Leal hopes for rail upgrades
Del Mastro laid ground work that could finally come to fruition soon, Peterborough MPP says
Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Jeff Leal says more credit is due to the former Conservative MP who lobbied for passenger train service on the Havelock to Toronto line.
Leal, who is also the minister responsible for small business and the MPP for Peterborough, thinks a passenger train service idea once promoted by former Peterborough Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro could finally come to fruition.
Leal said there’s a forthcoming study to consider upgrading the rail tracks between Havelock and Toronto – and also to consider allowing more freight trains along the line.
Meanwhile there’s a plan from Via Rail (which still needs federal approval) to run a passenger train between Toronto and Quebec City – with a stop in Peterborough - by 2020.
Del Mastro, who first pitched the passenger train idea about a decade ago, was later convicted of election fraud after overspending on his campaign in 2008 and taking steps to cover it up.
He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, and served a bit more than half his sentence; he has appealed twice to higher courts and lost, and recently applied to take his case to the Supreme Court.
But Leal said Del Mastro’s work promoting the passenger train idea was crucial.
“It’s important to acknowledge that,” Leal said. “In politics, you do stand on the shoulders of others.”
In an interview looking back on 2017 and forward to the year to come, Leal covered a range of topics.
He’s proud that the latest Highway 407 extension from Oshawa to Clarington will take vehicles starting Jan. 8, for instance, and also that new daycare spots are opening up that same day in Havelock and in Norwood thanks to provincial funds.
On the minimum wage increase that took effect on New Year’s Day, Leal said he’s heard from many business owners who say it’s going to be hard to cope.
But he’s proud of the provincial government for boosting the minimum wage from $11.60 an hour to $14 an hour on Jan. 1, with the increase to $15 coming in 2019.
Leal says recent Ministry of Labour data shows that a third of working Ontarians aged 25 to 64 were earning less than $14 an hour, and he thinks it’s about time they earn more.
“You can’t keep perpetuating such a huge income gap in the province of Ontario,” he said.
Leal, 62, is running again in the June election against Progressive Conservative candidate Dave Smith (the NDP hasn’t held a nomination meeting yet but student Zach Hatton and musician Sean Conway are seeking the nomination).
Leal has been the Liberal MPP for Peterborough riding since 2003 when the Liberals swept into power.
Before that he was a city councillor in Peterborough for 18 years. When asked if he’d ever like to return to municipal politics – perhaps run for mayor of Peterborough, one day? – Leal doesn’t say yes or no but refers to his career at City Hall in the past tense.
“I had a wonderful 18 years in politics – it was a great time,” he said, adding that he’s still friends with fellow Otonabee Ward councillor Glenn Pagett as well as former mayors Sylvia Sutherland and Jack Doris.
As a municipal politician Leal said he learned to respond to citizens’ appeals for help – everything from missed garbage pickup to tree limbs in the street.
“People’s day-to-day needs are so important,” he said. “You learn to deal with people in a very straightforward manner.”
At his nomination meeting in December, Leal spoke at length about how this campaign will be a battle against the Conservatives.
But has he made more campaign plans, in the weeks since? He didn’t dwell on it, in this interview. In fact he only had one thing to say about the election: “I’m looking forward to it.”