not rushing back to difficult question periods: Hughes ELLIOT LAKE, ON – Just days ahead of the International Day of Democracy (September15th ), the Prime Minister announced he will prorogue parliament which will delay the start of the fall sitting for a full month. While the move was [Read more]
If you watched Question Period during the last five weeks parliament sat in the spring, you didn’t see much of the Prime Minister. When Stephen Harper was around over that stretch, it was anything but smooth sailing. Day after day he faced a tough line of questioning from Tom Mulcair about [Read more]
Last month five by-elections were called in electoral districts of Etobicoke-Lakeshore, London West, Ottawa South, Windsor-Tecumseh and Scarborough-Guildwood. Many were disappointed that Premier Kathleen Wynne set the voting date for August 1st, the day before the long weekend when people are [Read more]
More and more people want to be able to eat locally produced food. Whether the motivation is political or merely based on a desire to support local producers and get fresh food, the idea of eating locally is on an upward trajectory. Recently, the Manitoulin Island Community Abattoir (MICA) [Read more]
The Auditor General gave the Conservative government a $3.1 billion dollar black eye this week when he revealed that amount of money is missing in action from Canada’s anti-terrorism efforts. Stephen Harper says this is just ‘an issue of lack of clarity,’ but for a party that rode into Ottawa [Read more]
QUEEN’S PARK, ON – NDP Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Michael Mantha said he’s pleased the public inquiry into the roof collapse of the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake has begun and hopes the community will finally get some answers. “The people of Elliot Lake are strong and resilient, and [Read more]
QUEEN’S PARK, ON – NDP Health and Long-Term Care Critic France Gélinas says yesterday’s release of the Auditor General’s report raises concerns about access to long-term care in Ontario’s North, and the use of health care dollars around the province. “Any time residents of one area [Read more]
Michael Ferguson, Canada’s Auditor General (AG), reported to parliament this week and his findings are enough to keep the place busy for a long time. Among them is a worrisome claim that the government’s budgets are not even analyzed by Finance Canada until months after they have been [Read more]
QUEEN’S PARK, ON – NDP House Leader Gilles Bisson condemned Dalton McGuinty for shutting down the Legislature as the committee to investigate the gas plant scandal was to commence. “Today was the last day the hearings into the gas plants scandal could have started. However, instead of [Read more]
You don’t have to think back that far to remember Labour Days when the attitude towards the hard working people who make up the bulk of our economic well being was more positive. Now we have a prolonged international recession and a government that is decidedly anti-union as the new normal. [Read more]
HUGHES EXTENDS CONDOLENCES TO FAMILIES ALONG WITH GRATITUDE TO EMERGENCY WORKERS AND VOLUNTEERS ELLIOT LAKE, ON – Residents of Elliot Lake are grieving the loss of two of their own in the aftermath of the Algo Mall roof collapse. The emergency response which gripped the nation came to a [Read more]
ELLIOT LAKE, ON – Two days ago, a tragic accident in my community united us in shock and in grief. Since then our community has been united in efforts to save every life we can. Earlier today, my community learned that rescue efforts were being abandoned and we are, once again, united in [Read more]
ALGOMA-MANITOULIN-KAPUSKASING – Sometimes it can be difficult to see that parliament can work in a non-partisan way. Scandals heat up, rhetoric becomes entrenched, and significant differences in viewpoints often lead to heated sittings that make for great news broadcasts, but isn’t really [Read more]
QUEEN’S PARK, ON – Northern Development and Mines Critic and Algoma–Manitoulin MPP Michael Mantha called on the government to release details of their discussions with Cliff Resouces on the Ring of Fire and to ensure all the resources [Read more]
This week at Queen’s Park rather than defeating the budget we listened to thousands of Ontarians and worked to improve the budget. Through hard work and determination we won some serious and important concessions including $20 million for northern and rural healthcare and a tax on our [Read more]
