Milton NDP Blog

  Press release from the Ontario NDP  Feb 23, 2022 In collaboration with NCCM, NDP tables legislation to combat Islamophobia and hate crimes QUEEN'S PARK — Andrea Horwath’s NDP will table legislation Wednesday aimed at combatting Islamophobia and hate crimes. On Wednesday, NDP MPP Faisal Hassan will table the  Our London Family Act , which Horwath and the NDP created in collaboration with the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM). The bill is co-sponsored by MPP Faisal Hassan (York South-Weston) and London NDP MPPs Teresa Armstrong (London-Fanshawe), Terence Kernaghan (London North Centre) and Peggy Sattler (London West). It takes multiple actions, including establishing a provincial review of hate crimes and hate-motivated incidents in Ontario, and designating safe zones around all houses of worship. The bill addresses calls to action made in the NCCM's recommendations to the National Summit on Islamophobia, urging provincial leaders to move beyond words and undert...

On February 9th you will make a crucial decision about the future of Halton Region, determining the quality of life here for the next 30 years. We are asking you to vote NO to any urban boundary expansion. Protecting what remains of Halton’s precious farmland is more important than ever. According to the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Ontario lost 1.5 million acres to urban development between 1996 and 2016 — a loss of 175 acres of farmland each day. Not only does Ontario’s farmland feed cities, they have dramatic potential to sequester carbon, protect biodiversity and other essential climate change benefits. We cannot afford to keep paving over vital farmland and natural heritage with costly and unsustainable development. Young people and other home-seekers are increasingly demanding homes built within existing urban areas, closer to work, amenities and public transit. The Ontario NDP supports the development of “complete communities,” where people have equitable access to homes, ...

  Late last week we heard the Ontario Science Table state that now is the time to start asymptomatic self-testing for Covid using something called a rapid test kit. Some jurisdictions like the UK have been handing out these rapid tests for free for some time now. The kits are 95% accurate. It would seem, however, that the test kits that Ottawa gave to Ontario to give out for free have mostly been just sitting around on shelves somewhere. Ford says Ontario has given out more free kits than any other province but that’s a meaningless statement since Ontario is Canada’s most populous province. He said that school age kids would get to take some home to use over the Christmas break and that other kits have been given to businesses to test employees. We’ll see. But for most of us a Covid test means a trip to the pharmacy where a kit costs $40. Now that a high percentage of the population is vaccinated and the latest variant is more virulent (spreads quicker) the chances that we have t...

Ford finally put the minimum wage up to $15 per hour. That’s after the Conservatives cancelled the increase 3 years ago. Andrea Horwath and the Ontario NDP are saying “Not good enough.” The minimum wage in Ontario should be $20 an hour. What’s going on? The Ontario Living Wage Network in collaboration with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives have done the research. They found that a Living Wage in Halton is $20.75 per hour. A “Living Wage” includes food, clothing, shelter, childcare, transportation, medical expenses, recreation and a modest vacation based on a family of 4 with 2 working adults. It does not include “Anything other than the smallest cushion for emergencies or hard times.” Clearly then, $15 is not good enough. An Ontario NDP government would see the minimum wage catch up to $20 per hour by 2026 with a special fund set up for local small and medium businesses that struggle with the transition to a Living Wage. In the long run business will benefit from having a ...

Here is the low-down on how Ontario reports on the environment. It doesn’t! There is no regular reporting on the overall state of the environment. Numerous separate Ministry reports make any determination by the public difficult. Water quality reports stopped in 2016. Again, different smaller focus reports make an overall understanding difficult and less effective. The Ministry of Natural Resources has been working on an overall report on the state of natural resources since 2017 but has no date set to release the report Ontario has no comprehensive wild pollinator monitoring program. Ontario can’t monitor soil health, it relies on the Feds to do this. Ontario has no idea when and where pesticides are used. There are no reports on waste diversion or greenhouse gas reduction progress. Conserving wetlands, adapting to climate change, preventing the spread of invasive species and fish and wildlife strategies are not reported annually. The Auditor General has found that Ontario lacks summ...

This week we heard that Alberta has signed a childcare agreement with Ottawa with the goal of reducing daycare to $10 a day by 2025. Ontario and New Brunswick are the only 2 provinces who have yet to sign a deal . A deal would give Ontario $10.28 billion over five years. Lecce and Ford say it’s a bad deal for Ontario but, really, is it? Ford says it’s not enough. Well it was enough for all the other provinces except NB. The Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care said this claim has been debunked. And anyway, it’s meant to be a 50 - 50 cost sharing deal so, yes, Ontario will need to pitch some more in. Ah! Maybe that’s what is at the heart of the PC’s resistance - being told to spend more on social services! Lecce also claims that the deal is vague about what happens after 5 years failing to mention that these deals are always set in 5 year frameworks and are meant to continue on as fixed budget items into the future. An OECD report showed that dollars spent on Early Childhood Edu...

We heard on the news that some people can’t get an eye exam and our feed says the ONDP wants us to sign this petition . What’s going on? Well, for a couple of months now Ontario Optometrists have not been doing OHIP covered exams because the OHIP fee, about $44 doesn’t come close to covering the real cost estimated to be around $76 . OHIP covers exams for children under 19, seniors over 65 and people with diabetes or other eye conditions. The OAO, Ontario Association of Optometrists waited for 8 months to negotiate with the Ontario government. The government finally listened, or pretended to listen then made an offer and did not negotiate in the only 2 day meeting with the OAO. The government then decided to try and go around the OAO and offer a one time payment directly to eye doctors. They offered $39 million, a figure which they can try to boast about but which, in reality, doesn’t come close to covering the doctors’ losses and does nothing about future funding. These are typical ...