Ford Government eyes auto sector as key to economy – by Andrew Autio (Timmins Daily Press – October 5, 2021)

https://www.timminspress.com/

Ford emphasized that mining in Northern Ontario will be continue to be,
and perhaps even more so, absolutely crucial to the province’s economy
in the coming years. “We will be the No. 1 manufacturer of battery operated
cars and electric vehicles in all of North America,” he said. “We have the cobalt, have the lithium, we have the nickel, all up in the North.”

On Monday morning, Ontario Premier Doug Ford was at Queen’s Park in Toronto for the reading of his throne speech which laid out the provincial government’s objectives moving forward as an election looms in eight months, while his afternoon was spent in the city of Timmins.

Ford, along with a slew of his cabinet ministers, toured the city to get back in touch with the people of the north, and to take questions from reporters in a late afternoon press conference held at Timmins and District Hospital.

The throne speech, which was read by Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell, marks the beginning of a new legislative session for the provincial government. It focused primarily on the COVID-19 pandemic, the health-care system and how they have managed to keep Ontario running throughout a very challenging period.

With plenty of spending on tap, the speech only briefly touched on how they plan to pay for it all. Latest projections have Ontario’s 2021-2022 deficit at $32.4 billion.

For the rest of this article: https://www.timminspress.com/news/local-news/ford-government-eyes-auto-sector-as-key-to-economy