MPPs and your money: are elections about which party can deliver the most cash for your riding?

Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli has been busy in the weeks leading into this Ontario election, announcing tens of millions of dollars in funding for the riding.

Everything from an animal shelter to the North Bay police force have received big cheques from the Progressive Conservative cabinet minister.

Four years ago, there was a similar spending spree by the then-ruling Liberals heading into the election they lost to the PCs. 

But Fedeli says there hasn't been an increase in announcements heading into the campaign. 

"This year was no different from the last two years," he said. 

"It just seems like more because people were paying more attention."

"It seems more, and it seems compacted, but I did bring home a tremendous amount of money, during the pandemic especially."

North Bay has definitely noticed.

Tanya Vrebosch—the city's deputy mayor, who is now running for the Liberals— says people jokingly talk about "Funding Fridays," with most of Fedeli's announcements coming at the end of the week. 

"From the deputy mayor perspective, I'm happy to see the money coming into the community. From the provincial opponent perspective, I'm always thinking 'Where's the rest of the plan to go with the money?'" said Vrebosch.

"Some people say it's not fair, but he has the upper hand... unfortunately that's the reality of it."

The New Democrat candidate in Nipissing, Erika Lougheed, also wears a municipal hat, as a town councillor in East Ferris.

She says she's thrilled to see investments in her small town, but figures their lobbying for provincial funding would bear fruit even if their MPP wasn't a cabinet minister. 

"It is just taking our public dollars to convince the public to vote for him and it is not landing well with the people I'm speaking with at the doors," said Lougheed.