Doug Ford turned his back as opioid deaths skyrocketed

Conservatives won’t lift a finger as addiction tears families and communities apart

SUDBURY – Steven Del Duca joined Sudbury first responders to announce the Ontario Liberal action plan to save lives in the opioid crisis – something the Ford Conservatives can’t or won’t do. Since 2018, emergency department visits due to opioid overdoses have skyrocketed by 143% in the area served by Public Health Sudbury & Districts, and Doug Ford is nowhere to be found.

“Opioid addiction is the epidemic that the Ford Conservatives have ignored,” said Del Duca. “It’s tearing families and communities apart – but the Ford Conservatives increased stigma for those struggling with addiction while cutting funding from people who needed it most. Ontario has got to be a province where people care for one another, ensuring anyone that experiences a mental health or addiction crisis gets the help they need.”

Emergency department opioid overdoses have skyrocketed on Doug Ford’s watch – from 9,154 in 2018 to 12,527 in 2020. In 2021, the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network found that opioid overdoses were up more than 75% since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Ontario is hurting as the Conservatives slice and dice public health care services, opening the door to private companies looking to make a quick buck. Meanwhile, mayors report being ghosted by both Doug Ford and Christine Elliott. According to the mayor of Sudbury, Doug Ford “refuses to talk and his ministers refuse to respond or provide funding that we need… [we are] not even getting the courtesy of a callback from the minister of health.”

The 19-point Ontario Liberal Party Affordability Pledge

It’s no secret that life for Ontarians has gotten much more expensive over the past four years. That is why we are making the 19-point Ontario Liberal Party Affordability Pledge a cornerstone of our campaign and plan to govern if we win the election on June 2nd.

The 19-point Ontario Liberal Party Affordability Pledge includes: 

1. Slash all public transit fares across the province to $1.
2. Increase Old Age Security by $1,000 for low-income seniors.
3. Remove the provincial HST off of prepared foods under $20.
4. Bring back rent control for all homes.
5. Increase the minimum wage to $16 an hour and introduce a regional living wage.
6. Refund families $2,750 per child through retroactive child care fees to January 1st.
7. Implement $10/day before- and after-school care.
8. Give new parents 18 months parental leave without cutting EI payments.
9. Help families buy a modest electric car and energy-efficient renovations.
10. Expand tax credits for seniors renovating their homes and for their caregivers.
11. Provide every worker prescription drug benefits, dental care, vision care, mental health care and retirement savings.
12. Pay our healthcare workers more, by scrapping the wage-capping Bill 124 and introducing a minimum wage of $25 an hour for Personal Support Workers.
13. Eliminate interest on provincial student loans and make OSAP more generous.
14. Build and sell affordable new homes to first-time home buyers.
15. Eliminate incorporation fees for new businesses and start-ups.
16. Tax refunds of $75 per winter tire and $100 per studded tire in Northern Ontario.
17. Maintain elimination of licence plate renewal fees and tolls on highways 412 and 418.
18. Reduce gas taxes by 5.7 cents per litre and the fuel tax by 5.3 cents per litre for a period of six months beginning July 1st.
19. Increase the eligibility for the Low-Income Individuals and Families (LIFT) tax credit from $38,000 to $50,000.

Do you want meaningful change? On June 2, 2022, vote for Gilles Proulx for Nickel Belt.

Ontario Liberals will give people more support and time with their families

Four-day work week and basic income pilot will improve work-life balance and economic dignity

Nickel Belt – Ontario Liberals will restore workers’ economic dignity and improve their work-life balance with a four-day workweek. Our plan will also bring back the Basic Income Pilot Project, which Doug Ford promised not to cancel – and then callously cut immediately upon taking office.

Gilles Proulx: Time to put famillies first

Ontario Liberals will launch a four-day work demonstration to determine how a shorter week boosts quality of life, improves work-life balance, and provides much needed relief – without a loss in productivity. We will work with businesses and labour groups to design and evaluate the model. If it demonstrates potential, Ontarians could have more time with family and doing what they love most.

Ontario Liberal housing plan puts land speculators on notice

Plan will target underused lands like stripmalls and government properties

Nickel Belt – The Ontario Liberals have announced their plan to make housing more affordable and available to both renters and homebuyers – a key component of the party’s bold vision for Ontario, A Place to Grow. The comprehensive plan includes nearly forty policies that will make buying, renting, and living in a home easier and more affordable.

Gilles Proulx: "A Plan for families not shareholders”

The Ontario Liberal plan will build 1.5 million homes, including truly affordable homes like new social and supportive housing for people who need it. To help double the pace of homebuilding, the Liberal plan will create a new Ontario Home Building Corporation (OHBC) to finance and build new, affordable homes.

This OHBC will work with local communities, as well as not-for-profit and private housing partners to build and maintain affordable homes of all types, either as a primary financing source or builder. Any homes sold by the OHBC will be available only to first-time home buyers, and any proceeds will go directly back into creating more affordable homes.