NEWS RELEASE
ONTARIO NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY
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NDP MPPs Jennie Stevens (St. Catharines), Jeff Burch (Niagara Centre) and Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls) issued the following statement in response to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs pre-budget consultations in Niagara Region.
“The message we’ve heard today is clear,” said Stevens. “After seven years of Doug Ford, the Niagara Region has been left with an alarming shortage of family doctors and our St. Catharines hospital site is well over capacity.”
Health care was a major theme of the day, with depositions made by local organizations including the Niagara Health Coalition and the Beamsville Medical Centre, and provincial bodies like Ontario Medical Association and the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario.
“People are here to tell us that Ontario’s health care system is starved for funding,” added Gates. “People deserve a government that invests in our primary care providers and in our hospitals – but all Ford has delivered is frozen budgets and cut corners.”
Many organizations spoke to the impact of the growing crisis of affordability on people in Niagara, with perspectives from the Salvation Army of Canada and Age-Friendly Niagara.
“These organizations know this government could be supporting people in our communities with home heating costs, or a real plan for affordable housing,” said Burch. “Instead, the Conservatives are investing $2 billion in their Toronto mega-spa, at a cost of $400 for every household in Niagara.”
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