro One and the utter lack of respect for hard-working families in Ontario. New Democrats held several [Read more]
The government is crowing about a balanced budget but what they aren’t bragging about is how their efforts offer little hope to improve stagnant job numbers or some dismal economic indicators that show their balancing job for what it is – a temporary illusion. What you will hear a lot [Read more]
OTTAWA, ON – The government is cynically attempting to use veterans as a wedge to garner support for their pre-election budget despite years of inaction, says Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing MP, Carol Hughes. Hughes says the government should remove the items related to Veterans from the budget so [Read more]
This week the Auditor General released her report on Winter Highway Maintenance. The report said that the contracting out of highway maintenance services has led to a drastic decrease in services leaving roads unsalted and snow uncleared in the winter. My colleague and NDP Transportation Critic [Read more]
In Northern Ontario we know all too well the challenges we face with access to healthcare. Many have to travel long distances for care, and at a time when there seems to be continuous cuts to services, and wasted millions it becomes extremely frustrating. This week my colleague and NDP Health [Read more]
OTTAWA, ON – The agreement that will have Railmark Canada take control of passenger services on the Algoma-Central-Railway has great potential to keep passenger trains running for years, according to Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing MP, Carol Hughes. “This is a positive development, but it is [Read more]
When the government cries broke when faced with common sense decisions like supporting passenger services on the ACR (while stakeholders find a permanent solution to a government-created crisis) that claim should be viewed through the lens of their huge and growing advertising budget. Spending [Read more]
QUEEN’S PARK, ON – NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is proud that members of the legislature unanimously appointed Stephen LeClair as Ontario’s first Financial Accountability Officer (FAO). “We’ve waited a long time for this moment, but I’m proud that we’ve finally appointed [Read more]
BLIND RIVER, ON – Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Michael Mantha was busy visiting Winter Carnivals in communities across his riding this month. Among those he attended was the 46th Annual Blind River Winter Carnival 2015 where Mantha chose to share his enthusiasm and show his support by [Read more]
I saw an interesting editorial cartoon where workmen are dismantling a house to build a fence. The fence is labelled security and the house is labelled privacy. It cuts to the heart of the debate on new anti-terrorism legislation that is being rushed through parliament as the Conservatives [Read more]
