The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.
“The proposed sale … of Ontario Northland is a ruthless blow to the North.
I think it’s something that needs far more discussion than has occurred …
It’s flagrant negligence on the part of the government to even talk about
eliminating Ontario Northland.” (David Leadbeater – Laurentian University
economics professor
The government’s decision to sell Ontario Northland is making waves across the province.
“This kind of measure of (selling Ontario Northland) as a short-term austerity event is the most short-sighted, backward and retrograde action I’ve seen about Northern Ontario in a long time,” said David Leadbeater, a Laurentian University economics professor.
“The proposed sale … of Ontario Northland is a ruthless blow to the North. I think it’s something that needs far more discussion than has occurred … It’s flagrant negligence on the part of the government to even talk about eliminating Ontario Northland.”
Last week, Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci announced the province is divesting itself of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a Crown agency that offers rail and bus service in Northern Ontario. Additionally, the government is looking to privatize Ontera, a telecommunication company that is a subsidiary of the commission.
The measure is one of a number of ways the government is attempting to get its deficit, projected to be $15.3 billion for 2011-12, under control.
Leadbeater said the decision to get rid of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission is enough reason to vote against the McGuinty’s government’s budget, which was released Tuesday.
“Anyone who is representing the interests of Northern Ontario would certainly not vote for this budget. There would have to be a lot of changes to it … I think the issue of Northland alone is worth opposition to what the government is doing.”
Other critics of the government agreed.
“It’s clear that the Liberals simply don’t understand Northern Ontario,” CUPE Ontario president Fred Hahn said, while discussing the budget.
“They don’t understand the fundamental role the Ontario government plays in supporting the economic growth and wellbeing of communities in Northern Ontario. Selling off a resource like Ontario Northland (and) all of the Internet stuff that goes along with it to a private corporation, there’s a reason why that stuff happens from a public agency — because it wasn’t about profit.
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