FIGHTING FOR

NORTHERN ONTARIO

CANADA’S NEW DEMOCRATS 1

 EDMONTON
ALBERTA

2 CANADA’S NEW DEMOCRATS

YOUR NEW DEMOCRAT TEAM HAS
FOUGHT FOR NORTHERN ONTARIO
FAMILIES – DAY IN AND DAY OUT.

In the last two and a half years, your New Democrat MPs have
fought foreign takeovers, stood up for workers, and worked to
make life in Northern Ontario more affordable.
Now, more than ever, Northerners need a strong team of MPs who
will put their families first. Our Northern Ontario New Democrat
team is ready.
Together, we’ll build strong communities with good jobs, so
our young people don’t have to leave home to find work. We’ll
support our natural resources and clean energy sectors right here in
Northern Ontario. And we’ll develop a mining strategy that lets
communities benefit directly from their natural resources.
We’ll also help make your life more affordable, by eliminating the
federal sales tax on home heating, capping credit card rates, and
reducing small business taxes.
Finally, we’ll fight every day to improve the front-line health
services right here in Northern Ontario.
I’m proud of the work New Democrats are doing to put Northern
Ontario families first. But there is so much more we can do.
It’s time to roll up our sleeves, and work together to make it
happen. Jack Layton
Don’t let them tell you it can’t be done. Leader of Canada’s New Democrats
CANADA’S NEW DEMOCRATS 1
2 CANADA’S NEW DEMOCRATS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Fighting for Northern Ontario by
Giving your family a break................................................4

Fighting for Northern Ontario by

Fighting for our jobs and pensions..................................6

Fighting for Northern Ontario by

Defending key strategic industries..................................8

Fighting for Northern Ontario by

Improving frontline health care services.......................10

Fighting for Northern Ontario by

Building clean energy solutions.....................................12

Fighting for Northern Ontario by

Building a new relationship with First Nations.............14

CANADA’S NEW DEMOCRATS 3

 FIGHTING
FOR NORTHERN
ONTARIO BY
GIVING YOUR
FAMILY A BREAK
“On December 9, 2009 every single Conservative MP and
every single Liberal MP voted yes to the HST – right in the
middle of a recession. Your New Democrats listened to you,
and voted no to the HST.”
– Claude Gravelle, MP for Nickel Belt

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 Fighting for Sudbury: Glenn Thibeault brought forward legislation to cap credit card fees and stop the wealthy banks from
gouging consumers.

PRACTICAL NEXT STEPS.

NEW DEMOCRATS WILL:
• Take the federal sales tax off skyrocketing home heating bills to ease your household budget.
• Restore the ecoEnergy home retrofit program to help you cut your heating bills permanently.
• Stop credit card gouging by capping interest rates at prime plus five per cent.
• Create an Oil and Gas Ombudsperson to investigate complaints of gouging at the pumps.
• Unlock cellphones, giving you control over your cellphone contract.
• Implement a national affordable housing strategy to lower rent and curb the cost of housing.
• Help you care for aging loved ones by expanding Employment Insurance compassionate care coverage from six weeks to six
months, adding a new caregiver benefit for lower-income families, and giving you a tax-credit to help you renovate your home
so an elderly relative can move in.
• Close the loophole that deprives you of EI support if you lose your job while accessing special benefits such as maternity,
compassionate care or sickness leave.

“The cost of everyday essentials is skyrocketing in the North.

Everything from groceries to the cost of filling up at the pump.
It’s time household budgets got a break.”
– Glenn Thibeault, MP for Sudbury

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 FIGHTING FOR NORTHERN ONTARIO BY
FIGHTING FOR OUR JOBS AND PENSIONS
“Unlike Stephen Harper, we’ll give a tax break to small
businesses, and provide a tax-credit for companies that create
jobs right here in Northern Ontario.”
– Bruce Hyer, MP for Thunder Bay-Superior North

A record of fighting for Thunder Bay-Rainy River: John Rafferty introduced a bill that treats the employees of bankrupt
companies fairly by moving workers to the front of the line during bankruptcy proceedings.

