Dear Neighbour,

Happy Easter to everyone celebrating this weekend. We wish you a blessed and meaningful weekend together with your community and family. We would like to share this lovely Easter themed photo captured in our community.

AGM Notice

Your 2023-2024 Etobicoke-Lakeshore Executive Committee is excited to announce our upcoming Annual General meeting. The meeting will be on Saturday, April 27, from 12 pm to 3 pm at 851 Royal York Rd, Etobicoke,

RSVP here. This is open to all, but in order to vote and run for a committee or executive you must be a member in good standing.

Etobicoke–Lakeshore NDP Survey

Please respond to our 2024 Etobicoke-Lakeshore NDP survey!

Working for Peace in Gaza and Israel

NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson brought a motion to Parliament for debate on March 18. This motion called for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages; suspending the trade of all military goods with Israel while doing more to stop illegal arms trade to Hamas; and advocating for an end to the occupation of Palestinian territories. Her motion also asked the Canadian government to lift the 1,000-person limit on temporary resident visas for Palestinians looking to flee Gaza; ban extremist settlers from Canada; and maintain Canada's recognition of Israel's right to exist and to live in peace with its neighbours.

With the passage of a modified version of the motion, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said, “We were able to force the government to move on things that they had not supported before. Things that will provide immediate relief to people on the ground in Gaza."

According to the CBC, McPherson said "We can now hold the government accountable for a ceasefire, for access, for humanitarian care, to make sure Canadians in Gaza are able to come home, to make sure that arms are no longer being sent to Israel".

Now we need to advocate with our MPs to ensure military arms already destined for Israel are also excluded from export, that the ceasefire is demanded, and that now we need to see more Gaza refugees allowed into Canada.

Ford's Budget: What you Need to Know

This week, Doug Ford’s PC government released their 2024-2025 Budget. This could have been a budget of hope and investment for Ontario, but instead, it was an uninspired, business-as-usual document that failed to meet the moment.

We know that people in Etobicoke–Lakeshore are looking for better health care and homes they can afford. That is what you deserve from your leaders. Instead, you got an uninspired, business-as-usual statement from a government that is out of touch and out of ideas.

If you’re looking for hope and change, I’m sorry to say that Ford’s budget is not for you.

This budget was an opportunity for Ford’s Conservatives to finally deliver real solutions for Ontarians. But instead they chose to stick to the status quo and double down on their failed policies.

All of this just means that we have more hard work to do. The Ontario NDP has workable, common-sense ideas we have presented to the government over and over.

An NDP budget would:

• Invest in Ontario’s publicly-funded and publicly-delivered healthcare system and provide immediate support for community mental health programs, long-term care, and home care
• Remove tolls for truckers on the 407 to reduce congestion on the 401
• Make strategic investments to recruit and retain health care workers
• Get the government back in the business of building homes with Homes Ontario and end exclusionary zoning
• Take on climate change and save people money with support for home energy retrofits and energy-efficient heat pumps.
• Address staffing shortages in public schools and reverse cuts to get kids the supports they need
• Keep our colleges and universities open with stable funding and increased operating grants
• Lift people out of legislated poverty by doubling ODSP and OW rates
• Help families get the childcare they need by funding the long-delayed $10-a-day childcare

Marit Stiles and the Ontario NDP will deliver the homes, health care, and hope that people are looking for.

Major Greenbelt Developments this Month

Your Official Opposition NDP caucus obtained documents through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request showing the use of code words across thousands of pages of government records referring to the Greenbelt grab. NDP Leader Marit Stiles held the government to account with excellent questions during Question Period this week. You can watch one of her questions here.  

Terms like “G*,” “Special Project,” and “SP” were found in several records, including correspondence between the ministry and the Premier’s office. In some emails, a reference to the Greenbelt had been replaced with “G.*

What these FOI-ed documents look like is intent to conceal—creative use of code words to evade public scrutiny for what this government clearly knew was wrong. For months, the Ford Conservatives claimed that there was nothing wrong with their Greenbelt grab. Clearly, they knew they had something to hide; otherwise, why would they go to such lengths to hide it?

The Narwhal’s reporter, Emma McIntosh, did an excellent in-depth report on this cover-up, which you can read here.

Remove Trucker Tolls on the 407

In March, the Ontario NDP moved an Opposition Day Motion to remove highway 407 tolls for truckers. Ford Conservatives voted it down.

This move would not only make transportation of goods cheaper and more efficient, but would take heavy trucks off of other GTA highways and reduce congestion for commuters. This is also a change that could be implemented quickly and have a real impact on people’s lives, unlike the government’s proposed highway 413, which is an environmental disaster, would take 10 years and $6 billion to build, and according to new traffic studies, is not necessary. Every day it becomes more clear that this highway is a favour to Ford’s developer buddies, but this government keeps pushing it as the ultimate solution.

Truck drivers spend long, grueling hours on the road. It’s tiring and stressful to be behind the wheel for so many hours, let alone stuck in traffic. Meanwhile, Highway 407 remains underused because of some of the highest tolls in North America.

