Milton NDP Blog

Thank you everyone who attended Milton NDP first virtual AGM, as we reviewed the past 12 months and set out our plans for 2021. The AGM took place on the Zoom platform due to the Provincial Lockdown restrictions, and despite this being very different to previous years, the meeting was a great success. Our new and returning Executive board members are: President - Maliha Khan Ahmed Vice President - Brendan Smyth Secretary - Mike Druiven CFO - Mike Druivan Membership Organizer - Iram Amjad Youth Officer - Kieran Gorsky Women Committee representative - Kate Hunter-Smyth Member at Large - Charlotte Leavitt Member At Large - Shazia Sabir We would like to express our gratitude to our re-elected members for their advocacy and activism during the past two years. To the newly elected executives, we thank you for taking new roles in Milton NDP. If you are interested in volunteering or participating in our executive please fill in our volunteer information form .

Last fall the World Economic Forum reported that a one-off $7500 payment to 50 homeless people in Vancouver had “beautiful surprising results”. These people managed the money themselves and compared to a base-line group of 65 other homeless people the recipients spent fewer days homeless over the next year. They also experienced less food insecurity and moved out of homelessness faster. The fact is, homelessness is a fast growing, hidden crisis in Canada exacerbated by the pandemic. It happens all around us. In Milton, a suburban environment, it is there, just harder to see. In urban centres like Toronto and Vancouver you can’t help but notice. Homelessness happens for all kinds of reasons but, above all, it happens because we fail to recognize housing as a basic human right. The NDP wants a future where everyone can find a safe and affordable place to call home, put down roots, and build a good life – and where your government builds affordable homes again and makes it more affordab...

A 2010 World Health Organization report called The Case for Paid Sick Leave shows 102 countries with a maximum length of paid sick leave at one month or more. In Ontario we have just 3 days. Employers can grant more unpaid days but are legally required to pay for only 3 days. 3 Days! It is clear that Ontario is way behind the rest of the world in protecting workers’ and their families when they fall ill. And the pandemic has made this issue stand out even more. We have heard of people waiting for 5 days just to get tested for Covid19. Peggy Sattler, NDP MPP for London West has introduced a bill that would raise the number of paid days to 7 and in the case of declared emergencies or infectious disease emergencies, 14 days of paid leave. Many Ontario families’ finances are so close to the bone that they cannot afford unpaid sick days and we know the Ontario Government can reimburse businesses who need help with this kind of obligation. Write or call you MPP now and ask them to support th...

  This past year saw one of our generations decimated in this pandemic. While other provinces got the message Ontario is doing nothing. The top news story today is that health care workers and seniors are at the top of the list of vaccine recipients but is that really enough? We’ve known the second wave was coming for months. Why is Ford sitting on millions of dollars that could go to protecting our seniors right now? The timing just isn’t right. It will take months for this first phase vaccine rollout. In the meantime our seniors are going to have to weather out this next storm of infections with overworked staff in the same overcrowded conditions. Tendercare, in Toronto, where nearly every person tested positive for Covid in December is so understaffed that residents’ basic necessities such as food and water are not being met . The same Globe and Mail article cited above shows examples of how other jurisdictions fought the first wave and prepared for the second wave. Ontario’s re...