Liberal leadership candidate wants to four lane Trans-Canada highway across its entire length, move government ministries to North Bay

Ontario Liberal leadership candidate Steven Del Duca has come out with what he calls his "Ontario North Action Plan."

The plan calls for expanding the Trans-Canada highway to four lanes across its entire length, providing northern Ontarians with access to a health practitioner within 48 hours, and "reversing Ford cuts to the north."

“My Ontario North Action Plan will make it better to live in North Bay and northern Ontario," says Del Duca in a news release."What I’ve heard from residents is that they want access to healthcare, they want to be able to travel safely between communities, they want access to high-speed internet and they want to see the North Bay economy flourish and grow. The Ontario North Plan accomplishes all those things and more. While the provincial government divests from North Bay my plan calls for new investments.”

Del Duca also wants to see whether any ministries or agencies can be moved from Toronto to North Bay.

"My plan calls for the decentralization of government. It’s a win-win-win because the Province can divest from expensive Toronto real estate, invest in the North Bay economy and workers will have a greater quality of life. Since the PCs took over we’ve seen cut after cut after cut target North Bay and northern Ontario as a whole. It’s time to treat Northerners with respect,” Del Duca added.”

Del Duca’s ‘Ontario North’ Action Plan calls for:

• Expanding the Trans-Canada Highway to four lanes across its entire length. A long-term partnership with the federal government is proposed in which both jurisdictions cover 50 per cent of the cost. 
• Ensuring that all residents of Northern Ontario have access to a nurse practitioner or doctor within 48 hours when required. This initiative will expand the Northern Ontario School of Medicine’s mandate to include nurse and nurse-practitioner training. 
• Making the investment required to build the appropriate electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Northern Ontario.
• Supporting projects that drive development and electrification in the remote north, including through the establishment of a dedicated community infrastructure fund for northern and on-reserve communities. Del Duca also is committed to high-speed broadband internet coverage for all Northern Ontarians.
• Canceling the Ford Government’s cuts to the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation and establishing a stream of the NOHFC to support northern Ontario businesses in selling to nearby export markets that are closer than southern Ontario, including customers in Quebec, Manitoba and adjacent US states.
• Increasing the Northern Ontario Energy Credit and expanding eligibility for this benefit. These changes will assist more Ontarians in paying the higher home energy costs they incur as residents of the North. 
• Establishing in northern Ontario the headquarters of government agencies and ministries.
• Working with the Federal Government and northern communities to ensure settlement of skilled immigrants in the north. 
• Empowering existing regional leadership and planning groups in Northern Ontario to coordinate regional transit planning and funding in these regions. Supporting these groups with initial planning funding and expertise in transit building. Northern communities will also have access to the Climate Resiliency Infrastructure Fund, a new $100m per year fund that will be established to support municipalities (large and small), farmers, and private industry across Ontario in adapting to the impacts of climate change and building climate resiliency.
• Establishing the Ontario Rural Growth Strategy, which will establish Community Economic Development Credits and Opportunity Zones in rural communities in Northern Ontario.