Provincial

Mar 14, 2018 @ 12:44 On Tuesday, Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath toured the Timmins and District Hospital (TADH) with NDP MPP Gilles Bisson and hospital CEO Blaise MacNeil – and said that action is needed now to help the overcrowded facility care for patients after decades of cuts and budget freezes by the Liberal and Conservative governments.   “We ...

Mar 12, 2018 @ 07:50 “Leadership races can be tough on political parties, and for the candidates that compete in them. For me, there was no tougher part than running against Christine Elliot. I have been fortunate to call her my friend over the last two decades, and with good reason.    “There is no one I can think of ...

Mar 8, 2018 @ 11:25 “On International Women’s Day, New Democrats join Ontarians to recognize the hurdles women have overcome, celebrate the women who have championed change, and renew our commitment to tearing down the barriers women and girls still face. Over the last year, the #metoo and #timesup movements have shown that when women and allies stand together and ...

Mar 8, 2018 @ 08:33 On March 6th, 2018, Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Jeff Yurek introduced his Private Member’s Bill, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry Special Purpose Account Transparency Act, 2018. The proposed legislation is designed to strengthen spending requirements surrounding the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry’s Special Purpose Account (SPA). The SPA was created in 1997, initiating license ...

Mar 8, 2018 @ 00:37 NDP Finance critic John Vanthof issued the following statement on the provincial budget, to be released on March 28.   “The Wynne Liberals have spent the last 15 years cutting health care and allowing our schools to crumble. Now they are promising they’ll do better, if only the voters will give them four more years. ...

Mar 7, 2018 @ 21:35 Charles Sousa, Minister of Finance, announced today that he will deliver the 2018 Ontario Budget on March 28. The Budget will outline the government’s plan to create more fairness and opportunity for everyone and help families manage the costs of caring for their loved ones. In order to invest more in hospitals, mental health, long-term ...

Mar 5, 2018 @ 17:40 NDP Health critic France Gélinas released the following statement Friday, March 2, 2018:   “It was 10 years ago today that I wrote my first letter to the minister of health demanding equity of access to PET scanning for the people of Northeastern Ontario. Sam Bruno started advocating for a PET scan for Sudbury in ...

Mar 5, 2018 @ 14:41 NDP Health critic MPP France Gélinas again took Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government to task this morning about the hospital overcrowding and hallway medicine crisis – this time taking aim at the capacity issues at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO).   Last week CHEO announced historic overcrowding, saying that the hospital ran over 100 ...

Feb 28, 2018 @ 16:30 For the third straight year, the federal Liberals have produced nothing but unsubstantiated promises and $5 million more for studies while VIA Rail Canada continues to disintegrate.   “Unfortunately, the VIA tidbits in Budget 2018 are exactly what we’ve come to expect from this government,” says Robert Wightman, president of the citizens’ advocacy group, All ...

Feb 28, 2018 @ 14:39 NDP Health critic France Gélinas said that Ontario families can’t afford to wait for another federal study before they get the medicine that they need and called on the Wynne government to put Ontario first and support the NDP plan for true, universal pharmacare now.   “It’s time for national, universal pharmacare — but yesterday, ...

Feb 28, 2018 @ 14:24 NDP Health critic MPP France Gélinas told the Liberal government Wednesday that Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children treated more patients in January 2018 than at any other time in its history.   On Tuesday, the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit was operating at 114 percent occupancy.   “The Hospital for Sick Children right here in ...

Feb 28, 2018 @ 11:48 Stuart Cline, a resident of London, Ontario, is stuck in a Mexican hospital in critical condition as he waits for a hospital bed to open up at home.   Stuart is suffering from a brain bleed, complicated by a heart condition that requires blood thinners and a pacemaker. His wife and daughter-in-law are with him, and ...

Feb 9, 2018 @ 16:49 Earlier today, Ontario PC Transportation Critic Michael Harris sent the following letter to Transportation Minister Kathryn McGarry regarding Carillion: Dear Minister McGarry, I am writing today to inquire about the contingency plans the Wynne Liberal government has in place should Carillion Canada fold in the wake of the collapse of their parent company. E-mails and ...

Feb 9, 2018 @ 08:15 Ontario NDP Finance critic John Vanthof issued the following statement about the OPP investigation into ORNGE air ambulance.   “The fact that the OPP investigation into ORNGE has been stalled by non-cooperation and opaque record-keeping is a damning condemnation of the lack of oversight and transparency in yet another Liberal privatization scheme. The waste and ...

Feb 8, 2018 @ 10:39 Ontario Provincial Police have concluded their investigation into the allegations of criminal wrongdoing on the part of senior employees of ORNGE. Their conclusion is that there is insufficient evidence to support laying criminal charges. From the OPP Press Release “The investigation began in February 2012 and was led by the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB). ...