News that the ONTC is closing two stations and cutting hours drew strong responses today from the two MPP's most affected.
"It's death by a thousand cuts," Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli told BayToday. "It's these little incremental cuts---this little bit of bad news that comes out of Ontario Northland every month or so.
"This is exactly what is spoiling the northern economy,' he continued. "Nobody wants to get out and spend any money, no Ontario Northland employee can properly plan for their future and businesses don't know how to react. People aren't buying cars or houses because they don't understand what the future is going to be."
When the commission mothballed the Northlander train, it promised to improve and enhance its bus system to compensate.
"This is a complete opposite to what they promised," said Fedeli.
"They promised an enhancement first, secondly they promised no cuts to service and most recently they announced all their cuts to Ontario Northland are over."
"It's a big concern," said Timiskaming--Cochrane MPP John Vanthof. "When they cut the Northlander they promised an enhanced bus service and that hasn't really come to pass.
"This is a bad omen."
Vanthof says two of his constituents had to go to the Human Rights Commission just to get the ONTC to get accessible buses. They won.
"The government didn't do that out of the goodness of their heart either. Northerners actually had to take them to the Human Rights Commission."
