St. Catharines NDP MPP Jennie Stevens calls today’s Throne Speech from the Ford Government a missed opportunity.
Stevens says nothing new was announced today to help local residents, and health care officials battle the fourth wave of the pandemic.
“It is a missed opportunity to announce nothing new to support while Niagara fights the fourth wave. I know personally that classrooms are being shut down, childcare centres are being forced to withdraw services to families, nurses and PSW workers are feeling burnt out while the government still has legislation on the books that ensures they are not getting paid what they deserve,” said Stevens.
A new throne speech presented in Ontario today says avoiding future lockdowns is the province's ``ultimate goal'' as the pandemic enters a new phase.
Lieutenant-Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell delivered the speech this morning, marking the start of a new legislative session.
The speech focused largely on what the government has done to support the health-care and long-term care systems during the pandemic.
"The choice to do nothing new is the wrong one - still work needs to be done to protect families and businesses. The housing crisis in Niagara is worse now than when this Government took office. We need a round of grants to help St. Catharines's businesses get back on their feet, we need class sizes smaller and a vaccine policy that keeps students safe, we need a plan to hire more nurses and PSWs, and a government that actually starts to treat houses as homes in Niagara,” said Stevens.
“When the Premier prorogue the legislature in September, he was saying these matters are not important enough to deal with right now, and now this throne speech says to me, without any new announcements to deal with these problems, that these issues are not important to deal with period ”