NDP leader concludes successful tour of Northern Ontario

OTTAWA – NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and Carol Hughes (Algoma – Manitoulin – Kapuskasing) have completed a tour of Northern Ontario, which included stops in Sault Ste. Marie, Espanola, Elliot Lake, Manitoulin Island and Sudbury.

“The NDP has deep roots in Northern Ontario and I am very happy to have met with municipal officials and First Nations leaders, as well as local business owners and labour leaders from across the region in order to discuss important issues in their ridings," said Mulcair.

While in Sudbury, Mulcair and Hughes were joined by NDP MPs Olivia Chow (Trinity – Spadina), Glenn Thibeault (Sudbury) and Claude Gravelle (Nickel Belt) for a roundtable. They listened to the concerns of elected officials and citizens on the issue of rail safety, which has been brought back into the forefront after the recent tragedy that took the lives of close to fifty people in Lac-Mégantic, Québec.

Mulcair and Hughes' itinerary also included a tour of the Essar Steel plant and meetings with the Labour Council of Sault Ste. Marie, the Elliot Lake Chamber of Commerce, the Manitoulin Municipal Association and First Nations leaders from the United Chiefs & Councils of Mnidoo Mnising (UCCMM) and Mamaweswen North Shore Tribal Council, as well as small business entrepreneurs and a great many people.

“The tour was a great success. Thanks to meetings like these, the NDP is able to focus on the issues important to Northern Ontario - particularly economic development, job creation and rail safety, as well working with Aboriginal Peoples on nation-to-nation building,” said Hughes.