Editorials, Letters & Political Commentary

MPP Catherine Fife, Official Opposition NDP Critic for Economic Growth, is calling on the federal and provincial governments to step up and provide struggling small businesses with desperately needed pandemic relief, by administering remaining Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) funds directly to small businesses. “For months, small businesses across the province have been struggling to keep their doors open ...

Ontario NDP Health critic France Gélinas issued the following statement in response to the announcement made by the Minister of Education Stephen Lecce on Thursday:   “The announcement from Minister Stephen Lecce offers absolutely no comfort at all to parents, school staff and students who are anxious and afraid about sending their children back to crowded classrooms in September. Lecce’s ...

Kiiwetinoong NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa is calling on the Ford government to support families who have evacuated Red Lake and Eabametoong, after their communities declared a state of emergency due to the threat of fires.   “Families who have evacuated need to know if the provincial government plans to help them.   Right now families from Red Lake are scattered in ...

Teresa Armstrong, the Ontario NDP’s Long-Term Care critic, released the following statement in response to a government announcement of future long-term care beds being allocated to a Humber River Hospital long-term care facility:   “Long-term care is badly understaffed, under-regulated, and the government no longer inspects facilities regularly. As a result, thousands of seniors are neglected, and their emotional well-being ...

Official Opposition NDP critic for Economic Growth and Job Creation Catherine Fife (Waterloo) issued a statement in response to the latest Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey for July: “Friday’s figures reveal that while Ontario’s job market is slowly recovering, we are not seeing the full-time jobs being created that we need to mount a strong and inclusive economic recovery. Almost ...

On Thursday, Doug Ford acknowledged for the first time that personal support workers (PSWs) in Ontario are overworked and underpaid — a problem that governments have caused, that everyone in Ontario has known about for ages, and that Ford could fix right now.   Despite Ford’s claims that he can’t take action now, he’s the only one that can mandate ...

Jennie Stevens (St. Catharines), NDP critic for Veterans, Legions and Military Affairs, says Doug Ford’s re-announcement of existing capital grants will do nothing to save legions across Ontario that are on the brink of shutting down permanently due to the impact of COVID-19. Stevens says Ontario’s legions desperately need operational funding to make it through the pandemic.   “Veterans and ...

Published on: Aug 5, 2020 at 15:43 Wawa-news has come under fire for publishing photographs of ‘heavy’ police presence in the Darwin/Churchill area yesterday. Wawa-news stands by its position that this is news and residents of Wawa should be informed as to what is happening in their community. Some residents are upset that their house shows in a photograph – ...

With Todd Smith’s announcement today, Ontario’s autism community has learned that once again, children will be stuck waiting for needs-based therapy. Despite a committment last year that a needs-based program would be ready and accessible by April 2020, the government continues to stall and delay. As children continue to languish on an ever-increasing waitlist, access to meaningful therapeutic support remains ...

Andrea Horwath, Leader of the Official Opposition New Democrats, released the following statement in response to Premier Doug Ford’s news conference Wednesday, in which he defended his decision to send kids back to school with regular, large class sizes for all primary school students and many high school students. “Like many parents, teachers, educators and health experts, I was horrified ...

NDP Early Learning and Childcare critic Doly Begum responded to the Ford government announcement that child care centres are permitted to open at full capacity as of Sept. 1: “Doug Ford has quietly put out a notice that child care centres can fully re-open on Sept. 1, but child care centres don’t just need permission from the government; they desperately ...

Teresa Armstrong, Long-term Care critic for Ontario’s Official Opposition NDP released the following statement in response to the release of the province’s study on staffing in long-term care: “Today’s report confirms what health care workers, health experts, and families of seniors in long-term care have been saying for literally years. Our province’s long-term care homes are facing a profound staffing ...

The Ford government’s back-to-school scheme stacks kids in overcrowded classrooms, while forcing many high school students to do half their education alone at home with little to no help — putting students’ health and academic success at risk so that Ford can save money on the backs of students, again.   NDP Education critic Marit Stiles said the right solution ...

Gurratan Singh, the NDP critic for the Attorney General, said Premier Doug Ford is not only failing to take immediate action in long-term care, but by establishing a backroom premier’s commission that fails to do what a public inquiry must, he’s allowing long-standing problems to continue indefinitely.   “Over 1,840 people have died in long-term care during this pandemic. Those ...

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 ...