2019 saw changes for MPP Vic Fedeli around the cabinet table.

He moved from Finance to Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

“The Premier said to me, ‘Buddy, I need my best salesman out around the World bringing jobs to Ontario,” Fedeli says. “In Canada we lost 71,000 jobs last month while in Ontario we gained 15,400 and it’s our policies that are making the difference.”

He says highlights from 2019 include an added $200-million in funding for Nipissing, primarily for healthcare.

That includes $55-million for the redevelopment of Cassellholme, along with funding for Algonquin Nursing Home in Mattawa, the Nipissing Serenity Hospice and the new Ontario Health Team.

Challenges, meantime, include job action in education.

“We want the kids in classrooms, we’re putting the kids first, we’re putting the needs of the kids first and sadly we haven’t seen any movement from the teachers union side, our government continues to make offers,” Fedeli says.

There’s also union talk around funding,

He says they’re spending billions more on health care and mental health and addictions, but that’s not all.

“Today we’re spending $1.2 billion more on education than the day we were elected, those are the facts and they just don’t line up with the fear-mongering,” Fedeli says.

Looking ahead, Fedeli says ONTC is a priority, with three tasks, starting with moving it to Ministry of Transportation.

“We brought in the rail car refurbishment contract for Ontario Northland last year, we’ll look for more work for them, of course and as we continue to develop the plans to return passenger rail to the north, that’s the Ontario Northland priority,” he says.

They’ll also continue to look for opportunities in the film and mining industries when it comes to Northern Ontario Heritage Fund money.

File photo by station staff

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