TORONTO - A Conservative spending blitz in Ontario, including a six-year, $1.2-billion labour market deal, showed no signs of abating Thursday as the federal Tories continued wooing voters in Canada's largest province in advance of a possible election.
With a federal budget due next week and the Conservative minority possibly hanging in the balance, Human Resources Minister Monte Solberg made his way across Toronto and beyond, dishing out cash for drug addicts, the jobless and the homeless.
During a stop at George Brown College, Solberg signed a deal with John Milloy, Ontario's minister of training, colleges and universities, to spend $1.2 billion over six years to assist workers not eligible for training under the federal Employment Insurance program.
The agreement is similar to one signed with British Columbia a day earlier worth $395 million.
The agreement is expected to help those who are often excluded from the labour force, including aboriginals, new immigrants and people with disabilities, Solberg said.
"It's a very important initiative that will help strengthen Ontario's labour market," he said.
"The flexibility in this agreement also means that people who are currently employed can get the literacy skills and the essential skills needed so they can improve their prospects for climbing the job ladder and end up getting a better job and higher wages."
The announcement comes in the midst of a barrage of federal spending announcements in Ontario; MPs and ministers have been fanning out across the province of late, doling out cash for everything from water main upgrades to drug treatment programs.
And while a war of words over who deserves the blame for job losses in Ontario has erupted in recent weeks between Ontario's Liberal government and the federal Tories, there were few signs of animosity Thursday between Solberg and Milloy.
That's not to say the pair agreed on everything.
Milloy commended Ottawa for taking a "very important first step," but suggested there's still "more work to do," particularly with respect to the EI program.
Some 70 per cent of Ontario workers aren't eligible for EI, he said, urging the federal government to do something to level the playing field when it comes to benefits.
Workers in Ontario receive about $4,000 less by way of employment insurance than those elsewhere in the country, Premier Dalton McGuinty said last week as he urged the governing Conservatives to address the inequity in the upcoming budget.
But while Milloy suggested "antiquated" rules are "discriminating against Ontario workers," Solberg said he takes issue with Ontario's argument.
"EI benefits aren't allocated by province, they're allocated by what the local level of unemployment is," he said.
"As unemployment rises, people can qualify easier and they can get benefits for a longer period of time. That's the case in Ontario and that's the case everywhere in the country."
Joined by Attorney General Rob Nicholson earlier in the day, Solberg also dished out $200,000 for a pilot project to expand a flagship Toronto drug court program to include supportive housing.
If successful, the program - which helps recovering addicts with housing in addition to court-monitored treatment - could be extended to drug treatment courts in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Regina.
Solberg was also expected to make an announcement on affordable housing in Brampton, while a major boost to fight homelessness is slated to come Friday in Hamilton.
