Before the Christmas holidays, Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus held his annual year-end press conference, highlighting some of the more important stories in Canadian politics in 2018.

Angus started with what he felt was the most important national story: economic instability.

“I think the national story is economic uncertainty,” Angus said. “Certainly, the Prime Minister spent much of the year haggling with a very cantankerous president over the new NAFTA agreement.”

The new NAFTA agreement, or USMCA, was signed on November 30th after a long negotiating battle between the U.S. and Canada. Angus calls the new agreement “troubling” with bugs in the details that are not in Canada’s favor. He spoke of the softwood lumber tariffs and the aluminum and steel tariffs that are still wreaking havoc on our industrial sectors and the economy. The U.S.-imposed tariffs forced Canada to put counter-veiling duties on imports on steel and aluminum, and Angus says it does affect business here in Timmins.

Angus also touched on the effect the new NAFTA deal has had on our dairy sector, saying in the new deal, the dairy sector was thrown under the bus.

“That’s really troubling here in the North,” Angus said, “where dairy is a big part of the backbone of the region. And we have a lot of young farmers investing a lot of money into expansion, barns– that’s helping to drive the rural part of our economy.

“So, I think overall, the economic uncertainty nationally is being played out in our region,” Angus said, “and I am hoping that we can get the Prime Minister to really focus on dealing with the softwood issue, dealing with steel and aluminum, and making a better plan and commitment.”

Angus said it’s been an interesting year, economically, for the Timmins region as well.

“We’ve certainly seen an uptake in the mining sector,” Angus said. “The investments in the Kirkland Lake region have been extraordinary. The kind of investments we haven’t seen in at least three decades.”

Angus said he’s also pleased with the progress made in Northern College, especially with the Foreign Student Program.

“I think it’s a real game-changer in our region,” he said of the program, “because we need to attract more people into the region. And my office has been working with many of the young students who are coming here. They want to stay here. They want to invest, they want to have families and businesses. And that’s really good for the north.”

Angus continued by going through a few things that weren’t as high on the radar for mainstream news. He spoke of the ongoing fight for pension reform and the protection of pensions. Angus said he’s seen the ongoing refusal of the  federal government to deal with pension protection and that it’s been a big issue for the NDP party.

Angus said this fall he brought forward the motion in the house to protect veteran services.

“The oldest trick in the book is the government announces services for veterans. They re-announce it, they promise it, they pat themselves on the back. And then they don’t spend the money and then the money […] goes back into general revenue. We’ve called the government to end that practice. If money’s committed to veteran services or their families, it has to be spent on veterans.”

Angus said one of the biggest issues facing Canadians, and the northeastern region of Ontario, is the effect of the opioid crisis.

“We’ve had nine thousand deaths, at least, in two years from opioids,” Angus said. “We’re seeing a public health disaster that’s really unprecedented in Canadian health history.”

Angus said other jurisdictions are starting to sue large drug manufacturers for their responsibility in this issue. He says it’s a profusion of opioids being handed out all over the country that created many people’s addiction; people who would otherwise not previously have been addicted.

“Now the opioid crisis is affecting across society, across age groups,” Angus said, “affecting all manner of demographics. And it’s a huge public health crisis. So we’ve been pushing in Parliament for action for it.”

Angus said they are pushing for more money to be put back into our health system to fund more safe injection sites and provide better counselling and addiction services. He spoke of the impact the opioid crisis has had on Timmins, especially in relation to the amount of homeless people we have in the community, many of whom are addicted.

“When you see [700 homeless in Timmins],” he said, “that’s a staggering number of homelessness. And people would not have thought that was possible twenty years ago. And that’s a huge burden for residents, for the city and for the people who have no home.”

Angus also spoke about a project he is hoping to launch: a suicide action plan. Angus says Canada is the only western country without one and the issue has become a crisis across the country, not just for Indigenous communities.

“We’ve been working with a lot of organizations we’ve got mobilized,” he said. “We will be bringing this to a vote in Parliament in the new year. So we’re hoping before Parliament rises for the election, that we will actually have a commitment to a suicide action plan.”

Angus also touched on his work to have Pope Francis make a formal Papal apology for the crimes that were committed in Residential Schools.

“That is a huge milestone,” Angus said, “we need to reach that milestone in terms of reconciliation in this country.”

Angus plans to continue discussing this topic with the Co-Diplomat for Pope Francis.

Angus wrapped up his year-end recap by discussing his recent trip to England for the International investigation into Facebook and the undermining of the democratic process through the ability to manipulate the Facebook algorithm. Angus said third party operators have been working to undermine democratic elections in Brazil, Eastern Europe, Italy, the U.S., and possibly in Brexit. Angus led the questioning for this investigation, making international headlines. He said he also made good contacts with representatives from France, Ireland and the U.K. at this meeting.

Whatever 2019 brings for Canada and the Timmins area, these topics will continue to be issues our country needs to face, remedy and repair.

Filed under: Local News