Editorial News

Only Ford and Lecce can bring schools back from brink of disruption: NDP

NDP Education critic Chandra Pasma released the following statement in response to news of a strike notice from Ontario’s lowest-paid education workers: “Doug Ford and Stephen Lecce have brought us to the brink of disruption in our schools, and they’re the only ones who can stop the clock on this countdown. All they have to do is come to the ...

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Only Ford and Lecce can bring schools back from brink of disruption: NDP

NDP Education critic Chandra Pasma released the following statement in response to news of a strike notice from Ontario’s lowest-paid education workers: “Doug Ford and Stephen Lecce have brought us to the brink of disruption in our schools, and they’re the only ones who can stop the clock on this countdown. All they have to do is come to the ...

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NDP expresses Concerns about Ontario Medical System

Shaw fights to ensure ambulance availability, end code zeros in Ontario Sandy Shaw, NDP MPP for Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas, will bring forward a motion for debate Thursday calling for action to end ambulance unavailability across the province. “It’s a terrifying moment when you call an ambulance for a parent, grandparent, or child, only to learn that no ambulance is available to ...

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Ontario’s New Housing Supply Action Plan: Some Troubling Features

The Government of Ontario today introduced the next phase of its Housing Supply Action Plan: the proposed More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022. The Plan includes a broad array of legislative and regulatory changes related to land use planning, property taxes, building code, heritage, conservation, and the infrastructure financing framework that supports growth. “Municipalities will welcome some of the proposed ...

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NDP MPPs urge fair electoral representation for Northern Ontario residents

Guy Bourgouin (Mushkegowuk-James Bay), France Gélinas (Nickel Belt), Sol Mamakwa (Kiiwetinoong), Michael Mantha (Algoma-Manitoulin), John Vanthof (Timiskaming-Cochrane), Lise Vaugeois (Thunder Bay-Superior North), and Jamie West (Sudbury) are asking the Ontario Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission to reconsider a proposed electoral boundary change that would diminish the representation of Northern Ontarians in Parliament. In a letter (below) addressed to the Commission last ...

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Ford and Jones must stop fighting summons to Emergencies Act inquiry

Oct 25, 2022 at 08:13 Ottawa NDP MPPs Joel Harden and Chandra Pasma issued the following response to news that Doug Ford and Sylvia Jones have been summoned to testify at the Emergencies Act inquiry: “Learning that Doug Ford and Sylvia Jones turned down a request to voluntarily testify at the Emergencies Act inquiry just adds insult to injury for ...

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Child Care Crisis – Mantha Writes Minister of Education

  October 5th, 2022 Honourable Stephen Lecce Ministry of Education 315 Front Street West, 14th Floor Toronto, Ontario  M7A 0B8 RE: CHILDCARE CRISIS OPEN LETTER Dear Minister Lecce, Of all provincial government responsibilities, child protection, health and education are among the highest priorities. Even so, a crisis is brewing here in Ontario, growing at an alarming rate. Its effects will ...

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Gélinas urges immediate action as rural ER faces eight-week forced closure

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 ...

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Mamakwa issues message of support to First Nations fighting for Treaty 9 protection

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 ...

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Delivering dental care for your kids and putting money in your pocket

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 ...

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Ontarians facing shocking 20-hour wait times in ER to be admitted to hospital

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 ...

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NDP MPPs to live on ‘social assistance diet’ for two weeks as part of push to raise ODSP rates

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 ...

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Rail Freight Crisis

  To paraphrase Gordon Lightfoot, “There was a time in this fair land when the railroads were well run.”  But no more – at least to hear their customers tell it.   Shippers are screaming at Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific (CP) for not providing what they deem an adequate supply of empty cars and delivering the loaded cars ...

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MPP Michael Mantha retables bill to fix Northern Health Travel Grant

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 ...

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