Who are you voting for? Provincial parties in their own words.
Thursday, October 6 is provincial election day, and we want everyone to get out and vote! This year, we
had the major parties running in the election submit their own profiles, in an effort to help students make informed
and educated decisions when it comes time to vote. The provincial government is responsible for our public
schooling, health care and social services (to name a few), so make sure you vote for the kind of Ontario you
want. For more information on the election, visit wemakevotingeasy.ca and take some time to review each party's
website.
Green Party
Issue of importance
The most important issue in this election is jobs.
How they will fix it
Ontario has lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs in the past decade. We have become a have-not province with a record budget deficit. The global recession, a high Canadian dollar and rising world energy prices have hit our wallets particularly hard. It's time to address these challenges head-on with policies that promote prosperity in a low-carbon global economy.
The Green Party has a plan to secure Ontario's future, not lock us in the past. We envision a future where Ontario builds on its diverse strengths to become a confident leader in the global economy. We will focus on creating sustainable, long-term jobs, and stop burdening our children with today's debts.
We can only achieve this future by unleashing and nurturing the creativity and innovation of our entrepreneurs and workers to build strong local economies. The Green Party is committed to responsible stewardship of our natural and financial resources and will promote policies that ensure we live within our means.
Why students should vote for them
We need a new approach to government, one where you and your community—not political insiders—come first. The old parties don't understand that we are educated, connected with each other and highly capable of making good decisions for our communities.
It's time for a new political culture in Ontario. Electing Green MPPs will bring a breath of fresh air to Queen's Park by rejecting hyper-partisanship and short-term thinking focused on getting votes. Ontario needs a government that is willing to plan for the future just like individuals, families and businesses do.
Greens reject the false choice between ripping government apart or making everything big, bureaucratic, and expensive. The Green Party believes in a government that engages and empowers individuals, businesses and organizations to develop sensible, longterm solutions for our communities.
Health care
Health care spending makes up half of the provincial budget. If the current trend continues, 80% of Ontario's budget will go to pay for health care by 2030. We need to improve the value for money spent to sustain our publicly-funded health care system.
Ontario is squandering precious health care dollars by mismanaging important initiatives such as eHealth. Too many dollars are spent on administration instead of front-line services and staff.
Ontario Greens will make better and more efficient use of health care dollars. We will invest in more family health clinics staffed by a variety of providers. We will ensure home care services are available for those who need them.
We will focus on preventing illness in the first place, by creating healthier communities, promoting healthier lifestyles and ensuring a healthy environment. Together, we can provide all Ontarians with access to quality care when and where they need it.
Post-secondary education
The Green Party is committed to making it easier for students to access and pay for post-secondary education. Tuition fees have risen over the last few years between 4 and 8% annually, making Ontario the most expensive province in Canada in which to study.
In addition to making college and university affordable, we are committed to enhancing their quality. By delaying tax cuts for large corporations until 2016, we can budget to freeze tuition rates while maintaining investments in colleges and universities.
By expanding training and certification in skilled trades, apprenticeships, mentorship programs, and post-secondary education, Ontario can begin to develop jobs that will focus on leading-edge technologies and sustainable living.
The Green Party will bring employers, workers, unions, trade associations, professional organizations, guilds, colleges, and universities together to build a comprehensive system of apprenticeship, co-operative, retraining, and mentorship programs for every employment sector.
Environment
The Green Party of Ontario has always designed policy with environmental sustainability in mind. We believe that economic, social and environmental sustainability is interlinked. Our policies are designed to be sustainable for generations to come, not just the next election cycle.
The Green Party will implement a simple, straight forward price on carbon, modelled after the popular British Columbia system. This is the most efficient and cost effective approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The Green Party's Energy Plan prioritizes energy efficiency and conservation as the most affordable approach to meeting our energy needs. For less than half the cost of replacing just one nuclear power plant, we could retrofit 1.6 million homes for energy efficiency and reduce the need for the same amount of energy the plant would produce. Doing so would also create 90 times more jobs than replacing the power plant.
