Editorials, Letters & Political Commentary

Sol Mamakwa, Ontario NDP critic for Indigenous and Treaty Relations, released the following statement in support of the three First Nations who filed a claim against Ontario to protect their Treaty rights under Treaty No. 9: “I stand with Chapleau Cree, Missanabie Cree, and Brunswick House First Nations in their fight to defend their traditional ways of life. The Ontario ...

MPP France Gélinas (Nickel Belt), Health Critic for the Official Opposition released the following statement after news that an emergency room in Chesley, Ontario will be forced to shut its doors for eight entire weeks: “Closing an ER for any length of time can have dire consequences, especially in a rural community where people are already driving long distances to ...

On Tuesday, Canada’s NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced that New Democrats used their power to help families and their budgets by giving families with children under 12 $650 a year, per child, to get their teeth fixed and by putting money in people’s pockets with $500 to pay their rent and up to $467 to pay their bills. It’s clear ...

NDP Health Care critic France Gélinas (Nickel Belt) is calling for urgent action after new Ontario Health data revealed that patients spent over 20 hours on average waiting in the ER for admission this July, with only 24 per cent of patients being admitted within an eight-hour benchmark. Gélinas released the following statement: “We can all imagine the agony of ...

As part of a push to double Ontario’s paltry ODSP and OW rates, a group of NDP MPPs will spend part of September on a ‘social assistance diet.’ Chandra Pasma, NDP critic for Poverty and Homelessness Reduction; Monique Taylor, critic for Community and Social Services; Lise Vaugeois, critic for Persons with Disabilities and Accessibility; Jessica Bell (University—Rosedale) and Joel Harden ...

On Thusday, Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Michael Mantha reintroduced legislation that would strike a committee with a mandate to fix and improve the Northern Health Travel Grant (NHTG). The Northern Health Travel Grant Advisory Committee Act would bring together health care providers in the North, as well as recipients of the NHTG to make recommendations to the Minister of Health that would ...

Alors que les salles d’urgence sont forcées de fermer partout au pays, que les gens doivent attendre des heures pour recevoir des soins et que les travailleuses et travailleurs de la santé déplorent l’effondrement de notre système de santé, le chef du NPD, Jagmeet Singh, a réitéré la nécessité pour le premier ministre Trudeau et les libéraux de faire preuve ...

As emergency rooms across the country are forced to shut down, people have to wait hours to receive care and healthcare workers are saying that our healthcare system is collapsing, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh reiterated the need for Prime Minister Trudeau and the Liberals to show leadership. He warned that the inaction of the Liberals on the healthcare crisis is ...

During question period Monday, Guy Bourgouin, NDP MPP for Mushkegowuk—James Bay, called on the Ford government to update the Northern Health Travel Grant to keep up with the rising cost of gas and accommodation. “The Northern Health Travel Grant hasn’t been revised in years,” Bourgouin said. “With the rate of inflation, the current program doesn’t cover the cost of gas, ...

With the Gogama nursing station slated to close Sept. 1, NDP Health critic France Gélinas is urging the government to ensure the community isn’t cut off from its only source of primary care. The government has known about the looming closure of the nursing station since late July, when it was notified by letter. “Gogama is a small isolated community. ...

Statistics Canada released new inflation numbers Tuesday. Overall inflation growth was a whopping 7.6 per cent in July while food prices soared 9.9 per cent, a half point higher than June; and natural gas prices soared 45.3 per cent in Ontario thanks to an Ontario Energy Board rate hike. NDP Affordability critic Teresa Armstrong released the following statement: “Ontario families’ ...

As emergency rooms across the country are forced to shut their doors, the Liberal government has refused to meet with provinces and territories and continues to look for excuses and ways to blame others instead of getting to the table to find solutions to fix the problem. Today, Canada’s NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is calling on Justin Trudeau to show ...

Peggy Sattler, NDP MPP for London West, released the following statement in response to the government’s announcement on paid sick days: “It’s cruel for Doug Ford to keep stringing workers along months at a time, never giving them enough paid sick days. At this point, he’s offered a maximum of three days to last a full three years. What happens ...

NDP Deputy Leader Sol Mamakwa, critic for Indigenous and Treaty Relations, will travel to Edmonton to meet Pope Francis on a Papal Visit to the former Residential School in Maskwacis. Mamakwa will carry with him a birchbark scroll with the testimony of other survivors calling for the revocation of the Doctrine of Discovery. Mamakwa released the following statement: “This visit ...

The familiar sound of a passenger train can once again be heard in areas of Northern Ontario that are served by VIA Rail Canada. The Crown corporation officially restored passenger rail services to pre-pandemic levels after more than two years of on-again, off-again, limited or indefinitely suspended train schedules. Life appears to have returned to normal … at least for ...