Promises from Ontario’s three main political parties on rural Ontario – CP

Source: The Canadian Press
May 23, 2018 

Here’s a glance at some promises Ontario’s three major political parties have made for rural Ontario:

LIBERALS: Established a Risk Management Program to help farmers cover shifts in commodity prices for reasons beyond their control. The fund is currently capped at $100 million a year. Established a natural gas grant program to give about $100 million to support projects in northern, rural and First Nations communities to help increase access to natural gas.

NDP: Increasing the $100 million annual cap on the Risk Management Program to a total of $675 million over five years, protecting the Production Insurance Program for farmers, defending supply management, expanding the government’s definition of “farming and food production” to include concepts like urban farming, spending $100 million for natural gas expansion to rural Ontario. The NDP would also create a 10-year, $1 billion fund to bring broadband service to rural and northern Ontario.

PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVES: Increasing the province’s Risk Management Program for farmers by $50 million annually starting in the third year of a PC government, enabling privately funded natural gas expansion, which they say would save up to $100 million, to be used to expand cellular and broadband capability in northern and rural Ontario.

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