The Green Party will create a comprehensive Green Building Program that includes $1.6 billion over four years in refundable tax credits for home owners, tenants and businesses to invest in energy efficiency and building retrofits. This program will help individuals and businesses save money on energy bills and save the province money by reducing the need for new supply, while also stimulating local job creation.
Ontario needs a long-term, sustainable energy plan that will provide a reliable source of affordable energy with the flexibility to incorporate new technologies. Renewables, including solar, wind, biomass, hydro and biogas, are an essential part Ontario's energy future. These are the clean energy sources of the twenty-first century, and will create jobs that will be in demand in the future.
The issue no one else is dealing with
Food and Farming. Our communities benefit from thriving farms that provide fresh and healthy local food. The food sector is the second largest employer in Ontario, and profitable farms and agricultural businesses are the backbone of a prosperous rural economy and essential to feeding Ontario.
Our food system is experiencing significant challenges. Farm incomes are variable and negative for most sectors, food bank use is at an all-time high, and poor diets are contributing to rising health care costs. The number of farmers is declining, the age of farmers is rising and fewer youth are growing food. Ontario only has 7,000 farmers under the age of 35. We are losing too much farm land to urban sprawl. It's time to make strengthening our food system a priority so that Ontario can feed itself and others.
gpo.ca
Liberal
Issue of importance
Education continues to be one of the top Liberal priorities.
How they will fix it
For eight years, Liberals have made historic investments in students and the places where they learn. We've lowered class sizes, increased test scores and graduation rates and introduced North America's first full day kindergarten program for all four and five year olds. For college and university students, Liberals brought back up-front grants, expanded OSAP, substantially increased college and university operating budgets and invested $4 billion in new classrooms, libraries and labs. Fanshawe's new Centre for Applied Transportation Technologies is one example. The plan is working. There are 120,000 more students attending college or university today than when we took office in 2003.
Why students should vote for them
Ontario Liberals have a track record of investing in students. The centrepiece of the Liberal election platform is a new tuition grant that will reduce college tuition by $730 each year for up to 4 years of study beginning January, 2012. Full-time undergraduate students with a family income below $160,000 will automatically receive the grant, regardless of whether they qualify for OSAP. This means that college students will save $2920 for a 4 year college program. The last PC government cut student aid by 41% as college tuition rose by 64%. The last NDP government promised to eliminate tuition and instead, faced with economic challenges like today, hiked fees by 50% in 4 years, cut student aid and cancelled up-front grants.
Healthcare
Liberals have turned around Ontario's healthcare system after the previous PC government closed 28 hospitals and fired doctors and nurses. Liberals are building 18 new hospitals, reducing surgical wait times and increasing newborn disease screenings. One million more Ontarians have a family doctor. In the years ahead, a Liberal government will continue to improve on all of these initiatives while focusing on illness prevention and on implementing a new strategy to help 50,000 young Ontarians cope with mental health issues. Liberals are also introducing a new renovation tax credit to help seniors stay at home longer, rather than in a hospital or a long-term care facility.
Post-secondary education
In a competitive global economy where 70 per cent of new jobs require postsecondary education or training, Ontario needs every person at their best to attract and create jobs for the next generation. Liberals have a track record of making students a priority, making substantial investments and helping to increase student achievement at all levels of our education system. Only Liberals have a plan to make sure Ontario students have access to the world-class education they need for today's workforce.
Environment
Liberals have made Ontario a North American leader in environmental protection. We will continue to shut down dirty coal plants and invest in clean, green energy. Ontario's new clean energy sector will create 50,000 by the end of 2012. We have established the strongest drinking water standards in North America, and our platform commits to developing new clean water technologies. The Liberals also have a plan to expand clean-up of the Great Lakes. While the NDP abandons the environment, Liberals are committed to a Local Food Act, a new environmental education program and strengthening the Greenbelt, the NDP has abandoned the environment.
ontarioliberal.ca
New Democratic Party
Issue of importance
Jobs are top of mind for many Ontarians.
