Stop the Closure of all 10 Provincial Parks, Immediately !!!

Northern Ontarians are people with their own unique culture and way of life---a way of life that differs in many respects from those who live in Southern Ontario. But their existence has never been more threatened than it is today. The Provincial government's actions have consistently demonstrated that it does not recognize Northern Ontarians as being unique, or even equal to other Ontarians in the vote-rich south. The Province's insistence on passing policies that threaten the ability of Northern Ontarians to survive, without in any substantial way involving Northerners in those decisions, is the clearest indication of just how little consideration the Province has for Northerners, and for their way of life and their futures in the north. 

The unilateral decisions to remove our passenger rail-service and jeopardize economically critical rail infrastructure, to close our parks, to eliminate our junior ranger programs, to place thousands of families in financial risk, to move forestry and MNR services to larger centers to the detriment of over 90% of the remaining municipalities in the region, and the gutting of health care services in the entire region, forcing Northerners to travel extraordinary distances to receive the same services as the rest of Ontarians, can no longer be tolerated. The very existence of Northern Ontario is in the balance.

By signing this petition, you are demonstrating to the Province your displeasure of how Northern Ontarians have been reduced to second-class citizens by the Provincial Government, while demanding the creation of policy/legislation regarding Northern Ontario that recognizes the people and their way of life as being of the highest value. 
A policy recognizing the people of the region that will: 

· Guide all other policies now and in the future, requiring them to demonstrate that their implementation will not harm the socio-economic health of the region. 

· Preserve the Northern way of life by making its unique culture viable again. 

By signing this petition you are sending a clear signal and message to the province: 

· That you do not accept any decisions being made that impact Northern Ontarians that haven't received the endorsement of Northern Ontarians. 

· That their actions have made Northerners a lower class of Ontarian and have become an unacceptable threat to your ability to survive as a northern person or family. 

· That your identity as a northerner must be recognized by the Province, that you are entitled to your own way of life, and that you will not accept any threats to your way of life and identity as a Northerner by an uncaring government.     -

We want to not only have the right to camp in our own Parks,

but ensure the we all as Northern Ontarian's, and all of our future generations to come, are treated fairly,   We are not asking, we are demanding that our Provincial Parks remain , fully operational, and that the proposed closures are immediately cancelled !!!