Letters

Government working hard for Canada and Dufferin-Caledon

August 10, 2016   ·   0 Comments

July 26 in London, Ontario, a long-awaited and hard-earned funding announcement was made by Canadian Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Singh Bains and Ontario Minister of Infrastructure Bob Chiarelli, who each brought $90 million to help the member municipalities of the Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus, the Region of Niagara and the Town of Caledon fund the $281 million cost of the Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) proposal that will bring affordable, high-speed internet service to more than 350 communities serving 3.5 million people.
This announcement is the culmination of many years of work by many good people such as the current Chair of the Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus Randy Hope, SWIFT Board Chair Gerry Marshall, and SWIFT Staff Lead and CAO of the County of Dufferin Sonya Pritchard.
During the 2015 federal election campaign, as the Liberal candidate in Dufferin-Caledon, I heard from many people that the lack of access to affordable high-speed internet service was compromising their children’s education and limiting their economic opportunities. I raised these concerns in Ottawa with the members of the Liberal caucus and at the Liberal Party Convention in Winnipeg and promoted the SWIFT proposal as the best solution.
I am so pleased that the Trudeau Liberal government, that I worked so hard to be a part of, has not forgotten the people of Dufferin-Caledon, despite the fact that we elected as our Member of Parliament, Conservative David Tilson. In April, Minister Bains announced $2 million in federal funding to Orangeville-based Quality Cheese Inc. to enable the expansion of its production and improve its competitiveness. These investments in Dufferin-Caledon by the government of Canada may never be acknowledged by Tilson in his weekly column, Ottawa Journal, but they are being made and will improve the quality of our lives here in Dufferin-Caledon, just like the cheques that families received last week from the new Canada Child Benefit, that will raise more than 300,000 Canadian children out of poverty, or the middle class tax cuts in the 2016 budget.
Everyone should be proud of what we have worked so hard together to achieve for Dufferin-Caledon and for Canada.
Ed Crewson,
Shelburne

         

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