The storm that hit Ottawa on Saturday, May 21, is now being described by the City & Ottawa Hydro as having done more damage than the ice storm in 1998 or the tornadoes in 2018. The current storm effectively shut down Canada’s capital city for days. While pockets of Ottawa had power, almost 200k customers were without power at the peak. The damage is widespread and seems not easily fixed. It has demonstrated, again, the weakness inherent in a provincial power grid designed around centralized power and limited redundancy. And it seems to have revealed that Ottawa’s power system is riddled with weaknesses; how else to explain outages that dot the map like blisters on the City?
When Greens call for better infrastructure, this is what we mean. We cannot continue to rely on a grid that can be brought to its knees by fierce storms that we know are becoming more severe and more prevalent. The time to act is now. We cannot delay any more.
For those focused on the fiscal, those who complain about tax increases and electricity prices, is this better? What has this cost you? In terms of spoiled food, extra gas burned, lost work, and general stress? Wouldn’t investments in a more robust electrical system, including distributed generation and storage have allowed us to bounce back more quickly? These storms won’t stop anytime soon. But how we prepare for and respond to them can. If we vote. . . Read More
I’m Pat Freel, and as a life-long resident of Kanata-Carleton, I’m proud to be your candidate for the Green Party of Ontario.
Let’s get real. All other party leaders have indicated that they are willing to work with Mike Schreiner and the Ontario Greens. We have a plan to invest in health care, housing, and climate change, so we can all have a thriving future. We have been too slow to move toward a cleaner, safer, and healthier environment for all Ontarians.
My background in horticulture and environmental economics inspires me to see Kanata-Carleton as a truly unique riding, and I believe we can create an equally unique local food network. By protecting our greenspaces and supporting our farmers, we can fight climate change and strengthen our community food hubs and school food programs to ensure everyone can easily access local, healthy food.
I see a version of healthcare in Kanata-Carleton, where people are encouraged to be healthy, eat better, and exercise more in a clean environment. Let's spend less on treating sickness and more on being healthy. We’ll get through future epidemics better if we're as healthy as we can be. We should reward doctors for keeping us healthy, not just for treating us when we're sick.
We need a champion to secure better pay for healthcare workers by eliminating. . . Read More
This election is going to be crucial for Ontario. Not only are we dealing with the ongoing climate crisis, but we are faced with a poorly supported healthcare system, and public education that does not work in favour of its students.
The Liberal and Progressive Conservative parties are responsible for the mess our province is in right now. The NDP is also to blame. When they had the balance of power in 2014, they failed to effectively hold the government to account, and all they fought for was reducing car insurance rates.
Our healthcare system has been the victim of decades of underfunding from Liberal and PC governments.. Under the current government, more cuts have been introduced, and the rights of our healthcare providers have been limited by Bill 124 - despite the invaluable service they continue to deliver through this COVID-19 pandemic. Even though the government has made investments in providing more beds in healthcare settings, these beds are not effective without the sufficient, trained staff to look after them.
The Greens’ plan for Ontario’s healthcare system is to increase the number of nurse practitioners in care facilities to improve patient care and outcomes, and provide these care providers with equal pay for work. This will help reduce hospital overcrowding by equipping providers of home care, long-term care,. . . Read More