Saturday February 19, 2005

Dear editor:

It’s time we stand up and tell our provincial government that rural Ontario is not for sale.
Our services are in big trouble. Hospitals in are closing beds, laying off front line health care workers, and slashing services.

Premier McGuinty will not stand up for patients and demand that savings be found at the executive level. These hospitals had no problem balancing budgets until amalgamations happened.

Our schools are facing the same problems. City values and needs are different than ours. Premier McGuinty is allowing boards to hire consultants to decide what schools should be closed. But this is why we elect board members.

In Middlesex County, the board hired a consultant from Toronto to analyze what schools should be shut down. All boards are screaming for more money, but they go and hire big city consultants.

Scrapping farm programs like the drainage grants is no way to encourage economic development in small town Ontario. Our current government has done this. Farming must be a viable business -- and in times like these, a government cannot turn their backs on farmers.
Another big part of rural prosperity is to have the guarantee that schools and hospitals will be here in a functional way. This is of the utmost importance for local business, municipalities, and community organizations as they prepare for expansion in the future. Villages and towns will not have residential growth without schools. Factories depend on this when they look at where they are building too.

As a 27-year councillor in the Village of Newbury and a local business owner, I’m concerned for rural Ontario. It’s important for our future to have these services, values and our economic prosperity protected. Many people feel these things are being threatened and it’s time for our politicians to listen, for a change.

If you want to join in this important cause, email me at montemcnaughton@yahoo.ca, or call (519) 693-0459. 

Monte McNaughton
Newbury