To make your election life a little easier, we are grateful to the Toronto Star for the summary of the major provincial party campaign platforms.
PLATFORM:
- Increase minimum wage to $15 on Jan. 1
- Expand to senior citizens the pharmacare program that provides 4,400 free prescription drugs to everyone 24 and under
- Offer free child care regardless of income for children from the age of 2 1/2 to junior kindergarten
- Expand the Greenbelt of protected land around the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area
- Give seniors up to $750 a year to help offset house maintenance costs and keep them living in their homes instead of moving into long-term care homes
“Doug Ford sounds like Donald Trump and that’s because he is like Donald Trump. He believes in an ugly, vicious brand of politics that traffics in smears and lies. He’ll say anything about anyone at any time because — just like Trump — it is all about him.
PLATFORM:
- Freeze minimum wage at $14
- Eliminate provincial income tax for minimum-wage earners
- Scrap cap-and-trade and oppose any carbon tax to curb climate change
- Re-open sex-education curriculum debate
- Fire Mayo Schmidt, the president and CEO of Hydro One, due to his $6 million-a-year-salary
“After 15 years of Liberal mismanagement, scandal and waste, it’s time for change. We have seen this Liberal government make sure that they have taken care of their Liberal insider friends and … lobbyists. The party with the taxpayers’ dollars is over.
PLATFORM:
- Offer free child-care for low-income families, and implementing $12 a day fees, on average, for others
- Spend $19 billion to end “hallway medicine” by adding new beds and more nursing home beds. Also hire more front-line hospital staff to address wait times
- Introduce a universal pharmacare plan, costing $475 million a year, covering 125 of the most commonly prescribed drugs for people of all ages
- Offer denticare for workers, especially those on contract or who work part-time
- Return Hydro One into public hands through buying back privately held shares
“What Ontario doesn’t need is Doug Ford, and what Ontario doesn’t want any more is Kathleen Wynne. That’s why we’re offering change for the better.
PLATFORM:
- Implement more programs to help homeowners with green retrofits to save energy
- Offer universal dental care and pharmacare
- Set a date to phase out internal combustion engines to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
- Introduce carbon pricing to discourage use of greenhouse gas-producing goods and services, with revenues returned to Ontarians as dividends
- Focus health system more on illness prevention
“The Green party believes in doing politics differently. We’re ready to take on all three parties on the issues that matter the most to Ontario.
