On the Issues


Results at a Glance: Promises Kept, Changes Met
Captured below you will find a quick overview of changes which have delivered improvements to assist the resident's of Ontario on a broad range of platforms.


Education:

  • 1100 new teachers in elementary schools

  • Smaller class sizes in 1300 elementary schools

  • Increased support for kids with special needs

  • $1.1B in new funding for education for primary and secondary schools

  • $20M to fund the Community Use of Schools initiative

  • Training 16,000 new lead teachers in literacy and numeracy

  • Banned junk food in vending machines

  • Conducting a safety audit of every elementary school in Ontario

    Health:

  • 69 Family Health Teams are taking shape across the province

  • Created over 3000 new nursing positions

  • 66,500 more receiving home care

  • Funding for 2,000 more front line staff for long term care homes

  • $123.3M in new funding to date for community based mental health programs to serve 60,000 more clients

  • Over $2.35B total in new funding to our hospitals

  • 81,268 more C scans per year

  • We are reducing wait times – almost a quarter of a million new procedures per year n our 5 priority areas, with impressive results: 42% more MRI’s, 8% more CT exams, 11% more cancer surgeries, 16% more cataract surgeries, 17% more cardiac procedures and 28% more hip and knee procedures

  • More than doubled the number of spots for International Medical Graduates

  • Increasing undergraduate medical school spaces by 15% and opened the Northern Ontario School of Medicine

  • Tough new anti smoking legislation

  • Free vaccines for kids



Justice:

  • Created an elite gangs and guns crime task force

  • Appointed 29 judges and hired 50 new crown attorneys

  • Passed legislation on Mandatory Reporting of Gun shot Wounds in hospitals

  • $56Mdollars invested in our Domestic Violence Action Plan

  • Created an elite gangs and guns crime task force
  • Appointed 29 judges and hired 50 new crown attorneys
  • Passed legislation on Mandatory Reporting of Gun shot Wounds in hospitals
  • $56Mdollars invested in our Domestic Violence Action Plan

Training Colleges and Universities:

  • $6.2B investment – largest muilti-year postsecondary education investment in 40 years

  • Tuition frozen for two years

  • Tuition grants for 32,000 1st and 2nd years students from low-income families

  • Expanded opportunities for graduate education. 14,000 more opportunities each year by ’09-‘10

  • Adding 7,000 new apprentices by ’07-‘08

  • Created the Apprenticeship Training Tax Credit



Rural:

  • $900M over five years to support municipal infrastructure

  • $31M to keep rural schools open

  • $20M in Nutrient Management Assistance

  • Hiring 61 more full-time and 61 more part-time meat inspectors

  • $79M to assist our grain and oilseed sector under the program

  • $50M under the tobacco community Transition fund

  • Revising regulation 170 to safeguard the quality of Ontario’s drinking water

  • Invested $5.4M through the rural Economic Development (RED) program

Cities:

  • 2 cents of gas tax to public transit, $1B over 5 years

  • $1B in joint federal-provincial funding for public transit over 5 years

  • $1B in joint federal-provincial funding for GO expansion

  • Renewed AMO MOU

  • Creation of the Greenbelt

  • Supported critical municipal priorities by creating OSIFA

Help for those who need it most:

  • $402 million to municipalities as a first wave of funding under the new $602 million Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program

  • Increased minimum age twice to $7.45 and up to $8.00 by February 2007

  • $10M in Rent Bank, for low-income people who, due to an unforeseen crisis, are in short-term rent arrears

  • 3% increase in disability and social assistance payments, first time in 12 years

  • $2M to enhance homelessness prevention programs

  • Increasing property tax credit for low to moderate income seniors

Created an Emergency Energy Fund


Economy:

  • In the 23 months since October 2003, employment has increased by 193,100 jobs in Ontario

  • Reduced auto insurance rates by more than 11.4% on average

  • $1.8B over 4 years for research and commercialization

  • $500M Automotive Investment Strategy Fund

  • Eliminating capital tax by 2012


North:

  • Introduced the Northern Prosperity Plan to stimulate growth, job creation and better quality of life for Northern Ontario

  • The Northern Ontario Grow Bonds Program is using some $13M worth of bonds to provide loans to new and growing businesses

  • New Northern Ontario Medical School

  • $1.8B over 5 years for Northern Ontario highways

  • $20M to increase access to community college programs in northern and rural communities

  • $330M over the next five years to help the forestry sector

Environment and Energy:

  • Hired 33 more water inspection staff – increasing the number by 25%

  • Already implemented 33 recommendations of the Walkerton Inquiry.

  • Passed Bill 133, the You Spill, You Pay legislation encouraging companies to take action to prevent spills

  • Created the Conservation Bureau

  • Closed Lakeview coal fired power plant

  • $400M to support source-to-tap drinking water initiatives

  • $47.5M to help cities divert more waste

  • Banned dumping garbage in the Adams Mine

  • Implemented a tough new Permit to Take Water regulation



Children and Youth Services:

  • Best Start Plan means a full day of learning and care for 4 and 5 year olds

  • Most significant investment in children’s mental health in 12 years, $63M more since taking office

  • Federal/Provincial child care agreement reached means $1.9B more over 5 years

  • Created over 4000 new child care spaces

  • $8.3M investment in healthy babies/healthy children program


 


 
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