Dear Neighbour,

We have an exciting  update: we have a new website! We made a redesign that should be user-friendly and that highlights our beautiful home here in Etobicoke–Lakeshore. We hope you like it!

Check out our new website: https://elndp.ca

In solidarity,

Etobicoke–Lakeshore NDP

The Deal is Done

This is it; Jagmeet has ripped up the Confidence and Supply Agreement with the Liberals.

On Thursday September 5, 2024, Jagmeet Singh will be in our neighbouring riding for a press conference — you are invited:
Thursday, September 5th, 2024
Arrival Time: 10:45 am (end: 11:45)
Lithuanian House, 1573 Bloor St West

Mimico Spill Update

We have been persistently following up with the Ministry of the Environment about our Freedom of Information Spill into the Mimico Spill last year. The delays are frankly unacceptable and we are looking at filing an Ombudsman complain about systemic FOI delays.

We have most recently been told that requests to third-parties implicated in our information requests will be sent out soon, and we should have information by mid October.

We will be sharing our concerns about these delays with sitting NDP MPPs.

We hope to have the full update for you all soon. We wish we could speed up this process! It is unacceptable that our community has had to wait for so long.

Ford Cuts Addiction-Related Health Care

Recent weeks brought heavy news for people across Ontario when the Ford government announced that they were closing 10 of 17 provincially approved consumption and treatment sites (CTS).

Substance abuse is a health issue and supervised consumption is a proven, evidence-based intervention that can prevent overdose amid a deadly crisis that has already claimed thousands of lives across Ontario. The Ford government’s own expert review of sites did not recommend closing any sites. Just like when Ford ignored his own expert housing panel — the housing crisis deepened. Now he is covering up his own CTS safety report and doing the opposite of what his health professionals recommended.

As has been said before, ‘without supervised consumption sites, our whole city becomes an unsupervised consumption site’. Health professionals anticipate that things are about to get significantly worse and more visible when the CTS are closed.

Ontario’s framework for addressing the overdose crisis was never perfect — it was an underfunded patchwork of emergency responses. CTS is a health and referral service that should be funded to operate 24/7 and right-sized so people are not kicked out at closing time and left on the streets without other options — Ford did not even attempt this. The cap on sites that Ford himself created in 2019 forced people to access harm reduction into the same limited number of facilities with minimal hours. This led to unhoused individuals using drugs in public spaces when they had nowhere to go. This is something we will see even more of when sites are closed suddenly.

By failing to invest in mental health services and supportive housing, sites that were making referrals were knee-capped by the social safety net that Ford kept broken. People had no other options when they couldn’t access housing and mental health services or addiction recovery treatment beds.

Ford could have chosen policies that would have actually improved safety around supervised consumption sites like:

• Funding CTS to operate 24-hours-a-day so that users are not kicked out at random hours.

• Guaranteeing 24-hour access to shelter and emergency addiction treatment beds.

• Funding safety and well-being plans for service areas.

• Integrating micro-sites into health care centres to facilitate safer access, counseling, easy referrals, and prevent the overcrowding of extremely traumatized people into fewer options.

• Investing in sufficient supportive and deeply affordable housing to transition patients out of chronic homelessness, where it is unbelievably challenging to escape addiction.

Ford chose stigma over support. While Ontario needs new investments in health care, the 375 beds Ford is committing to creating by diverting funding will not end the overdose and poisoned drug supply crisis.

Everyone working in health care and harm reduction who will face the frontline consequences of Ford’s decision. Hospital emergency room staff, first responders and harm reduction workers are tired and burnt-out. They have buried too many patients, community members, and friends. In particular, harm reduction workers have carried on despite the odds, grief, and pain — it is impossible to face a seemingly unending torrent of death and be hit hard by callous attacks from the Premier. We will continue to stand with communities, lift up survivors' stories, and fight to make Ontario a province where healing and recovery from addiction is not just possible — but common and widespread.

Add your name: End Overdose Deaths

NDP Announces Plan to Ban Renovictions

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh laid out a plan to ban renovictions to make rent more affordable across the country.

