TIMISKAMING-COCHRANE - As the province gears up for an election, one candidate says there’s still work to do—and he’s ready for another round.
Veteran NDP MPP John Vanthof is seeking re-election in Timiskaming-Cochrane, a riding he has represented since 2011. He’s one of five candidates vying for the seat.
Vanthof is running because there are days when his job “is the best job ever.”
“You can actually change people's lives. You have access to levels of government that other people don’t,” he said.
Vanthof played a key role in guiding the Township of Black River-Matheson through a period of governmental change last year.
“When we had to change the council of Matheson, I worked very closely with the Minister of Municipal Affairs,” he said.
“I disagree with him philosophically on many issues, but where we needed to work together, we trusted each other, and we made it happen. And I think that's the way politics should work.”
Highway safety continues to be a key issue for Vanthof.
“It's aggressive driving. It's driving by certain commercial vehicle operators that are not properly trained, or if they are, they certainly aren't obeying the rules of the road,” he said.
“And I think that's something that the people in southern Ontario, governments included, do not fully appreciate, and that's something I think that northerners need to unite to push back on.”
Despite repeated calls for action, Vanthof said the concerns of Northern Ontarians are often dismissed.
“I've been told, I don't know how many times by the current minister of transportation, that Ontario has the safest roads in North America, and that could well be, statistically. But 11 and 17 and the feeder routes to them aren't on that list … There’s not a lot of fender benders on Highway 11,” he said.
Access to healthcare is also a major concern.
“Since I really got involved in provincial politics in the early 2000s, the conditions in Timiskaming-Cochrane have changed dynamically. We no longer have a problem finding work. We have a problem finding people to do the highly skilled jobs that we have available,” he said.
“And part of the problem finding and maintaining people and bringing families here, is we have a lack of services, and many of those services are provincial.”
The province, he said, should recruit healthcare workers, not municipalities.
“I've had people approach me who were offered jobs, good jobs, and they had special needs kids. And if you look at what's available in rural Northern Ontario, if you have a special needs child or someone special needs in your family, compared to what’s available in many other places, you’re not coming here,” he said.
Vanthof said that while the region has made progress, Northern Ontario continues to face challenges in receiving equal treatment compared to the rest of the province.
“Of all the things I've ever been involved with, it's always struck me that people in the North, regardless of what their political persuasion is, or if they have a political persuasion, we have always had to work harder, work smarter, to get equivalent,” he said.
“Regardless of the party, we need people to stand up and say what's actually happening in Northern Ontario.”
The Ontario election is on Feb. 27.
The other Timiskaming-Cochrane candidates are PC Tory Delaurier, Liberal Rick Ellsmere, New Blue Stephen MacLeod, and Green Kris Rivard.
