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NDP stymied by government tactics on FedNor bill

NDP FedNor critic and Nickel Belt MP Claude Gravelle of Sudbury is mad at the Harper government for eliminating an hour of debate and delaying the vote on Bill C-309, the bill to make FedNor an independent, stand-alone economic development agency for
Northern Ontario Business Staff

NDP FedNor critic and Nickel Belt MP Claude Gravelle of Sudbury is mad at the Harper government for eliminating an hour of debate and delaying the vote on Bill C-309, the bill to make FedNor an independent, stand-alone economic development agency for Northern Ontario.

“Conservatives are running and hiding,” said Gravelle in a statement. “They don’t want to be on record in the House trying to explain to Northern Ontarians why we don’t deserve our own stand-alone economic development agency, when they recently gave Southern Ontario its own.”

The NDP said the 2009 federal budget provided $1 billion over five years for a new Southern Ontario Development Agency, but argue the Conservatives curtailed the first of two hours of debate and delayed the vote on Bill C-309, an act to establish the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Region of Northern Ontario. The bill was first introduced by Tony Martin, the New Democrat MP for Sault Ste. Marie.

“What is this bias against Northern Ontario?” asked Martin. “Other regions have full economic development agencies. Making FedNor one would serve the economic growth of the north.”