Liberal funding blasted

Cornwall Standard Freeholder 

Wednesday, August 29, 2007 - 08:00 

Trevor Pritchard

Local News - A day-long spending spree by Liberals both in S, D and G and across Ontario left the opposition posing some pointed questions at the governing party.

"Where was this money prior to the election period?" asked NDP candidate Lori Taylor, who joined with local PC and Green candidates in a chorus of harsh criticism after the Liberal Party made three funding announcements in a nine-hour span Tuesday.

Glengarry-Prescott-Russell MPP Jean-Marc Lalonde kicked off the string of announcements in Alexandria, where he allocated $1.5 million to create new economic opportunities for eastern Ontario's woodworking sector.

Local MPP Jim Brownell then revealed the province would commit $137,000 to downtown development projects in Cornwall. Brownell was also on hand later in the day at the city's community care access centre, where he unveiled the province's new $700-million long-term health care strategy for seniors.

That sudden influx of new cash, coupled with nearly a dozen previous announcements in the Cornwall area this August, had opposition parties calling for a moratorium on spending in the immediate pre-election period.

"The windfall leading up to the election is just so circumspect," said Taylor. "I think it's very unsettling to the voting public."

Both Taylor and Elaine Kennedy, the local Green Party of Ontario candidate, said the onslaught of new programs and grants will actually make voters less likely to go to the polls on Oct. 10, rather than draw them into the Liberal fold.

"It makes people much more cynical about the whole (electoral) process," said Kennedy. "And that's a real shame."

Kennedy also said if the party was going to be making spending announcements in July and August, then the legislature should be sitting so they could be properly debated.

Tory candidate Chris Savard also skewered the government's behaviour, calling the new money a "blatant election ploy" and predicting that Ontario voters wouldn't be fooled by it.

Following the Liberal government money trail

This month the Liberals have doled out millions to school boards, environmental organizations, even trampoline aficionados. Here are some of the month's highlights:

Aug. 1: The Long Sault Hydroplane Regatta gets the first handout of the month, a two-year, $35,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, an agency of the province's Ministry of Culture.

Aug. 2: Health Promotion Minister Jim Watson delivers $12,000 for the Cornwall Youth Centre and $9,500 for the Williams-town Air Gliders Trampoline Club.

Aug. 8: The Canadian Mental Health Association's branches in SD&G and Prescott-Russell receive a $55,000 Trillium grant to fund a rural transportation program.

Aug. 10: The Kanien'keha (Mohawk) Language Centre gets a Trillium grant for $75,000 to purchase new computers and software.

Aug. 14: The area's four school boards get a combined $7 million after Premier Dalton McGuinty announces $309 million in new education funding across the province.

Aug. 17: MPPs Jim Brownell and Jean-Marc Lalonde promise eastern Ontario will share $20 million in annual economic development funding if the Liberals are re-elected this fall.

Aug. 21: Environment Minister Laurel Broten visits the city and announces $1.5 million to clean up the Cornwall section of the St. Lawrence River.

Aug. 23: The South Nation Conservation Authority and the Dundas Environmental Awareness Group share $144,000 in Trillium funding to educate homeowners about waste disposal.

Aug. 24: Lalonde announces that North and South Glengarry will share nearly $600,000 to provide broadband Internet access throughout the two townships.

Aug. 27: The busiest day of August so far: Lalonde delivers $1.5 million in funding to an Alexandria distribution centre, Brownell comes through with $137,000 for improvements to Cornwall's downtown, and the province announces a three-year, $700-million home care strategy for seniors.