David goes door to door

NEWS RELEASE

David Orazietti, Liberal candidate is spending the Victoria Day long weekend knocking on doors at residents’ houses and in apartment buildings across Sault Ste. Marie to listen to local concerns and explain the highlights of the Liberal Budget, which focuses on creating jobs in the Sault, further strengthening health care and improving education support.

• Establishing a new, 10-year $2.5 billion Jobs and Prosperity Fund that will strengthen Ontario’s ability to attract business investments and support quality, well-paying jobs

• Investing over $295 million over two years for the Ontario Youth Jobs Strategy to help young people gain the skills and experience to obtain meaningful employment

• Continuing to support economic development in Northern municipalities through $100 million in annual funding for the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC)

• Creating an Ontario pension plan that cost-effectively builds on the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) in order to enhance the retirement savings of Ontarians

• Increasing the Ontario Child Benefit (OCB) to $1,310 per child per year, and indexing the threshold to inflation, which doubles the amount of the benefit since being created

• Expanding access to health benefits such as prescription drugs, assistive devices, vision care and dental care to approximately 500,000 children from low-income families

• Reducing auto insurance premiums by 15% by August 2015

• Putting consumers first by strengthening consumer rights and protection legislation. The government has already enacted legislation to reduce cell phone bills and is developing standards and regulations for home inspectors in the province

• Since 2003, health care investments have increased by 68%

• Investing an additional $750 million by 2016/17 in home and community care services, including $270 million this year so that Ontarians will have access to the right care at the right time, close to home

• Increasing the hourly wage for Personal Support Workers (PSWs) by $4 over the next three years

• Since 2003, education funding has increased by 70%, Providing an additional $11 billion over the next ten years for elementary and secondary education infrastructure

• Investing $150 million over three years in new technology and learning tools in schools, so that Ontario’s schools remain the best in the world

• $269 million over three years to increase wages for Early Childhood Educators (ECEs)

• Investing over $130 billion in public infrastructure over the next ten years, with a focus on hospitals, schools, transit, roads and bridges

• Creating a new $29 billion infrastructure fund that specifically dedicates $14 billion for improvements to Northern and rural highways, including 4-laning routes such as Highway 17