Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty listens to a question during a scrum Tuesday night. Photo by Phil Novak ____________________________________________________________
Dalton McGuinty says the four-laning of Hwy 11 and construction of the North Bay Regional Health Centre are priorities for his government, but the Ontario premier was unable to provide any specifics about dates for the two projects.
McGuinty was in North Bay Tuesday evening to attend a community barbecue at Nipissing University and spent a few minutes talking to local reporters.
Hwy 11, he said “is a priority for us.”
“There’s an outstanding 41 kilometres and there’s work that’s ongoing in that regard,” McGuinty said.
“I can’t make a specific announcement here tonight about a completion date, but I can tell you it’s an important highway for our government.”
The premier said his government wants to bring “a kind of comprehensive approach” to highway, hospital and general infrastructure work.
“We have a massive infrastructure deficit in the province, we have a new Northern Ontario highway strategy, and we look forward to providing more details of that in the fall,” McGuinty said.
David Kaplan, the Minister of Public Infrastructure renewal has been “charged with the responsibility” of establishing a long-term plan, “a 10-year plan” for Ontario’s infrastructure, McGuinty added.
“Having said all that, I can tell that, no doubt about it whatsoever, that this Highway 11 and this hospital are priorities for this government, and I know the community’s been waiting patiently, “McGuinty said.
“They’ve done a tremendous amount of work when it comes to raising funds locally, there’s more work to be done there, so I’m not here to make a specific announcement about that except I look forward to doing that hopefully in the not-too-distant future.”
Nipissing MPP Monique Smith wants the hospital project to go to tender sometime this fall, McGuinty said, “and I hear her.”
When asked by Nugget reporter Gord Young if he could guarantee the hospital would be built, McGuinty said “the minister tells me this is a high priority for us.”
When asked by BayToday.ca if his answer was a ‘yes,’ McGuinty smiled and went on to the next question.
