Mr. Speaker, when the Liberal government sold CN, it refused to protect its investment in and responsibility to Hornepayne's town centre complex. As the centre prepares to close its doors for good on September 30, the ominous predictions of New Democrats have proven accurate.
Tenants of the complex, such as the high school, post office and public library, have been struggling to relocate, and the people of Hornepayne will soon be without a gym, swimming pool and their only hotel.
The Conservative government has been less than helpful in the fight to preserve the town centre. It would only offer money for marketing at the eleventh hour. It offered nothing from the stimulus spending that built rinks, gazebos and toilets in wealthy communities, but passed over Hornepayne in its hour of need.
The loss of the Hornepayne centre can be attributed in large part to the Government of Ontario. The half million dollars the provincial government gave the town to sever the apartments and close the centre could have been used to hold on to one of the investors. The province has certainly turned its back on this community.
Residents of Hornepayne will never give up on their community and will work to recover what they have lost. They will never forget how the federal and provincial governments shrugged their shoulders and walked away when they needed them the most.