Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are cutting off northwestern Ontario. Residents in my riding are being ignored by a federal government that is supposed to represent them.
Thunder Bay—Superior North is a vibrant region with a wealth of natural resources, and it has contributed a great deal to Canada's economic development for several hundred years, but now it gets little in return from the government. Unemployment is still a pressing concern for northwestern Ontario, and the government has failed to turn it around.
Across Canada we have seen the number of temporary foreign workers double in just one year under the Conservatives. Almost half the supposed new jobs the government has claimed to have created have not gone to Canadians. Workers in my riding are worried that many new jobs in the Ring of Fire will go to temporary foreign workers.
Like in many regions, tourism is a vital component of the economy of northwestern Ontario and Canada, but the industry is in crisis. According to the World Tourism Organization, in the last 10 years, international arrivals in Canada plunged from over 20 million to just 16 million last year. This past year, the government cut the Canadian Tourism Commission budget by 20% to $58 million, half what it was a decade ago. This has impacted not just Thunder Bay—Superior North; it is a disaster in the making for the entire Canadian economy and our soaring balance of trade deficit.
What is more, the service cuts in my riding are unprecedented. I am flooded with letters and emails from my constituents about their inability to access important government services. The Conservatives have closed the Thunder Bay Citizenship and Immigration office totally. They have cut 25 positions at Human Resources and Skills Development Canada in Thunder Bay, making things even more difficult for unemployment insurance recipients, who had trouble before.
In February, the Thunder Bay Veterans Affairs office is scheduled to close. Ten employees in the office will lose their jobs, and over 2,000 veterans, many of them young veterans, and their families will now have to drive over six hours to Manitoba for dedicated service. Veterans have been told to just call a 1-800 number or go online for support with the submission of complex benefits forms concerning their serious physical and mental health issues.
The government has insisted that veterans in my riding will be able to just go to the local Service Canada centre for support, but over 20 jobs have been axed there, with constituents already unable to get the assistance they need.
The Conservatives have long promised action on first nations education, yet we have seen no new funding commitments at all, despite the fact that aboriginal students are funded at only half the level of other students in Ontario.
We in northern Ontario have been calling for years for FedNor to be an independent, stand-alone regional economic development agency, as in eastern and western Canada. Former NDP member Tony Martin introduced legislation that would have made FedNor an independent economic development agency governed by a regional board of directors, and I have raised this issue many times in this House.
FedNor needs to be free from political interference. We already know about FedNor project funding that was funnelled through the constituency office of the member for Parry Sound—Muskoka, but the government hid this from the Auditor General when an investigation was launched.
After reviewing this record, I ask again: Where is the concrete plan for supporting service provision and economic development in northwestern Ontario?