How they will fix it
We need change that creates and protects good jobs. We will stop no-strings-attached corporate tax giveaways, and instead reward companies that are creating jobs in Ontario. We will offer tax credits to companies investing in building, equipment, machinery and staff training, as well as Job Creation Tax Credit. This credit will reimburse employers 20 per cent of the wage for new hires for one year, up to $5,000 per worker. To qualify companies will have to provide on-the-job training and demonstrate they are creating new positions, not filling existing jobs with subsidized workers. Instead of billions in nostrings attached corporate tax giveaways, the NDP's Job Creation Tax Credit will create 80,000 jobs over four years.
Why students should vote for them
The Ontario NDP has a plan that will make postsecondary education more affordable, by freezing tuition and removing the interest from student loans. Tuition in Ontario has increased 30% since the Liberals came to office — the rise in rates will quickly overwhelm their recently announced tuition rebate. We also have a plan that will create good jobs and get Ontario's economy back on track. We will make life more affordable through initiatives like rebates, grants, and loans for energy efficient home retrofits — including grants for low-income homeowners and tenants — and splitting the operating cost of transit systems evenly with municipalities in exchange for a four year fare freeze. By investing in a $60 million cycling infrastructure fund, we will allow cities to improve bike lanes, bike storage and bike tourism.
Healthcare
Ontario's New Democrats will improve healthcare in Ontario by cutting emergency room wait times in half, addressing family doctor shortages and capping public CEO salaries to allow us to invest more money in frontline care. Our plan to forgive the student loan debt of new doctors who practice in underserved communities and fund 50 new family healthcare clinics will help ensure all Ontarians have access to high-quality healthcare.
Post-secondary education
With the average undergraduate student debt load in Ontario doubling since the 1990s, the NDP will take steps to make sure that post-secondary education is affordable for students. We will tackle Ontario's tuition rates, which are currently more than 40% higher than the Canadian average, by freezing tuition and removing the interest from student loans. We will also commit to addressing urgent campus maintenance and facility needs.
Environment
We are committed to helping Ontarians make affordable green choices. We will halt new nuclear plants and instead focus on conservation, offering rebates, grants and loans for homeowners and tenants who want to retrofit their homes for energy efficiency. By providing municipalities with 50% of the operating costs of their transit systems in exchange for a four year fare freeze and creating an infrastructure fund for bike lanes, bike storage and bicycle tourism, we will encourage the use of more environmentally- friendly modes of transportation. We will also exceed targets for renewable energy.
The issue no one else is dealing with
The income gap is wider than ever, but the NDP is the only party with a plan to reduce poverty in Ontario. McGuinty's Liberals have reduced basic social assistance rates, and Hudak's Conservatives have no plan for Ontarians living in poverty. Ontario's New Democrats will ensure that the benefit clawback for ODSP recipients is reduced and that social assistance rates keep pace with inflation. We will raise the minimum wage to $11 an hour and index it to the cost of living. To ensure secure housing for more Ontarians, we will implement a new housing benefit for low-income tenants who pay unaffordable rents and build more than 50,000 new affordable housing units over the next 10 years.
Our strong job creation plan, including the previously mentioned the Job Creation Tax Credit and our Buy Ontario program, will mean that more tax dollars are spent in Ontario, creating jobs in our province. We will stem rising inequality in Ontario by creating good jobs and providing adequate income supports.
ontariondp.com
Progressive Conservative
Health
For the amount Ontario's taxpayers put into the system, they should receive the highest quality health care services in the country and sadly, that's not the case.
