Funding for the Connecting Link upgrade in Timmins has been denied by the province. This comes on the heels of an announcement to invest $500-million into northern infrastructure. None of that funding is going to come into Timmins.
Mayor Steve Black says the dots are pretty easily connected, as all of the work done in the last few years has been in cities that are heavily Liberal, with Cabinet Ministers to back them up. He says the city applied for a $2-million dollar grant to get the Connecting Link started from Porcupine to Schumacher in the next year. The denied application was through the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund, after Kathleen Wynne personally suggested it. Black says it was disheartening, especially given the recommendations from the Premier.
Black has a meeting set with the Minster of Transportation Steven Del Duca and the Minister of Northern Development Michael Gravelle next month to go over what the next steps are.
For a list of the cities that will get a piece of the $500-million budget, click here.