'Tidal wave' of funding announcements washes over Sudbury ahead of election campaign

Glenn Thibeault's staff carry a podium and an Ontario flag on a pole into the warehouse at Centis Tile and Terrazzo in Sudbury.

This has been the Sudbury MPP's routine lately, as he's made about a dozen announcements in the last two months about tens of millions of public dollars coming to his riding.

The announcements have included $99 million for Sudbury transit, $4 million for a new multi-sports dome, $1.8 million for Indigenous health care, $2 million for supportive housing at the March of Dimes, $900,000 in arts funding, $16 million for Science North and assorted other money for long-term care beds, seniors centres and the hospice. 

Thibeault is at Centis, because it is one of the Sudbury companies and organizations to split $8 million in Northern Ontario Heritage Fund dollars.

He says it's a coincidence that these announcements come right before the election and that the funding flows directly out of this year's budget and a recent heritage fund board meeting.

"I get that people are saying that, but, you know, if I wasn't doing these things, people would say Thibeault's not bringing anything to the community," Thibeault says.

His opponents in the coming election say they welcome the investments in Sudbury, but wish the funding was more thought out. 

"It's not really purposeful, it's obviously just directed and trying to stay in power," says Sudbury Progressive Conservative candidate Troy Crowder.

"I think people want a government that listens to them all the time and cares all the time and not just the night before prom," says New Democrat candidate Jamie West.

The announcements in the northeast have mostly focused on Sudbury, but the government did reveal long-term care beds for Moosonee, Haileybury and Sault Ste. Marie.

There was also a long-awaited announcement in Timmins of $2.1 million for a Francophone health centre.

Yvan Genier has been on the committee pushing that project for the last two years and was recently named the PC candidate in Timmins.

He wonders if the announcement, which came on the same day PC Leader Doug Ford visited Timmins, was politically motivated.

"I'm flattered by it, don't get me wrong, but it's like they wanted to take the wind out of my sails," Genier says.

"This is all political promises so far. There's no plan as to when the shovels are going to hit the ground."

Former Nickel Belt MPP and NDP Finance Minister Floyd Laughren says he's been surprised by this "tidal wave" of announcements, although he knows previous parties have all tried this before.

He remembers that his party made big promises in the 1990 campaign that they had to renege on when they formed government and faced a downturn in the economy.

Laughren says while many politicians believe that voters are swayed by specific promises and projects planned for their communities, he doubts it has much of an impact in the end.

"If it was that easy to just promise, promise, promise, governments would never get defeated and deficits would never get paid off," he says.