North Bay, Ontario. Party leader Steven Del Duca said Tuesday that a liberal government in Ontario would try to increase the population in the north of the province by taking more control over medical care, building roads and immigration into the region.
Del Duca _ who wants to improve his party’s third-place position in next month’s vote – said he plans to attract skilled workers to northern Ontario to boost the region’s economy and improve quality of life. Will try
He added that speaking out more in immigration would help match the skills of the newcomers with the labor needs of the region.
“We will work with the federal government, seeking a mandate from the people of this province, to ensure that Ontario is in the driver’s seat when it comes to our own immigration system,” he said in North Bay, Ont. said in.
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“Ensuring that as the world moves into this country, more and more skilled workers can come to this province of ours, especially in northern Ontario to fill the skilled labor shortage that we have.” is.”
If elected in June, the Liberals will appoint a dedicated immigration minister to help newcomers find work in their areas of expertise. They will also attack a Northern immigration advisory panel of regional municipal leaders and economic development officials for ensuring that a new immigration system is “in the best interests of the North.”
Del Duca commented on a campaign stop before a debate between party leaders on northern issues.
The Liberal leader said he would ensure that within 24 hours everyone had access to a family doctor or nurse practitioner, regardless of where they lived, something he did not meet as a basic standard. was going.
“It’s not enough for northern Ontario, and it’s not enough for an Ontario Liberal government,” he said. “We need to do better.”
He said he would attract more doctors and nurses to the region by covering tuition for medical and nursing students “committed to working in a rural or remote community.”
Del Duca also pledged to build more roads to the resource-rich Ring of Fire to make it more accessible – a project he said would attract even more workers to the region.
“I think, for example, about the heavy machine operators that we will need to build a road that is going to unlock the potential of the Ring of Fire in the long run,” he said.
“We need to make sure there are those and other skilled workers in Northern Ontario that provide the kind of economy and quality of life where we can move forward together.”
The Liberals also promise to have “affordable, high-speed Internet” for all in northern Ontario by 2025.
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