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November 29, 2024
Christmas time is approaching, and with the snowfall, we just received in Algoma-Manitoulin, that festive feeling is growing quickly. Across our riding, communities are hosting Christmas markets, Santa Claus parades, and festive dinners that I am lucky enough to participate in. I try to attend as many of these events as my schedule allows, but if I’m honest, I prioritize the Santa Claus parades where I can. There is something so special about seeing the look of excitement and anticipation on the faces of the children in the crowd when they see Santa Claus that fills my heart.
I’m sure we can all remember that almost uncontainable emotion from when we were young, counting down the days to December 25th. Although it felt painful at the time, in retrospect, that waiting enhanced the Christmas experience and is what made the whole season feel so special.
Waiting for something like a Christmas present is all well and good; it teaches us a valuable lesson about patience in a low-stakes situation. However, we in Northern Ontario have become accustomed to a different and less helpful type of waiting under this government. We’ve been forced to wait time after time for the government to deliver on their promises to the North.
This came up recently in my office on two issues: the Northern Health Travel Grant (NHTG) and the Little Current Swing Bridge replacement.
The NHTG has been an issue that my office has been receiving for years. The NHTG is a program that provides reimbursements to people living in Northern Ontario who must travel for medical appointments. Originally introduced in 1985 under the David Peterson government, the program’s goal was to ensure that no Northern Ontario resident would go without care because of the cost of travel.
After it was established, the NHTG received two increases in reimbursement rates (once in 2001 and again in 2007). Then, it sat ignored by the government for over a decade and a half.
In 2022, I introduced legislation to have the grant program reviewed by Northern healthcare professionals and NHTG users because of the number of people writing to my office saying that the grant was out of date both in the reimbursement it provided and the process required to file a claim. After two years of advocacy by hundreds of Northerners, I brought the bill forward for a vote, but it was shot down by the Progressive Conservative Party.
Fortunately, all that work was not wasted. A few months later, the Minister of Health announced that the NHTG would receive an increase. The program parameters would be updated to meet the current needs of people in Northern Ontario. Finally, it seemed like a substantial victory had been won for the North.
That brings me to today. When the program enhancements were announced in April, we were told that they would take effect in “the fall of 2024”. When September 21st came and went with no word, my office reached out to the Minister’s office for an update. We received no reply. Then, when constituents started contacting us saying they needed to know if the new program parameters were in effect because it would impact whether they could afford to travel for treatment, my office contacted them again and again, saying that we urgently needed to know a date for the new enhancements. Again, we received nothing from the Minister of Health. Finally, last week, I rose in the legislature and asked the minister point-blank when the NHTG would be updated. I received a begrudging answer that it would take effect on December 1st.
It still boggles my mind that something so simple as a date could take so much waiting and prying to get out of this government, especially on an issue that has so much impact on people’s lives.
Which brings me to my next example, the Little Current Swing Bridge.
As some readers may know, the Little Current Swing Bridge is the 111-year-old route that connects Manitoulin Island to the mainland. It is an iconic piece of Northern Ontario’s heritage, but it has outlived its lifespan. For years now, the process has been underway to replace the old one-lane bridge with a new two-lane modern bridge.
That process has been slow, as one would expect from a project of this size. There have been environmental assessments, heritage assessments, local consultations, and more to get to the stage we are at now. However, movement on the Swing Bridge Replacement Project has stalled recently.
In the 2024-25 Ontario budget, the government included the swing bridge as a highlighted infrastructure project that they were promoting as part of their plan. While that is great on paper, what was not included in the budget was a timeline to complete the project, the amount of money that they are putting up for it, or even when they plan to get shovels in the ground. In fact, there is pretty much no information about replacing the swing bridge other than a vague promise that it is in the works.
When I questioned the Minister of Transportation about the project’s status, he could not or would not provide me with an answer. He simply restated that it was part of the “plan to build infrastructure across the province.” That’s great, but I’m not interested in infrastructure across the province; I wanted to know the Ministry’s plan to deliver for Algoma-Manitoulin.
The Minister of Northern Development recently visited Manitoulin Island for a funding announcement. When questioned about the timeline for the swing bridge, the Minister responded, saying he “heard about the fuss” but to hang tight and information would come soon.
I take exception to the minister’s dismissive attitude. When you promise to deliver a multi-million-dollar project to build essential infrastructure, people shouldn’t have to wait more than 8 months to hear how you plan to do it.
These are just two examples of Northerners being forced to wait and plead with the government for results. I could also go into detail on the delays in updating the Police Services Boards, or bringing 911 to all parts of Northern Ontario, or connecting homes to broadband, or reinstating the Northlander train. All of these are promises we were told would be delivered in the Ford government’s first or second mandate. But now we are staring down an early election call, and the progress that has been made on all these files is minuscule.
When you are faced down by a government that is more than happy to say to small, rural and Northern communities, “just wait your turn,” it is vital that they are not let off the hook. Just look at the Northern Health Travel Grant. It may have taken years of fighting and constant badgering of the government, but at the end of the day, we have made progress toward a better deal for Northerners.
As always, I invite you to contact my office about these issues or any other provincial matters. You can reach my constituency office by email at mmantha-co@ola.org or call Toll-free 1-800-831-1899.
Michael Mantha, MPP
Algoma-Manitoulin
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