FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
30 June 2026
TORONTO, ON — Today, MPP Stephanie Smyth, Ontario Liberal Critic for Northern Affairs, issued the following statement regarding the $365,000 awarded to a Kapuskasing golf course.
Many in Kapuskasing and across the region were shocked to see the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund
Corporation (NOHFC) award $365,000 to a golf course when the community has so many more
pressing needs.It added insult to injury to learn that the manager of the Kapuskasing Golf Club, André Robichaud, is a
former PC candidate for Doug Ford. With so many pressing needs in Kapuskasing, was this really the
best use of $365,000, or is this just another case of a PC insider getting special access to public fundsWhile these renovations may benefit those who can afford to golf, surely there were better ways to
invest this money in the public services that benefit everyone. Instead, taxpayers are paying for a golf
simulator, a new practice area, kitchen renovations and an upgraded ice machine at a golf course
where memberships cost $1000Meanwhile, Kapuskasing’s health care system is already under enormous pressure. Sensenbrenner
Hospital, like many hospitals in Northern Ontario, has been allowed to run a deficit because it doesn’t
have the funding it needs. The community is still working to recruit doctors, nurses and PSWs, and
many families have to travel for specialist care. That’s where this money could have gone.If I were Doug Ford, I’d ask the people of Kapuskasing: What’s a bigger priority: a golf simulator or
better access to a family doctor? What’s more important: renovating a clubhouse kitchen or investing
in the local hospital? What matters more: an upgraded ice machine or more nurses and PSWs?Just like the $2.5 billion Skills Development Fund scandal, this reeks of another favour for one of
Ford’s friends. It is a disservice to Northern Ontarians when PC insiders get access to public funds that
their communities so desperately need.This is just another hole-in-one for Doug Ford’s insider friends.