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 A record of fighting for Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing: Carol Hughes brought forward legislation to make Employment
Insurance more flexible for Northerners and increase benefit packages for long-term workers facing permanent layoffs.

PRACTICAL NEXT STEPS. NEW DEMOCRATS WILL:

• Create a Job Creation Tax Credit of $4,500 per new job, giving all employers an incentive to create jobs right in
Northern Ontario.
• Extend by four years the Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance for job-creating investments in machinery and equipment
by manufacturers.
• Transform the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario (FedNor) into a standalone regional economic
development agency and double it’s annual funding from the current $50 million to $100 million.
• Ensure northern businesses have the broadband internet access they need to compete.
• Help Northern Ontario small businesses create jobs by reducing their tax rate from 11 to 9 per cent.
• Crack down on exorbitant credit card company merchant fees that hurt small business.
• Empower a Jobs Protection Commissioner to step in when there’s a major layoff or shutdown, to work with workers, employers,
banks and communites to maintain employment.
• Build new markets for local employers by adopting a Made-in-Canada procurement policy for the federal government and its agencies.
• Invest in education and training for high-tech, clean energy and conservation jobs to create a workforce for Northern Ontario’s economy.
• Allow self-employed workers to opt-in to the Employment Insurance program.
• Provide more training opportunities through EI, including opportunities if you’re an employed worker or tradesperson looking
to upgrade your skills.
• Invest in youth job creation to stem the tide of young people leaving their Northern Ontario communities to find work in other
parts of the country.
• Phase in a doubling of the Canada Pension Plan benefit, and let you choose to voluntarily invest more of your savings in this
rock-solid public pension plan.
• Invest an additional $700-million in the Guaranteed Income Supplement to lift every Canadian senior out of poverty — and
ensure automatic enrolment if you’re eligible.
• Move pensioners and workers on long-term disability to the front of the line of creditors when companies face bankruptcy and restructuring.

CANADA’S NEW DEMOCRATS 7

 FIGHTING
FOR NORTHERN
ONTARIO BY
DEFENDING
KEY STRATEGIC
INDUSTRIES
“From forestry to mining to agriculture, creating and
sustaining good jobs in the North starts with going to bat
for our vital industries and their workers.”
– Tony Martin, MP Sault Ste. Marie

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 Fighting for Nickel Belt: Claude Gravelle introduced legislation to tighten the Investment Canada Act which would protect
Canada from risky foreign investments and ensure more thorough and transparent reviews of investments by the Minister of Industry.

PRACTICAL NEXT STEPS.

NEW DEMOCRATS WILL:
• Launch sector-based strategies for lumber, pulp and paper, steel, mining, tourism and telecommunications, to ensure that these
northern backbone industries have the tools to innovate and compete globally.
• Protect jobs by restricting imports from countries with unacceptable wage and environmental standards, and encourage the
manufacture of value-added forest products here in Northern Ontario.
• Extend by four years the Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance for job-creating investments in machinery and equipment
by manufacturers.
• Develop a national forestry strategy that will identify economic measures needed to grow Northern Ontario’s forestry sector
sustainably and support community-based forestry initiatives.
• Introduce legislation to protect our industries from risky foreign investments.
• Support mining exploration in the North with targeted tax incentives and a permanent Flow Through Shares program in the
mining sector — giving continuing support to junior prospecting firms that soften the boom-and-bust cycle of the mining sector.
• Support the provision of assistance for northern farmers through FedNor for various farm infrastructure improvements such as
tile drainage and fencing.