Singh's NDP is proposing federal incentives to force municipalities to legislate a renoviction ban. Hamilton is the first city in Ontario to adopt such a ban and London may soon be the second. Singh was in London Thursday to lay out his commitment, and his belief that nobody should live in fear of being kicked out of their home so a corporate landlord can jack up rent for the next tenant.

“For families, it’s harder than ever to find a decent apartment, and harder still to afford it. Rent is through the roof. And on top of that, renters live in fear of being kicked out by a corporate landlord who claims renovations are needed when, really, they just want to jack up the rent between tenants,” said Singh.

“This is allowed because the system was designed by Liberals and Conservatives to work well for corporate landlords—and people are paying a huge price for that. The system is rigged. New Democrats are ready to rewrite the rules to make life easier for renters.”

Since Justin Trudeau took office, the average rent price across the country has increased by 100 per cent.

“Trudeau’s Liberals let people down. Instead of helping people, they helped corporate landlords, so rents doubled. And the Conservatives with Pierre Poilievre aren’t the answer. They believe there should be no rules for corporate landlords, and the prices Canadians will pay will just skyrocket,” said NDP MP Lindsay Mathyssen (London—Fanshawe).

"The truth is that we that we can get rent prices back under control. One step in making that happen is the New Democrats’ plan to change the rules to end the unfair and cruel practice of putting people out on the street so that a few at the top make a bigger profit. Jagmeet Singh will outlaw renovictions.”

Add your name if you agree!

Ontario NDP Platform Survey

It is an intriguing time in Ontario politics — rumours of an early election are growing louder, and we need your help to finalize a platform. The Ontario NDP want to ensure this plan reflects what hardworking Ontarians expect from their government.

It is time to have your say in the Ontario NDP platform! We are eager to hear your ideas about housing, healthcare, affordability and more.

Click here and let us know — what are your priorities?

Homelessness Numbers Increase Across Ontario

In August, Ontario’s Big City Mayors came together to call on the provincial government to tackle the overlapping humanitarian crises of homelessness, addiction, and unmet mental health needs.

Everyone deserves a roof over their head. A safe place to sleep. No one should have to bury their loved one because they couldn't get the mental health and addictions support they needed. And communities should get the support they need so that everyone can live safe, healthy lives.

We need a coordinated strategy from the province to tackle this.

Doug Ford and his politicians, like the Liberals before them, have left municipalities holding the bag for areas of provincial responsibility like health care, mental health supports, and affordable and supportive housing. We're seeing the consequences of that play out daily in Etobicoke – Lakeshore and across Ontario.

An NDP government will make sure provincial responsibilities are paid for by the province in a new partnership with cities, based on respect.

We will act urgently to fix our housing, health care and addictions crises, so that everyone, no matter where you live in Ontario, can live a good life.

 

Ford Jokes About Hospital Wait Times

While at the opening for a new animal hospital earlier in August, Doug Ford joked that a new animal hospital be the overflow site for human patients when looking for “MRIs, CAT scan and everything else.”

These comments from Ford show how out of touch he is when 2.3 Ontarians are struggling to find a family doctor, burnout nurses are leaving the profession in record numbers and wait times for surgeries are months long. He is simply not up to this job.

He has failed to apologize.

Ontario Attacks the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe

Ford’s Housing Minister Paul Calandra announced that Ontario will repeal the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. This will harm Ontario’s environment and our ability to tackle the housing crisis.

Instead of focusing on building affordable, sustainable housing in existing neighbourhoods, this government is paving the way for more sprawling developments over limited farmland and delicate wildlife habitats. The Growth Plan helped coordinate how cities grow in the Golden Horseshoe to minimize damage to our surrounding farmland and wildlife. Scrapping the growth plan won’t help fight the housing crisis because the McMansions Ford wants to build are not the tool we need to fight the affordability crisis. Ontario New Democrats will oppose Ford’s short-sighted changes and fight for smart housing investments that actually build deeply affordable and supportive housing with real rent control.