An Ontario Liberal Leadership candidate says he’s not committed at this point to promise the return of passenger rail to Northern Ontario.

“I haven’t seen the updated numbers on what the costs would look like and how easy it would be to restore. I’m not in government today. I would have to look at the whole picture,” he says.

Steven Del Duca made the comment in an interview on his Ontario North Action Plan.

He would support the provision of capacity building funding to local organizations so they could determine what the best way is to deal with inter regional transportation in the north.

His plan also supports expanding the Trans-Canada highway to four lanes across the entire province.

It’s only fair and reasonable that the travelling public in Northern Ontario have the same kind of safety and ability to move than we do do in Southern Ontario,” he says.

He also pledges to provide Northern Ontarians with access to a health practitioner within 48 hours.

“With the technology that we have and the prosperous province we live in we should be able to accomplish that,” Del Duca says.

Del Duca says he would reverse government cuts to the north like autism funding.

He also says he would increase Northern Ontario Heritage Funding to $150 million a year up from the current $100 million.

(file photo by station staff)