A Tim Hudak government will grow annual health care funding by $6.1 billion by the end of our first term. We will introduce changes that will put the patient at the centre of the healthcare system, including rigorous patient satisfaction and outcome measurements, and a wait time guarantee for emergency rooms. We will also invest in 40,000 long term care beds and we will grow support for home care, giving seniors choice in health care.
We will end the waste. The Liberal government wasted a billion dollars on the eHealth scandal and another $300 million on a regional health care bureaucracy called the LHINs. These are unelected, unaccountable, faceless boards that the McGuinty Liberals hide behind whenever there are emergency rooms to shut. We will close the LHINs and redirect the health care dollars to frontline care.
Post-secondary education
Strong universities and colleges, focused on developing the innovations of tomorrow, are fundamental to creating a dynamic economy today.
A Tim Hudak government will create up to 60,000 post-secondary spaces in Ontario. Individual colleges and universities will be asked to compete for these new spaces and find new ways to ensure access, affordability and excellence. Greater coordination and co-operation between universities and colleges, such as the number of credit transfer programs, will amplify these opportunities.
We will raise the threshold of financial support to make it more accessible for middle-class families to access OSAP. And, we will end the Liberal foreign scholarship program that puts foreign students ahead of Ontario students. We will reinvest those funds in our students instead.
Environment
Ontario families expect our environment to be safe, clean and sustainable for future generations.
We will guard the quality of the air we breathe and water we drink. We will complete the closure of coal powered plants by 2014. This often-promised goal is behind schedule. A Tim Hudak government will finish the job Dalton McGuinty couldn't get done. We will use the soon-to-be closed coal plants as sites to provide newer, cleaner energy. We will also protect all programs that safeguard our water quality.
We will protect our land, lakes and rivers. Ontario parks are known throughout the word for their beauty and accessibility. We will improve parks for Ontario families with a new investment of $10 million. We will also increase funding to expand land acquisition for the Bruce Trail and we will protect our rivers, wildlife and fish populations.
ontariopc.com
Candidates by Riding
LONDON-FANSHAWE
Freedom Party Dave Durnin
Green Party Bassam Lazar
Independent Ali Hamadi
Liberal Party Khalil Ramal*
Libertarian Party Tim Harnick
New Democratic Party Theresa Armstrong
Progressive Conservative Party Cheryl Miller
LONDON WEST
Freedom Party Tim Hodges
Green Party Gary Brown
Liberal Party Chris Bentley*
New Democratic Party Jeff Buchanan
People First Republic Party Chris Gupta
Progressive Conservative Party Ali Chahbar
LONDON NORTH CENTRE
Freedom Party Mary Lou Ambrogio
Green Party Kevin Labonte
Liberal Party Deb Matthews*
Libertarian Party Jordan vanKlinken
New Democratic Party Steve Holmes
Pauper Party Michael Spottiswood
Progressive Conservative Party Nancy Branscombe
ELGIN-MIDDLESEX-LONDON
Freedom Party Paul McKeever
Green Party Eric Loewen
Liberal Party Lori Baldwin-Sands
New Democratic Party Kathy Cornish
Progressive Conservative Party Jeffrey Yurek
HALDIMAND-NORFOLK
Family Coalition Party John Gots
Green Party Justin Blake
Liberal Party Greg Crone
New Democratic Party Ian Nichols
Progressive Conservative Party Toby Barrett*
OXFORD
Family Coalition Party Leonard Vanderhoeven
Green Party Catherine Stewart-Mott
Liberal Party David Hilderley
New Democratic Party Dorothy Eisen
Progressive Conservative Party Ernie Hardeman*
* Current MPP
Provincial Party Leaders
Family Coalition Party
Phil Lees
familycoalitionparty.com
Freedom Party
Paul McKeever
freedomparty.on.ca
Green Party
Mike Schreiner
gpo.ca
Liberal Party
Hon. Dalton McGuinty, Premier
ontarioliberal.ca
Libertarian Party
Sam Apelbaum
libertarian.on.ca
New Democratic Party
Andrea Horwath, MPP
ontariondp.com
Pauper Party
Michael Spottiswood
People First Republic Party
Trueman Tuck
pfrpo.ca
Progressive Conservative Party
Tim Hudak, MPP
ontariopc.com
Green Party
Issue of importance
The most important issue in this election is jobs.