This motion was about saving Ontarians time and money, so they spend less time stuck in traffic and get home faster. This solution is a win-win, and it simply makes sense. It is unfortunate that the Conservatives didn’t see it that way.

Show your support for this idea by signing the petition here.

Marit Stiles Fights to Get 2 Million More Ontarians a Family Doctor

Ontario is in a family doctor crisis. In 2022, 2.3 million Ontarians did not have a family doctor, a number that is projected to grow to 4.4 million by 2026 if nothing is done.

Currently, family doctors in Ontario spend as many as 19 hours per week —40 percent of their time—following up with patients, filling out forms and performing other administrative work that could be done by administrative staff and other interdisciplinary health staff. It doesn’t have to be this way.

We can free up doctors’ time by getting them access to an integrated primary care team to take this administrative work off of their plate. This change would be equivalent to adding 2,000 doctors to the system.

The current family doctor shortage not only puts Ontarians' health at risk, but it’s also putting tremendous strain on our already-overburdened emergency rooms. This is a smart, simple solution to fix the massive patient backlog and get people the care they need today.

We have been hearing horrific stories from Ontarians who are trying to find a family doctor, including this shocking story from an Ottawa patient who was charged $110 for routine cancer screening because the screening was done by a nurse practitioner instead of a doctor, something that was not well communicated by the clinic she went to.

Ford voted down this common-sense NDP motion to get people health care. He showed his true colours that he wants public health care to crumble so he can line the pockets of privateers waiting to ruin our public health care system.

Add your name to support this motion here!

Indigenous Langauges can now be Spoken in the Chamber at Queen's Park!

Until this past week, Indigenous languages were not allowed to be spoken in the Legislature beyond a few words here and there. That is reprehensible.

But thanks to the advocacy of my colleague, MPP Sol Mamakwa, the Standing Orders of the Ontario Legislature have been amended to allow Indigenous languages spoken in Canada to be spoken in the chamber.

Watch the Intimate Partner Violence Epidemic Debate Live!

Intimate partner violence is an epidemic in Ontario. THe government needs to recognize that.

Please join NDP MPPs at Queens Park on Wednesday April 10th at 4pm as the Ontario Legislature debates: Bill 173 Intimate Partner Violence Epidemic Act, 2024. This Bill is co-sponsored by MPP Lisa Gretzky, MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam, MPP Jill Andrew and MPP Peggy Sattler.

It is important to have survivors, families, advocates and community members come together and show this government how important and necessary it is for the province to declare Intimate Partner Violence(IPV) an epidemic in Ontario.

Where: Queens Park, 111 Wellesley St W

When: April 10, 2024

Reception: 4 PM - 5:30 PM

Refreshments will be served.

Debate: 6 PM

RSVP here.

RSVPS are required in order to attend the debate and reception. Please also bring one piece of government ID to show at security when you enter the building.

Community Updates and Events

Tree mobile 2024 is open

Treemobile supplies climate-appropriate food-bearing trees and plants. Just choose from their catalogue and they’ll deliver them to your garden in the spring. Volunteers can even plant them for you.

The TreeMobile webstore is open for the 2024 season, which means they'll be planting trees in May, and you can help by signing up as a TreeMobile planter (or sorter), or a TreeMobile Driver. (If you drive, you'll probably still end up planting trees).

You can also:

• Get trees and plants for yourself (increasing they city's tree canopy is a great action to take)

• TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT TREEMOBILE! Posting about it on social media is great! So is word of mouth.

Free events at the Lakeshore Interpretive center found at 2 Colonel Samuel Smith

Grace: One Story of Thousands

September 2023 - July 2024

Grace: One Story of Thousands follows the life and experiences of Grace, one of the 1,511 people buried in the Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital Cemetery at the corner of Horner and Evans Avenues in south Etobicoke. Through personal letters and surviving hospital records gathered by Grace’s great-niece, you are invited to pause and reflect on a life lived – not defined – by the institutional system in Ontario. With a shift toward historical accuracy, personhood, and agency, the Interpretive Centre invites you to experience history through a new perspective

Queer Joy

January 8 - April 26 2024  

Through a collaboration with the LGBTQ+ Resource Centre and the 2SLGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group (ERG) at Humber, we honour the identities and self-expression of two-spirited, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex members of our community, students, staff, and faculty.  

Celebrating the theme of "Queer Joy", join us for a juried art exhibition in January-April 2024 in our newly launched Second Floor Gallery!

Witnesses of the Past

January 8 - April 26 2024

Explore the historical traces of the Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital and its associated cemetery, now everyday spaces in Etobicoke Lakeshore.

Through renovations and retrofitting, the physical site is one of the most enduring markers of memory to those who lived and laboured on this site and spent months, years or decades in this institution. Featuring the artwork of photographers Sherry Prenevost, Emily Briden, and Amber Briden whom we thank for their work and for capturing the rich details of these historic spaces.

All these events are free, and a great way to learn about the History, and Nature of our home.