Jill Andrew, MPP for Toronto-St. Paul\u2019s and Ontario NDP Culture critic, tabled a motion yesterday calling on Doug Ford to reverse his library cuts, which are already hurting communities.<\/p>\n
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The Ford Conservatives have cut the Ontario Library Services North\u2019s budget by 50 per cent, and slashed the Southern Ontario Library Services\u2019 funding by even more.<\/p>\n
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\u201cNot only are libraries community hubs, but they are democratic spaces,\u201d said Andrew. \u201cFamilies, children, seniors, and vulnerable people can all find programs and support at the library that improve their quality of life.<\/p>\n
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\u201cLibraries provide job search supports; community activities like book clubs and arts education; access to a computer for low-income families who can\u2019t afford to have one at home; after-school homework support; socializing; and even access to an air-conditioned space during the summer in our neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAt the heart of it, our libraries are our communities.<\/p>\n
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\u201cDoug Ford\u2019s cuts to libraries hurt everyone, and they stand to hit rural communities the hardest.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Instead of listening to the communities speaking out against Doug Ford\u2019s callous library cuts, the Conservatives are digging in their heels. PC MPP Sam Oosterhoff went so far as to call the police on a group of seniors peacefully protesting the funding clawback outside of his constituency office.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI am urging Doug Ford to stop attacking and start listening,\u201d said Andrew. \u201cWe don\u2019t need a government that prioritizes booze over books.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe must properly fund and protect libraries as community assets, not rip away their resources and jeopardize their ability to deliver services. Ford can do that by passing my motion.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jill Andrew, MPP for Toronto-St. Paul\u2019s and Ontario NDP Culture critic, tabled a motion yesterday calling on Doug Ford to reverse his library cuts, which are already hurting communities. The Ford Conservatives have cut the Ontario Library Services North\u2019s budget by 50 per cent, and slashed the Southern Ontario Library Services\u2019 funding by even …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[2041],"class_list":["post-21385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-provincial","tag-olsn-cuts"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-20 02:29:21","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21385"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21386,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21385\/revisions\/21386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}