How they will fix it
Ontario has lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs in the past decade. We have become a have-not province with a record budget deficit. The global recession, a high Canadian dollar and rising world energy prices have hit our wallets particularly hard. It's time to address these challenges head-on with policies that promote prosperity in a low-carbon global economy.
The Green Party has a plan to secure Ontario's future, not lock us in the past. We envision a future where Ontario builds on its diverse strengths to become a confident leader in the global economy. We will focus on creating sustainable, long-term jobs, and stop burdening our children with today's debts.
We can only achieve this future by unleashing and nurturing the creativity and innovation of our entrepreneurs and workers to build strong local economies. The Green Party is committed to responsible stewardship of our natural and financial resources and will promote policies that ensure we live within our means.
Why students should vote for them
We need a new approach to government, one where you and your community—not political insiders—come first. The old parties don't understand that we are educated, connected with each other and highly capable of making good decisions for our communities.
It's time for a new political culture in Ontario. Electing Green MPPs will bring a breath of fresh air to Queen's Park by rejecting hyper-partisanship and short-term thinking focused on getting votes. Ontario needs a government that is willing to plan for the future just like individuals, families and businesses do.
Greens reject the false choice between ripping government apart or making everything big, bureaucratic, and expensive. The Green Party believes in a government that engages and empowers individuals, businesses and organizations to develop sensible, longterm solutions for our communities.
Health care
Health care spending makes up half of the provincial budget. If the current trend continues, 80% of Ontario's budget will go to pay for health care by 2030. We need to improve the value for money spent to sustain our publicly-funded health care system.
Ontario is squandering precious health care dollars by mismanaging important initiatives such as eHealth. Too many dollars are spent on administration instead of front-line services and staff.
Ontario Greens will make better and more efficient use of health care dollars. We will invest in more family health clinics staffed by a variety of providers. We will ensure home care services are available for those who need them.
We will focus on preventing illness in the first place, by creating healthier communities, promoting healthier lifestyles and ensuring a healthy environment. Together, we can provide all Ontarians with access to quality care when and where they need it.
Post-secondary education
The Green Party is committed to making it easier for students to access and pay for post-secondary education. Tuition fees have risen over the last few years between 4 and 8% annually, making Ontario the most expensive province in Canada in which to study.
In addition to making college and university affordable, we are committed to enhancing their quality. By delaying tax cuts for large corporations until 2016, we can budget to freeze tuition rates while maintaining investments in colleges and universities.
By expanding training and certification in skilled trades, apprenticeships, mentorship programs, and post-secondary education, Ontario can begin to develop jobs that will focus on leading-edge technologies and sustainable living.
The Green Party will bring employers, workers, unions, trade associations, professional organizations, guilds, colleges, and universities together to build a comprehensive system of apprenticeship, co-operative, retraining, and mentorship programs for every employment sector.
Environment
The Green Party of Ontario has always designed policy with environmental sustainability in mind. We believe that economic, social and environmental sustainability is interlinked. Our policies are designed to be sustainable for generations to come, not just the next election cycle.
The Green Party will implement a simple, straight forward price on carbon, modelled after the popular British Columbia system. This is the most efficient and cost effective approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The Green Party's Energy Plan prioritizes energy efficiency and conservation as the most affordable approach to meeting our energy needs. For less than half the cost of replacing just one nuclear power plant, we could retrofit 1.6 million homes for energy efficiency and reduce the need for the same amount of energy the plant would produce. Doing so would also create 90 times more jobs than replacing the power plant.
