Forestry Talk at Queens Park

Provincial NDP say much of a fund set up to help the forestry sector remains unused.

Leader Andrea Horwath says they've found about half of the 500-million dollar fund for forestry sector assistance has not been touched.

"Five years ago, the government promised $500 million in forestry sector assistance," says Horwath. "A freedom-of-information request submitted by my office found that $236 million, nearly half of that fund, sits unused. Why do hundreds of millions of forestry dollars sit in a Toronto bank account while families in northern Ontario continue to lose good jobs?"

Northern Development Minister Michael Gravelle says the program is just one of many the province has implemented to help the forest sector.