For Immediate Release
March 23, 2007

Smiths Falls Hospital finally gets funding but no economic plan for Eastern Ontario

Carleton Place, Ontario - After four years of asking, pleading and demanding approval by the representatives of Smiths Falls, the McGuinty government has finally given the redevelopment of the Smiths Falls Hospital its blessing.

"This project has been ready to go to tender for many months," said Norm Sterling, M.P.P. for Lanark-Carleton. "I have talked to the Minister of Health about the desperate need for a new hospital at least a dozen times and finally they have listened. This will give the community a much needed lift after the recent announcement that Hershey Canada will be closing its chocolate plant."

With the February 22 announcement that Hershey would close its Smiths Falls plant and McGuinty's plan to close Rideau Regional Centre by 2009, 1,500 residents of Smiths Falls will lose their jobs over the next three years. Since the Hershey announcement, Mr. Sterling has increased his demands for help for Smiths Falls to include demanding that McGuinty move forward with the hospital redevelopment and delay the closure of Rideau Regional Centre.

The Smiths Falls site of the Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital, parts of which were built in 1904, received initial approval for its redevelopment in 2003 but subsequent approvals and funding have been slow in coming. "This town desperately needs a new hospital so that it can attract doctors and investment to the community," said Mr. Sterling. "I am glad to see that the McGuinty government has finally recognized that."

Unfortunately for the rest of the region, the budget contained no larger plan to help Eastern Ontario increase or even maintain its economic base. "Eastern Ontario faces many of the same challenges as Northern Ontario does but for some reason McGuinty chooses to ignore the region," said Mr. Sterling, noting that the budget included the creation of a Northwestern Ontario Economic Facilitator.

In an effort to present solutions for Eastern Ontario Mr. Sterling has twice introduced legislation to create an Eastern Ontario Economic Development Fund which would have the power to grant or loan funds for projects that will attract development to communities in Eastern Ontario, with the exception of Ottawa. Twice the bill has been debated in the Legislature, passing second reading both times, but McGuinty has prevented the bill from making it to third reading and becoming law.

"Whether it was a version of my own bill or something else, I was hoping to see some kind of recognition of the challenges facing Eastern Ontario towns," said Mr. Sterling. "But, as my colleague, retiring Liberal MPP for Ottawa Centre Richard Patten recently noted, this government continues to ignore Eastern Ontario and this budget only reinforces that conclusion. The word Eastern did not even appear in the Finance Minister's speech. Frankly I would expect better with a Premier who hails from Ottawa."

The rest of McGuinty's pre-election budget was full of reckless spending promises made with additional $4,500 in taxes that McGuinty has collected from each Ontario household since 2003. But even with all McGuinty's promises, Eastern Ontarian workers aren't the only people left out in the cold. Seniors waiting for long-term care beds will continue to wait despite the re-announcement of 1,750 beds in 2009. And again this year McGuinty has cut the Ministry of Agriculture, leaving Ontario farmers wondering who will develop their long-promised new Risk Management Program and other farm safety nets.

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For more information, please call Lanark-Carleton MPP Norm Sterling at: (613) 253-1171