The Green Party will create a comprehensive Green Building Program that includes $1.6 billion over four years in refundable tax credits for home owners, tenants and businesses to invest in energy efficiency and building retrofits. This program will help individuals and businesses save money on energy bills and save the province money by reducing the need for new supply, while also stimulating local job creation.
Ontario needs a long-term, sustainable energy plan that will provide a reliable source of affordable energy with the flexibility to incorporate new technologies. Renewables, including solar, wind, biomass, hydro and biogas, are an essential part Ontario's energy future. These are the clean energy sources of the twenty-first century, and will create jobs that will be in demand in the future.
The issue no one else is dealing with
Food and Farming. Our communities benefit from thriving farms that provide fresh and healthy local food. The food sector is the second largest employer in Ontario, and profitable farms and agricultural businesses are the backbone of a prosperous rural economy and essential to feeding Ontario.
Our food system is experiencing significant challenges. Farm incomes are variable and negative for most sectors, food bank use is at an all-time high, and poor diets are contributing to rising health care costs. The number of farmers is declining, the age of farmers is rising and fewer youth are growing food. Ontario only has 7,000 farmers under the age of 35. We are losing too much farm land to urban sprawl. It's time to make strengthening our food system a priority so that Ontario can feed itself and others.
gpo.ca
Liberal
Issue of importance
Education continues to be one of the top Liberal priorities.
How they will fix it
For eight years, Liberals have made historic investments in students and the places where they learn. We've lowered class sizes, increased test scores and graduation rates and introduced North America's first full day kindergarten program for all four and five year olds. For college and university students, Liberals brought back up-front grants, expanded OSAP, substantially increased college and university operating budgets and invested $4 billion in new classrooms, libraries and labs. Fanshawe's new Centre for Applied Transportation Technologies is one example. The plan is working. There are 120,000 more students attending college or university today than when we took office in 2003.
Why students should vote for them
Ontario Liberals have a track record of investing in students. The centrepiece of the Liberal election platform is a new tuition grant that will reduce college tuition by $730 each year for up to 4 years of study beginning January, 2012. Full-time undergraduate students with a family income below $160,000 will automatically receive the grant, regardless of whether they qualify for OSAP. This means that college students will save $2920 for a 4 year college program. The last PC government cut student aid by 41% as college tuition rose by 64%. The last NDP government promised to eliminate tuition and instead, faced with economic challenges like today, hiked fees by 50% in 4 years, cut student aid and cancelled up-front grants.
Healthcare
Liberals have turned around Ontario's healthcare system after the previous PC government closed 28 hospitals and fired doctors and nurses. Liberals are building 18 new hospitals, reducing surgical wait times and increasing newborn disease screenings. One million more Ontarians have a family doctor. In the years ahead, a Liberal government will continue to improve on all of these initiatives while focusing on illness prevention and on implementing a new strategy to help 50,000 young Ontarians cope with mental health issues. Liberals are also introducing a new renovation tax credit to help seniors stay at home longer, rather than in a hospital or a long-term care facility.
Post-secondary education
In a competitive global economy where 70 per cent of new jobs require postsecondary education or training, Ontario needs every person at their best to attract and create jobs for the next generation. Liberals have a track record of making students a priority, making substantial investments and helping to increase student achievement at all levels of our education system. Only Liberals have a plan to make sure Ontario students have access to the world-class education they need for today's workforce.
Environment
Liberals have made Ontario a North American leader in environmental protection. We will continue to shut down dirty coal plants and invest in clean, green energy. Ontario's new clean energy sector will create 50,000 by the end of 2012. We have established the strongest drinking water standards in North America, and our platform commits to developing new clean water technologies. The Liberals also have a plan to expand clean-up of the Great Lakes. While the NDP abandons the environment, Liberals are committed to a Local Food Act, a new environmental education program and strengthening the Greenbelt, the NDP has abandoned the environment.
ontarioliberal.ca
New Democratic Party
Issue of importance
Jobs are top of mind for many Ontarians.
