Patrick Brown Highlights Barriers to Doing Business in North during Sault Ste. Marie Visit
SAULT STE. MARIE – Today, Ontario PC Leader Patrick Brown visited Sault Ste. Marie to discuss barriers to doing business in Northern Ontario and throughout the province. In a candid roundtable discussion organized by the Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce, Brown highlighted how the economic climate is increasingly unaffordable for Ontario businesses large and small alike.
“Whether it is skyrocketing hydro rates, increasing burdensome red tape, or even more taxes and fees, for Ontario’s businesses life is harder under the Wynne Liberals. Plain and simple, Ontario is moving in the wrong direction,” said Brown. “But I know what Sault Ste. Marie and Northern Ontario is capable of. There’s a lot of potential here, and I want to capture that potential.”
Brown detailed his four pillar plan for a more prosperous Ontario: reining in skyrocketing hydro rates, improving Ontario’s transportation corridors, cutting red tape, and addressing the province’s growing skills gap.
“I want to make Ontario, Sault Ste. Marie, and the North a place where businesses choose to be. Where businesses want to invest and where jobs are created. We should be focused on making it easier for businesses to thrive, not harder,” Brown added.
Following the roundtable discussion, Brown visited Holy Cow Ice Cream Parlour to see first-hand the impact of Ontario’s skyrocketing hydro rates on local small businesses.
The visit to Sault Ste. Marie represents the Ontario PC Leader’s 19th visit to Northern Ontario over the past two years.