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 FIGHTING FOR NORTHERN ONTARIO BY
IMPROVING FRONTLINE HEALTH CARE
SERVICES
“We’ve got to improve frontline health services — and we’ll start
by hiring more doctors and nurses, with real incentives to keep
them in the north. Your family deserves quality care, when you
need it, no matter where you live.”
– John Rafferty, MP for Thunder Bay-Rainy River

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 Fighting for Sault Ste. Marie: Tony Martin tabled a landmark report that addresses the root causes of many health problems
and protects all Canadians, especially the most vulnerable.

PRACTICAL NEXT STEPS.

NEW DEMOCRATS WILL:
• Work with provinces and territories to hire 1200 more doctors over the next decade and create 6,000 new training spaces for
nurses and nurse practitioners over the next 6 years.
• Establish a special fund to repatriate Canadian doctors practicing abroad, in order to bring back 300 doctors over four years.
• Substantially increase the number of other health professionals including psychiatric nurses, midwives, technicians, nurse aides
and patient service associates.
• Grow the pool of new family doctors by forgiving their student loans if they stay in family practice for ten years
• Strengthen equity programs to recruit and support more of the rural and Aboriginal medical students who are most likely to
practice in remote areas.
• Launch a Quality Home Care Plan to help 100,000 Canadians each year get the care they need at home instead of checking
into an overcrowded hospital.
• Launch a Long-Term Care Initiative to work with provinces and territories to substantially increase the number of non-profit
spaces for seniors, as part of the next phase of Medicare.
• Increase support for independent living by doubling the forgivable loan under the Home Adaptations for Seniors’
Independence (HASI) program to $7,000.

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 FIGHTING
FOR NORTHERN
ONTARIO BY
BUILDING
CLEAN ENERGY
SOLUTIONS
“We’ll turn Northern Ontario into a hotspot for clean
energy. We’ll ensure all communities have access to clean
drinking water.”
– Carol Hughes, MP for Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing

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 Fighting for Thunder Bay-Superior North: Bruce Hyer’s historic Climate Change Accountability Act passed in the House and was on
track to reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions—until Stephen Harper ordered his unelected Senators to defeat it without any debate.

PRACTICAL NEXT STEPS.

NEW DEMOCRATS WILL:
• Invest to make Northern Ontario a leader in the development of clean energy from renewable sources such as solar,
water and biomass.
• Work with First Nations and other stakeholders to tap existing federal funding through FedNor and other sources to reduce
communities’ reliance on diesel.
• Create a Job Fund to train new workers and displaced workers to within the renewable energy technologies sectors.
• Introduce a comprehensive new Clean Water Act with tough enforceable standards for drinking water quality, starting with
standards for First Nations reserves.
• Ensure access to clean and safe water by providing funding for upgrades in communities lacking sufficient water treatment
infrastructure.

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 FIGHTING FOR NORTHERN ONTARIO BY
BUILDING A NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH
FIRST NATIONS
“It’s time to work together, nation-to-nation, to build a strong
and prosperous Northern Ontario. Let’s build on our mutual
respect and make sure all our children have the tools they need
to succeed.”
– Charlie Angus, MP for Timmins-James Bay

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 Fighting for Timmins - James Bay: Charlie Angus presented a motion in the House of Commons, Shannen’s Dream, which
demands fair access to quality education for First Nation children.

PRACTICAL NEXT STEPS.

NEW DEMOCRATS WILL:
• Improve health in First Nation and Métis communities by investing in adequate housing, clean water, traditional healing,
addiction treatment and other services.
• Invest in water treatment and water quality monitoring to ensure all First Nation and Métis communities have clean and safe water.
• Close the gap in education funding and learning services provided to First Nations children, youth and adults in both k-12 as
well post-secondary levels. New Democrats support the initiative known as Shannen’s Dream to ensure that all First Nations
children get the same education chances as non Native children.
• Respect the right of First Nations communities to be consulted on and to share in the management of natural resources on
their traditional lands.
• Ensure First Nations benefit from the economic opportunities afforded by the Ring of Fire.
• Revamp Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and reinvest in First Nations, including housing and education.

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 BE A PART OF IT
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