How they will fix it
We need change that creates and protects good jobs. We will stop no-strings-attached corporate tax giveaways, and instead reward companies that are creating jobs in Ontario. We will offer tax credits to companies investing in building, equipment, machinery and staff training, as well as Job Creation Tax Credit. This credit will reimburse employers 20 per cent of the wage for new hires for one year, up to $5,000 per worker. To qualify companies will have to provide on-the-job training and demonstrate they are creating new positions, not filling existing jobs with subsidized workers. Instead of billions in nostrings attached corporate tax giveaways, the NDP's Job Creation Tax Credit will create 80,000 jobs over four years.
Why students should vote for them
The Ontario NDP has a plan that will make postsecondary education more affordable, by freezing tuition and removing the interest from student loans. Tuition in Ontario has increased 30% since the Liberals came to office — the rise in rates will quickly overwhelm their recently announced tuition rebate. We also have a plan that will create good jobs and get Ontario's economy back on track. We will make life more affordable through initiatives like rebates, grants, and loans for energy efficient home retrofits — including grants for low-income homeowners and tenants — and splitting the operating cost of transit systems evenly with municipalities in exchange for a four year fare freeze. By investing in a $60 million cycling infrastructure fund, we will allow cities to improve bike lanes, bike storage and bike tourism.
Healthcare
Ontario's New Democrats will improve healthcare in Ontario by cutting emergency room wait times in half, addressing family doctor shortages and capping public CEO salaries to allow us to invest more money in frontline care. Our plan to forgive the student loan debt of new doctors who practice in underserved communities and fund 50 new family healthcare clinics will help ensure all Ontarians have access to high-quality healthcare.
Post-secondary education
With the average undergraduate student debt load in Ontario doubling since the 1990s, the NDP will take steps to make sure that post-secondary education is affordable for students. We will tackle Ontario's tuition rates, which are currently more than 40% higher than the Canadian average, by freezing tuition and removing the interest from student loans. We will also commit to addressing urgent campus maintenance and facility needs.
Environment
We are committed to helping Ontarians make affordable green choices. We will halt new nuclear plants and instead focus on conservation, offering rebates, grants and loans for homeowners and tenants who want to retrofit their homes for energy efficiency. By providing municipalities with 50% of the operating costs of their transit systems in exchange for a four year fare freeze and creating an infrastructure fund for bike lanes, bike storage and bicycle tourism, we will encourage the use of more environmentally- friendly modes of transportation. We will also exceed targets for renewable energy.
The issue no one else is dealing with
The income gap is wider than ever, but the NDP is the only party with a plan to reduce poverty in Ontario. McGuinty's Liberals have reduced basic social assistance rates, and Hudak's Conservatives have no plan for Ontarians living in poverty. Ontario's New Democrats will ensure that the benefit clawback for ODSP recipients is reduced and that social assistance rates keep pace with inflation. We will raise the minimum wage to $11 an hour and index it to the cost of living. To ensure secure housing for more Ontarians, we will implement a new housing benefit for low-income tenants who pay unaffordable rents and build more than 50,000 new affordable housing units over the next 10 years.
Our strong job creation plan, including the previously mentioned the Job Creation Tax Credit and our Buy Ontario program, will mean that more tax dollars are spent in Ontario, creating jobs in our province. We will stem rising inequality in Ontario by creating good jobs and providing adequate income supports.
ontariondp.com
Progressive Conservative
Health
For the amount Ontario's taxpayers put into the system, they should receive the highest quality health care services in the country and sadly, that's not the case.
A Tim Hudak government will grow annual health care funding by $6.1 billion by the end of our first term. We will introduce changes that will put the patient at the centre of the healthcare system, including rigorous patient satisfaction and outcome measurements, and a wait time guarantee for emergency rooms. We will also invest in 40,000 long term care beds and we will grow support for home care, giving seniors choice in health care.
