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Budget a boost for people's pocketbooks,
but rural regeneration not tackled Yvonne Jones, MHA for the District of Cartwright-L?Anse au Clair, says that while yesterday?s budget provided some good initiatives for people, it failed to address a key election commitment of the Tory government, that of rural regeneration. "I applaud the number of positive measures this budget puts forth that will be beneficial to many people in my district," says Jones. The Liberal MHA says she is particularly pleased to see that post-secondary students will be getting grants based funding to curb student debt load and that highschool students will be provided free textbooks. Further, she commends the funding for new school construction and for women centres across the province, as well as the reduction in personal income taxes. "There is no doubt that all of these problem areas needed to be addressed and that the budget tried to alleviate the hardships on individuals and families by reaching out to them. I am happy that large-scale initiatives started during the Liberal years have now generated enough revenues to now be directed towards providing people with some real benefits. What this budget failed to address was to put in place a comprehensive rural regeneration plan and that is considered a failure of leadership. Each and every region in this province needed a significant investment of funds to turn around its economies and to prevent the outward flow of people and taxpayers." MHA Jones says that in her district, she would have liked to have seen an investment in forestry operations for better utilization of forest products on the south east coast, as well as a partnership established with fishing companies to create and diversify jobs in that industry. "It would also have been good to see roads for the community of Williams Harbour and a serious commitment to look at roads for other communities, as well as the paving of the Trans Labrador Highway from Red Bay North. The designation of Cartwright as a trans-shipment port to move goods to Northern Labrador and the Arctic was also missing from the budget. These are the kinds of initiatives that will create real jobs and real sustainability for areas in my district. "The premier promoted rural regeneration as one of the key issues he was ready to address during the 2003 campaign. The fact that he has not tackled rural decline during his first mandate cannot be merely termed a disappointment, but rather a grave injustice to rural regions. We waited for four budgets to reveal something of significance to address this crisis, but it appears that like Prime Minister Harper, the premier too has failed to deliver on an important promise."
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