I know in normal cases you're supposed to exchange pleasantries, in this case I’m going to just go ahead and skip those because I have a lot to talk about and I’m trying not to write a novel here.
I realize that you’re probably never going to read this – and that’s ok. Apparently venting frustration is therapeutic and thanks to the internet, someone is going to read this. My hope is that this someone finds a way to pass this along to you because frankly, you need to hear this. I’m going to tackle this letter one issue at a time. I’m sure you’re aware that the last Ontario Northland Train left Toronto last Friday at 9:30 am. The biggest reason you gave for the cancellation of both the ON passenger and freight trains? Money. Cash. Cheddah..
Mr. McGuinty, I know you’re not from around here. I realize that your voting base is stationed in the heart of southern Ontario and I realize that the north is not anywhere close to the top of your priority list. I’m not telling you how to run a province but I am telling you that we matter. There might not be as many of us in the north, but we are just as important as the south and just because our voices aren’t as loud does not mean that they are silent. You are appointed to represent the people of this province, Mr. McGuinty, all of the people of the province.
Mr. McGuinty, by cancelling the passenger and freight train service to Northern Ontario you’ve cut off the north from the south. I know that seems a little melodramatic, but let me put it into perspective. The main use of the train for the people in the north is getting to medical appointments – something you’ve said is alright, because we have suitable alternatives. The alternatives are: very nice friends and family with cars and flexible work days, planes and buses. As someone who has taken all three I can tell you these are not accessible to everyone. Not everyone has access to vehicles – or friends and family that can access vehicles, sometimes driving to southern Ontario is not an option. Flying is ridiculously expensive – before Porter Air came to Timmins it was cheaper for someone to fly Toronto to Trinidad than it was Toronto to Timmins. Some people can’t fly after medical appointments and this leaves them with one option – the bus.
Mr. McGuinty, I’m going to ask you step out of your political role for a second, and think like a human being. You live in Timmins, you have a wife, and kids and elderly parents that live just around the block – they keep “popping” over without calling more than you’d like, but hey! C’est la vie, right? Your mom recently broke her jaw in a car accident and needs to be sent to Toronto for care. Now, your parents aren’t that well off, and you neither you nor your wife are able to take the time off work to drive her there and your dad just can’t make that long trip. She’s not allowed to fly, because of the pressure on planes which means that she has to take the bus. She’s in pain and now she has to sit for 12-16 hours, alone on a bus. Isn’t that frustrating to think about? Well, I know at least one person that this has happened to and contrary to popular belief; OHIP doesn’t always cover travel costs to get to appointments in the south.
Mr. McGuinty, what if this was your family this was affecting? What if it was your elderly parents or grandparents or kids trying to get home for the holidays this was happening to? You are here to represent the province and I, a 21 year-old lifelong Ontarian, am telling you, you’re not doing that. On top of these budget cuts I learned today that ten Provincial Parks are going to have their services cut because they’re costing too much money and not being used enough. Mr. McGuinty, do you go camping? Yes, a huge part of Ontario is the bustling metropolis of the south, but a major identifier of Ontario and Canada is our wildlife and natural resources. I know I’m biased, but there is nothing like a Northern Ontario night by the campfire with family and friends. You are providing a death sentence to a major part of Ontario’s heritage on top of the many Northern jobs you’ve effectively ended. But hey, you’ve saved money, right? How did you come to those decisions? Did you go to all ten of those parks, or did you simply look at a report that ranked them in order of which makes more money? Mr. McGuinty, I don’t have experience running a province, but I can tell you that you’re taking the easy way out with this decision. Easy leadership is cutting something that doesn’t appear to be working, real leadership is fixing the problem.
Mr. McGuinty, it frustrates me to no end that the future of politics seems to only be going to help the south and focus on the south. Sometimes money doesn’t solve everything, sometimes you have to do the right thing, just because it’s the right thing. Thank you for showing that it’s alright to ignore social responsibility in order to save a couple of bucks. We’re Canadian, we’re known for being proactive in women’s rights, free health care and equality – apparently that is only true if you live south of North Bay. I know you’ll rebuttal this and point out that it’s for the greater good of the province, blah blah blah – but for the greater good, isn’t good enough.
Mr. McGuinty, we teach kids that the most important thing to do is to share and to be fair to everyone around them, despite how they may treat you. This is something we teach kids up until the time they’re adults, when suddenly those rules don’t seem to matter anymore. Looking at Ontario politics I can see why these rules stop mattering. We have a leader in place that openly ignores an entire portion of the population because there just isn’t enough people in it to matter. Mr. McGuinty, every person matters – people are not always statistics and dollar signs, people are important and that’s a value that’s held very dear up north. Canadians are seen as these super friendly people where everyone knows everyone and yes I’m being incredibly biased, but nobody I’ve met embodies that quite like Northern Ontarians. At our very core we are living, breathing and feeling human beings, not budget cuts and losses and increased taxes.
Mr. McGuinty, I’m going to end this letter as I’ve realized it’s getting quite lengthy by asking you one question. At the very core of it, what matters to Ontario?
Yours truly;
Kaileigh Russell
21 year, Timmins Resident
Well said, as one of the much forgotten citizens from Northwestern Ontario, I agree with everything you said. I have said this for years, and so has the rest of the North, and the North West, according to the Ontario government, we don't matter, and it is obvious. The funny part about this is, where would Southern Ontario get their trains, buses, and other public transit vehicles if it wasn't for Bombardier in Thunder Bay? How would they get their grains and other exports from across Canada if the north didn't exist, because everything, and I mean everything, must travel through there. Ontario would have the lowest education levels in the country if it wasn't for the North saving their asses all the time because we can actually read a book. Not to mention, the NHL would be lacking a good percentage of their top players, sure there are about 50 players from Toronto, but with a city the size of 2.5 million people, 50 is nothing, especially when you have 10+ from Thunder Bay, same with Timmins, Kenora, Dryden, Hearst etc. Sure Timmins and Thunder Bay own that stat, but regardless, we are the heart of Canada, go to any province, they will tell you all about Northern and Northwestern Ontario, how polite we are (symbolizing Canadians), how we hold on to the traditional Canadian values, and don't try to Americanize our cities. I live in Canada, and I am proud to be Canadian, but I would rather consider myself from Manitoba than Ontario, at least the Manitoba government comes to the aid of a flooded city, regardless that the city was not in their province.
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