Monique Taylor, NDP critic for Children and Youth Services, and Sol Mamakwa, NDP critic for Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation released the following statement in response to the Ford government’s announcement on children services on Wednesday.   “We share the desire of Indigenous communities, families and child welfare providers for real transformation of the child welfare system that centres on the ...

NDP Municipal Affairs critic Jeff Burch (Niagara Centre) and NDP Transit critic Jessica Bell (University—Rosedale) are calling on the Ford government to commit to supporting municipalities over the long-term, after the government said Monday it would distribute “up to” $4 billion in one-time funding.   For two years before the pandemic, Doug Ford made deep cuts to municipalities, including cuts to ...

The Ontario NDP has done some research, and say that despite Doug Ford’s claims, the Conservatives have been spending less and less on education infrastructure.   “It’s insulting for Doug Ford and his education minister to claim they’re doing anything to fix our crumbling classrooms and jam-packed schools when they’re actually cutting the budget, year after year,” said Marit Stiles, ...

With one charge now laid in the case of stolen customer data from the 407 ETR, the NDP says Premier Doug Ford still hasn’t answered lingering questions about how that data may have been used.   “We asked during the 2018 election whether the PC Party or any of their candidates used even a single name from that stolen customer ...

Doug Ford is failing Franco-Ontarians yet again with omnibus legislation that poses serious risks to the integrity of French language education, said Official Opposition Education Critic, Marit Stiles, and Official Opposition Critic for Francophone Affairs, Guy Bourgouin.   Schedule 15 of Bill 197 will expand the mandate of the Ontario French-language Educational Communications Authority and further centralize the establishment, administration ...

Doug Ford fait encore une fois faux bond aux Franco-Ontarien(ne)s en déposant une loi omnibus qui pose de sérieux risques pour l’intégrité de l’éducation en langue française, ont déclaré la porte-parole de l’opposition officielle en matière d’éducation, Marit Stiles, et le porte-parole de l’opposition officielle en matière d’affaires francophones, Guy Bourgouin.   L’annexe 15 du Projet de loi 197 élargira ...

NDP MPP Monique Taylor (Hamilton Mountain) tabled a motion in the Ontario legislature Tuesday urging the Ford government to implement a plan to meet the needs of children with special needs and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic.   “For months, families have been struggling to support their children with special needs and parents are feeling isolated and burnt out.” ...

The Ontario NDP’s Long-term Care critic, Teresa Armstrong, released the following statement in response to an Ontario Health Coalition  (OHC) survey that shows 95 per cent of long-term care staff report seniors’ basic needs continue to go unmet due to staffing shortages:   “Thousands of families are grieving the loss of a loved one in long-term care, and countless more ...

Tom Rakocevic, Ontario NDP Auto Insurance critic, is calling on the Ford government to stop letting auto insurers gouge Ontarians, as drivers get handed huge rate increases mid-pandemic.   The Ford government has refused to require auto insurers to provide discounts during the pandemic as accidents and driving plunged. Now the quarterly update on auto insurance rates is overdue and ...

NDP Official Opposition House Leader Gilles Bisson (Timmins) has issued the following statement:   “Doug Ford has abruptly shut down the Ontario legislature for the summer after ramming through legislation that will do nothing to help Ontarians dealing with the ongoing COVID-19 health and economic crisis people across the province are still dealing with. Andrea Horwath and the NDP wanted ...

  NDP MPP Lisa Gretzky (Windsor West) will table a motion in the Legislature on Monday, urging the Ford government to immediately implement a COVID-19 Essential Caregiver Strategy that recognizes essential caregivers as more than just visitors, and gives residents in long-term care, groups homes and all congregate care settings the right to fully access their essential caregivers and support ...

Jeff Burch MPP (Niagara Centre), the Official Opposition NDP’s critic for Municipal Affairs, has issued a statement following the federal government’s announcement of a Safe Restart agreement which includes targeted funding for municipalities:   “The funding in this agreement is a necessary first step to address the ongoing financial crisis facing Ontario’s municipalities. $2 billion in federal funding allows municipalities ...

As the Ford government sits on its hands instead of taking action to ensure a full return to schools in September, the Ontario NDP is putting forward an emergency action plan that would help get kids safely back to class five days a week in the fall and work for parents and teachers. That plan, captured in a motion tabled ...

NDP MPP Lisa Gretzky (Windsor West), Official Opposition Critic for Community and Social Services, released the following statement on top-up payments for people receiving Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) or Ontario Works (OW), which the Ford government is planning to remove at the end of July:   “The Ford government has completely neglected people with disabilities and those living in ...

NDP Education critic Marit Stiles and NDP Child Care critic Doly Begum say the Ford government’s vague instructions for school re-opening is leaving parents and educators with no certainty they’ll have support to make it work. They’re calling for a number of specific commitments from Ford, including everything from more teachers and school busses to ensure physical distancing, to paid ...