The MPP for Kiiwetinoong is voicing his displeasure with the provincial budget.

Sol Mamakwa says it leaves northern Ontario residents behind and does not address issues like the healthcare crisis in the remote north.

“This 2024 budget still leaves northern Ontarians behind and waiting for the investment they need,” says Mamakwa.

“Six years in and Ford still hasn’t come up with solutions to our communities’ pressing issues. Mental health, homelessness, healthcare crises, emergency rooms closing—the north is struggling because the government is failing to recognize our urgent needs.”

Mamakwa says the budget also fails to address the Health State of Emergency declared by Nishnawbe Aski Nation earlier this year.

“Last month, Nishnawbe Aski Nation declared a Health State of Emergency, yet there continues to be unnecessary suffering and needless deaths across Kiiwetinoong. Where in the 2024 Budget does this crisis receive the attention it deserves?”

Ontario’s Health Minister Sylvia Jones notes that $94 million over the next three years in healthcare spending is specific to Indigenous and northern communities to maintain mental health and addiction services and Indigenous First Nations public health programs.