Northern Ontario warranted two sentences in Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's Nov. 22 throne speech.
With the mining sector in the midst of a “historic and exciting boom,” the government said it is “fully committed” to creating “leading edge” jobs in the North from the “untapped potential of the Ring of Fire.”
No mention was made of the Far North Act or the forestry industry.
In a wide-ranging speech that referenced the Great Depression, McGuinty vowed to create more jobs, train a better educated workforce, preserve the social safety net, and invest in infrastructure with new electrical generation, transmission and public transit in the Greater Toronto Area.
His green agenda will charge ahead by working with environmentalists and communities to introduce a Great Lakes Protection Act.
The government also intends to “close the socio-economic gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people” by calling on Ottawa to partner with Queen's Park on First Nation educational initiatives.
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