The new Ontario Democrats have promised to expand the Brampton Emergency Center and build a new hospital in the city if elected to form a government in June.
Party leader Andrea Horvat says the growing community in the Toronto area does not have a fair share of health facilities and her party wants to change that.
The NDP says it will pay for the expansion of the Peel Memorial Center for Integrated Health and Wellness, which will include a 24-hour emergency department.
Horvath says the timing and cost of various projects will be included in the price of her party’s platform, which she has repeatedly said will come soon.
However, she promised that work on the projects would begin “immediately”.
Brampton residents have been “robbed,” Horvath said
“People in Brampton have waited too long and been robbed,” she said in a statement Friday in front of Brampton Civic Hospital, the only full-service hospital in the city.
“We will not rob the people of Brampton, we will do these things because they deserve no less.
Brampton, a city of 656,480 at the 2021 census and home to many key front-line workers, was particularly hard hit by COVID-19.
The impact of the pandemic has sparked renewed calls for governments to address the relative shortage of health services in the community.
Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford also made several health-focused stops in the city ahead of the election, including a promise to set up a new medical school in Brampton.
Navjit Kaur said her community’s health needs were taken into account in her decision to run as an NDP candidate in Brampton West.
The registered respiratory therapist said she had treated families with COVID-19 during the pandemic who had to be separated due to a lack of local resources, with some people being relocated all the way to London, Ont.
“It was devastating,” she said after the announcement. “That’s one of the things that motivated me to run to make sure we were helping the people of Brampton and making sure it didn’t happen again.”
Kaur said she has also treated people in the long-term COVID community who have severe complications after becoming infected with the virus, and said having more local health facilities will hopefully help those patients with their long-term needs.
Plan to make buying a home more affordable
Also Friday, the New Democrats outlined their housing policies in detail, including a plan to boost the construction of 1.5 million new homes over the next 10 years if elected.
Horvath said her housing plan, which will have a net price of $ 3.7 billion over the first four years, aims to make it more affordable for families to own a home, not for speculators who want to make a fortune.
The proposed Housing Ontario agency will fund at least 250,000 affordable and non-market rental housing over the next decade, the NDP said. (Nathan Dennett / Canadian Press)
“I want you to keep your dream of owning a home,” she said. “We have a plan that will give you a lifeline that will give you that chance to own your own home.”
Horvat’s target of 1.5 million homes is the same number recommended by a report by a government working group earlier this year, and she said it would include a combination of starting homes, purpose-built rents and affordable housing.
The NDP plan will put an end to exclusionary zoning and update growth policies to increase the supply of affordable housing in pedestrian- and transit-friendly neighborhoods.
They also promise to create Housing Ontario, a body that will fund and build at least 250,000 affordable and non-market rental housing for 10 years, managed by public, non-profit and cooperative housing providers.
The New Democrats also said they would provide assistance to home buyers for the first time, including providing access to people from households with incomes below $ 200,000 to equity loans of up to 10 percent of the purchase price to help with their initial contribution.
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