Northern Ontario poorly managed by province residents say

A new poll finds that 56 per cent of residents in northern Ontario feel the provincial government has done "a poor or very poor job of managing the affairs of the north."

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The recent survey was commissioned by the northern Ontario Heritage Party.

Paul Seccaspina is CEO of OraclePoll, which conducted the poll. He says the perennial northern issues are not addressed at Queen's Park.

"Jobs, the economy, they're health care, they're rising utility prices; the north, it's not going to be on the front of the radar, and I don't see any of the parties really pushing the agenda," he said.

Sixty-seven per cent of respondents felt the issues and problems facing northern Ontario are significantly different than those facing residents in southern Ontario.

About 15 per cent of those surveyed felt the government has done a good job or a very good job managing the affairs and issues of Northern Ontario.

"I'm not hearing anything from any of the parties. When I look at the north, they're not offering a whole heck of a lot," Seccaspina said of the current campaign.

Ontario goes to the polls June 12.

Northern Ontario resident Deborah Menzies says she feels the north is pretty much ignored.

She says a great example comes when watching Ontario tourism ads on TV.

"As time has gone on, there's been less and less information about anything to do with northwestern Ontario. And, when you see the ads ... they have one second they might show something about northwestern Ontario," Menzies said.

The poll itself was conducted by pone and surveyed 580 northerners over the age of 18. The poll is considered accurate within 4.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.