Madam Speaker, it sounds as though we are all getting along up in northern Ontario.
I have been reading the book, Unrevised and Unrepented II, and I was thinking, have I just heard one of the great speeches out of northwestern Ontario? If I had, I think I would probably call it, “If Only”: if only the Liberals had stayed in power longer, we would have had a national daycare; if only they had been in power, they would have had a national home care program; if only they had been elected, they would have made FedNor an agency. I see the policy trajectory here and frankly, I am not impressed.
What I am impressed about is getting back from Thunder Bay this morning after hearing people across northern Ontario and northwestern Ontario talk about the great work being done by the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, HRSDC and our highly coveted program, FedNor. They are responsive, effective and efficient in every way.
In fact, I have heard it across northern Ontario. I have been busy making announcements in co-operation with and on behalf of our Minister of Industry who is responsible for FedNor, who has done an outstanding job. It has been a great honour to travel to small towns and cities across northern Ontario on his and our government's behalf to make great announcements to that effect.
Obviously, coming from the great Kenora riding, I am happy to have this opportunity to discuss the implications of private member's Bill C-309, a bill to create a new federal agency aiming to administer economic development programs exclusively to northern Ontario.
There is no question that communities in northern Ontario continue to face challenges that affect the stability and development of their economy, both in the short and the long term.
This great part of our country certainly deserves the support of the Canadian government. I am pleased to report to this House that it has had that certainly within the last two and a half years in an unprecedented way.
I am proud to say that FedNor has been leading the way for years. I am pleased to hear the support from the member for Malpeque because, on a daily basis, FedNor staff are working with a diversity of people in communities in an effort to build a stronger and more prosperous northern Ontario. They include business leaders and professional groups in the areas of tourism, transportation, telecommunications, resource industries, small business, and research.
It appears the intention of my hon. colleague, the member for Nipissing—Timiskaming, in tabling this bill, is to ensure that the government would provide the support that northern Ontario needs to continue to emerge stronger than ever and be a vital part of Canada's economic engine. What he chooses to ignore is that FedNor is already providing this support through its main programs, which are the northern Ontario development program and the community futures program. Imagine that. People from northern Ontario are making decisions about their local economy and the northern economy.
I think I have heard this before in years and decades gone by. The Liberal government then and the Liberal Party now in a paternalistic way just decides what is in the best interests of people across Canada. The folks in northern Ontario reject that. They simply do not accept that.
I would like to point out the remarkable work accomplished by FedNor through the northern Ontario development program (NODP). I hope that by learning more about the role of FedNor, my colleagues will better understand what this organization represents to the inhabitants of this region. FedNor does much more than just fund individual projects in the many communities it serves.
When community partners, leaders and stakeholders identify opportunities for development, they come to FedNor with their ideas and their proposals. FedNor staff are closely connected to the communities they serve and know the challenges and needs of those communities. We should let those folks continue to do their job.
When approached with project ideas, our great FedNor staff across northern Ontario work with the proponents to ensure how best to meet their needs, not having an Ottawa-centric Liberal Party telling us what is in the best interest of northern Ontario.
The FedNor folks consider the benefits of specific projects on local, regional and pan-northern Ontario scales, working with partners to maximize the impact of FedNor projects.
In short, FedNor takes a truly holistic approach to economic development, funding projects that will collectively strengthen northern Ontario. At the same time, FedNor keeps an eye on the bigger picture, the Government of Canada's national agenda.
In 2009-10, the northern Ontario development program's annual grants and contributions budgets totalled more than $36 million. I will explain how FedNor is using this budget successfully to grow the northern Ontario economy.
First, I will provide some general information. NODP serves a very vast area. Northern Ontario represents about 90% of the province, extends from Muskoka to James Bay, and borders on the provinces of Manitoba and Quebec. More than 850,000 people live in this magnificent part of Canada.
The vastness of northern Ontario cannot be understated. Its relatively low population helps explain some of the challenges it faces, such as geographic isolation from large urban areas and markets to the south, and limited telecommunications and transportation infrastructures which, under Canada's economic action plan, are under a major overhaul.
I was in Thunder Bay not too long ago making an announcement for more than 25 isolated remote first nations communities that will be getting state-of-the-art broadband service to connect literally with the rest of northern Ontario and Canada. This is something that was never done under the vision of the previous administration of the Liberal government.
We have a high youth out-migration rate and lower than average employment growth. FedNor's Ontario development program is working to address these issues and more.
To help communities deal with the challenges of sudden or severe downturns affecting the local economy, FedNor supports diversification strategies. Never have these types of strategies been more important than they are today during these difficult economic times.
One concrete example is FedNor's successful youth internship program. For more than a decade, FedNor's flagship youth internship program has provided nearly 1,300 young graduates with valuable job experience. Designed to help post-secondary graduates make the transition from the campus to the workplace, the program provides interns with hands-on experience and opportunities to find full-time employment at home in northern Ontario. The internship program also assists small businesses and not-for-profit organizations that are looking to grow.
Recently, FedNor has been charged with administering the northern Ontario components of the Government of Canada's community adjustment fund. This program was strong enough and good enough to administer the community adjustment fund, as well as the economic development initiatives for official language minority communities. With such capacity being so sensitive and responsive to the communities of northern Ontario, there is no bureaucracy or further expense required. FedNor's flexibility and its ability to deliver programs, such as the economic development initiative and community adjustment fund, are what make FedNor so important.
In short, Bill C-309 aims to create a new entity to do what FedNor already does through the northern Ontario development program. The bill is redundant. It is bureaucratic and it is paternalistic.
I appreciate having been allowed the time to speak on the impact of FedNor's northern Ontario development program and the great FedNor program that is working wonderfully in northern Ontario. We have heard that from mayors and councils, stakeholders and proponents. We are rebuilding downtowns across northern Ontario. We are investing in economic stimulus and job creation programs.
While the opposition member claims to have the interests of northern Ontario at heart, why on earth is he ignoring the north's plea to do away with things like the wasteful and ineffective long gun registry, increasing taxes and EI premiums?
Now the opposition wants an unnecessary election. Having travelled across northern Ontario extensively over the last five or six weeks, I can certainly assure members that no one I have spoken to across northern Ontario is interested in that.
Northern Ontarians deserve better. That is what they are getting from this Conservative government. That is what they are getting from Canada's economic action plan. That is what they are getting from FedNor.