We will end the waste. The Liberal government wasted a billion dollars on the eHealth scandal and another $300 million on a regional health care bureaucracy called the LHINs. These are unelected, unaccountable, faceless boards that the McGuinty Liberals hide behind whenever there are emergency rooms to shut. We will close the LHINs and redirect the health care dollars to frontline care.
Post-secondary education
Strong universities and colleges, focused on developing the innovations of tomorrow, are fundamental to creating a dynamic economy today.
A Tim Hudak government will create up to 60,000 post-secondary spaces in Ontario. Individual colleges and universities will be asked to compete for these new spaces and find new ways to ensure access, affordability and excellence. Greater coordination and co-operation between universities and colleges, such as the number of credit transfer programs, will amplify these opportunities.
We will raise the threshold of financial support to make it more accessible for middle-class families to access OSAP. And, we will end the Liberal foreign scholarship program that puts foreign students ahead of Ontario students. We will reinvest those funds in our students instead.
Environment
Ontario families expect our environment to be safe, clean and sustainable for future generations.
We will guard the quality of the air we breathe and water we drink. We will complete the closure of coal powered plants by 2014. This often-promised goal is behind schedule. A Tim Hudak government will finish the job Dalton McGuinty couldn't get done. We will use the soon-to-be closed coal plants as sites to provide newer, cleaner energy. We will also protect all programs that safeguard our water quality.
We will protect our land, lakes and rivers. Ontario parks are known throughout the word for their beauty and accessibility. We will improve parks for Ontario families with a new investment of $10 million. We will also increase funding to expand land acquisition for the Bruce Trail and we will protect our rivers, wildlife and fish populations.
ontariopc.com
Candidates by Riding
LONDON-FANSHAWE
Freedom Party Dave Durnin
Green Party Bassam Lazar
Independent Ali Hamadi
Liberal Party Khalil Ramal*
Libertarian Party Tim Harnick
New Democratic Party Theresa Armstrong
Progressive Conservative Party Cheryl Miller
LONDON WEST
Freedom Party Tim Hodges
Green Party Gary Brown
Liberal Party Chris Bentley*
New Democratic Party Jeff Buchanan
People First Republic Party Chris Gupta
Progressive Conservative Party Ali Chahbar
LONDON NORTH CENTRE
Freedom Party Mary Lou Ambrogio
Green Party Kevin Labonte
Liberal Party Deb Matthews*
Libertarian Party Jordan vanKlinken
New Democratic Party Steve Holmes
Pauper Party Michael Spottiswood
Progressive Conservative Party Nancy Branscombe
ELGIN-MIDDLESEX-LONDON
Freedom Party Paul McKeever
Green Party Eric Loewen
Liberal Party Lori Baldwin-Sands
New Democratic Party Kathy Cornish
Progressive Conservative Party Jeffrey Yurek
HALDIMAND-NORFOLK
Family Coalition Party John Gots
Green Party Justin Blake
Liberal Party Greg Crone
New Democratic Party Ian Nichols
Progressive Conservative Party Toby Barrett*
OXFORD
Family Coalition Party Leonard Vanderhoeven
Green Party Catherine Stewart-Mott
Liberal Party David Hilderley
New Democratic Party Dorothy Eisen
Progressive Conservative Party Ernie Hardeman*
* Current MPP
Provincial Party Leaders
Family Coalition Party
Phil Lees
familycoalitionparty.com
Freedom Party
Paul McKeever
freedomparty.on.ca
Green Party
Mike Schreiner
gpo.ca
Liberal Party
Hon. Dalton McGuinty, Premier
ontarioliberal.ca
Libertarian Party
Sam Apelbaum
libertarian.on.ca
New Democratic Party
Andrea Horwath, MPP
ontariondp.com
Pauper Party
Michael Spottiswood
People First Republic Party
Trueman Tuck
pfrpo.ca
Progressive Conservative Party
Tim Hudak, MPP
ontariopc.com
