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Ontario: A Place to Grow

Alison Gohel, the provincial Liberal candidate for Oakville, shares her party’s plan for a better Ontario, including health care, seniors care, and small business.

I speak with residents across Oakville every day and the same concerns keep coming up: affordability, protection of public services such as health care and education, as well as support for seniors and support for small businesses.

I also hear time and again that the provincial government is not listening when it comes to addressing immediate issues, such as mental health and addiction services, something we’ve learned through the pandemic is more important than ever.

Another frustration voters have is the Ford Conservatives’ decision to cancel the planned Kerry Street underpass that truly addresses congestion and safety while choosing to build Highway 413 which would be an environmental disaster and benefit few.

Recently, I shared with Oakville News readers how the Ontario Liberals will address affordability and invest in education. Here are some more highlights of the Ontario Liberal plan for health care, seniors care, small business supports and economic dignity.

Health Care

We need to expand our health care capacity, so we’ll train and hire 100,000 new healthcare professionals to meet demand over the next six years. We’ll repeal the wage-capping Bill 124 and give our valued healthcare workers the salaries and benefits they deserve.

We will guarantee access to primary care within 24 hours across the province and expand pharmacists’ scope of practice to include prescribing for minor ailments. We’ll prepare for future health crises, permanently increase laboratory testing capacity and reverse planned cuts to public health units.

Over 250,000 Ontarians are waiting for much-needed surgeries while millions of diagnostic procedures are delayed because of the pandemic. Right now, only 40% of patients are receiving MRIs on time and more than 30% of those who need a knee replacement or prostate cancer surgery are not being treated on time.

While the Conservatives call on for-profit private hospitals to address these backlogs, Ontario Liberals will clear the waitlists with a $1 billion investment in public health care.

We’ll also establish maximum wait times for surgeries and return to pre-pandemic wait times by the end of 2022. That’s because Ontario Liberals believe in public health care.

Ontario Liberals will reverse the Ford Conservatives’ cuts to mental health and addiction services and invest an additional $3 billion over four years. And we’ll reduce wait times for mental health care and hire 3,000 new mental health professionals, 1,000 of which will be dedicated to supporting children and youth.

Seniors Care

An Ontario Liberal government will increase the Old Age Security top-up for eligible seniors by $1,000 more per year. We’ll also make sure more seniors qualify for this help by increasing the eligibility threshold to $25,000 for single seniors and $50,000 for couples. We’ll help seniors pay for home repairs and assistive tools like wheelchairs and hearing aids by making the Ontario Seniors’ Home Safety Tax Credit permanent.

We will transform senior care in Ontario by guaranteeing home care and end for-profit long-term care. As we transition away from the Ford Conservative long-term care system, we will place audits, inspections and zero-tolerance sanctions on long-term care homes that endanger their residents.

Small Business

For the past two years, much of Ontario hasn’t been “open for business” and our small businesses felt the impact. The Ford Conservatives’ inadequate business grants left too many businesses without help during the biggest disruption in a generation, while big-box retailers were prioritized.

An Ontario Liberal government will suspend corporate income tax for small businesses most impacted by the pandemic for 2022 and 2023; eliminate incorporation fees for new business start-ups; adopt a ‘small business lens’ to reduce regulatory burdens on small business; and cap commission fees for businesses using delivery apps.

Our Ontario Liberal plan creates approximately 400,000 new jobs. We also want to make sure jobs are well paid and allow for work-life balance. To do that, we will raise the minimum wage; build to a four-day workweek; ban unfair and underpaid gig and contract work; and we’ll create a package of high-quality, affordable benefits that everyone can use, including self-employed, gig, contract and creative workers.

These are just some of the ways and Ontario Liberal government will make our province a place to grow.I'm running in this election to ensure that our education system is the best it can be, that our health care system is strong, that our environment and economy are priorities, and that we make life more affordable for our residents.

This election is about choices. On June 2nd, the choice is yours.

Alison Gohel is the Ontario Liberal Candidate for Oakville. The Ontario election is on June 2nd.

For more information about Alison and the Ontario Liberal plan please visit www.alisongohel.com.

Written and paid for by the Ontario Liberal candidate for Oakville, Alison Gohel.