Ontario Liberals 2018 Platform: Quick Reference Guide

[one_third]Jobs & Growth

[/one_third]

[two_third_last]

• Invest $100 million in the Eastern Ontario Development Fund and the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund over the next 10 years, creating and retaining nearly 20,000 jobs and attracting more than $800 million in investments
• Invest $30 million over two years to expand and enhance the Skills Advance Ontario program, which provides training for Indigenous peoples and other underrepresented groups

[/two_third_last]

[one_third]

Trade

[/one_third]

[two_third_last]

• Introduce regulations to level the playing field in response to New York State’s Buy American legislation
• Continue to support the forestry sector’s productivity, innovation and access to new markets through the Forestry Growth Fund

[/two_third_last]

[one_third]

Universal Basic Income

[/one_third]

[two_third_last]

• Continue to evaluate the impact of a basic income in Hamilton and the surrounding area, Thunder Bay and Lindsay

[/two_third_last]

[one_third]

Emerging Industries

[/one_third]

[two_third_last]

• Enhance supports for innovative companies as they start up and scale up, including $85 million over 10 years through the Venture Technologies Fund
• Increase investment in the New Economy Fund by an additional $500 million over 10 years
• Create a $50 million Transformative Technology Partnerships Fund to support innovation in AI, 5G wireless communications, advanced computing and autonomous vehicles
• Renew a 10-year agreement with the University of Guelph that will see $700 million invested in agri-food education, research and innovation

[/two_third_last]

[one_third]Hospitals

[/one_third]

[two_third_last]

• Increase hospital funding by $822 million in 2018-19
• Support 40 major hospital building projects
• Create a Diabetes Centre of Excellence

[/two_third_last]

[one_third]

Long-Term Care

[/one_third]

[two_third_last]

• Create 30,000 new long-term care beds over the next 10 years
• Invest an additional $650 million in home care over the next three years
• Invest an additional $15 million in 2018-19 to improve access to community-based palliative care

[/two_third_last]

[one_third]

Mental Health

[/one_third]

[two_third_last]

• $2.1 billion additional investment in mental health and addiction care over the next four years
• Expand access to free psychotherapy for up to 350,000 more people with anxiety and depression

[/two_third_last]

[one_third]

OHIP+

[/one_third]

[two_third_last]

• Make more than 4,400 prescription drugs available free of charge to everyone 65 and over who is OHIP insured
• Cover all medications on the Ontario Drug Benefit program, including drugs for cholesterol, hypertension, thyroid conditions, diabetes and asthma
• Reimburse people for 80 per cent of prescription drug and dental costs, up to $400 for single people, $600 for couples and $700 for a family of four with two children

[/two_third_last]

[one_third]Housing

[/one_third]

[two_third_last]

• Expand access to supportive housing by funding 2,475 additional units
• Prohibit-above guideline rent increases in buildings with outstanding work orders related to pest control

[/two_third_last]

[one_third]Transit

[/one_third]

[two_third_last]

• Invest more than $11 billion to support the building of Canada’s first high-speed rail service in the Toronto-Windsor corridor
• Reduce fares for GTHA transit users, saving regular cross-boundary transit users approximately $720 a year
• Support green transportation through a $140 million investment to improve cycling infrastructure
• Reduce all GO Transit trips within Toronto to $3 per trip for PRESTO card users

[/two_third_last]

[one_third]

Infrastructure

[/one_third]

[two_third_last]

• Help municipalities repair roads and bridges connecting provincial highways by increasing annual funding to the Connecting Links Program to $30 million
• Invest $490 million over the next 10 years to repair and upgrade railway tracks, bridges and trains in Northern Ontario, through the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission
• Increase NOHFC funding to a total of $150 million in the next three years
• Increase Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund investments to $300 million by 2018-19 to build and renew road, bridge, water and wastewater infrastructure
• Commit to permanent annual funding to four-lane the TransCanada highway from the Manitoba border to the Quebec border

[/two_third_last]

[one_third]

Broadband

[/one_third]

[two_third_last]

• Invest an additional $500 million over three years to expand broadband connectivity in rural and northern communities

[/two_third_last]

[one_third]Hydro

[/one_third]

[two_third_last]

• Cut hydro bills by 25 per cent for residential consumers
• Cut hydro bills by as much as 40 per cent to 50 per cent for people with low incomes or who live in rural and Northern communities
• Complete the Wataynikaneyap Power Grid Connection Project, which will be the largest Indigenous-led and -owned infrastructure project in Ontario history, connecting 16 remote northern First Nation communities to the electricity grid

[/two_third_last]

[one_third]

Energy

[/one_third]

[two_third_last]

• Expand access to natural gas to communities that are not currently served in Northern Ontario, which can save families up to $1,100 per year

[/two_third_last]

[one_third]

Mining

[/one_third]

[two_third_last]

• As part of its $1 billion commitment, build the year-round access road to the Ring of Fire. Road construction is set to begin in 2019

[/two_third_last]

[one_third]Climate Adaptation Plan

[/one_third]

[two_third_last]

• Invest $20 million over three years to launch Ontario’s Climate Change Resiliency Organization
• Invests $2.3 billion in green infrastructure projects to help communities mitigate and adapt to climate change

[/two_third_last]

[one_third]

Environmental Protection

[/one_third]

[two_third_last]

• Require online and on-label disclosure of toxic substances and chemicals in key consumer products, such as household cleaning products, baby products and cosmetics, starting in 2020
• Work with the federal government and key stakeholders to make progress towards achieving the Aichi biodiversity target of 17% of Ontario’s lands and waters, including an initial investment of $15 million to preserve our forests, wetlands and lakes
• Reduce plastic pollution from single-use bottles by requiring that at least 85 per cent of all bottles be recycled

[/two_third_last]

[one_third]Wages & Benefits

[/one_third]

[two_third_last]

• Maintain planned wage increase to $15/hour by January 1, 2019
• Expand personal emergency leave to 10 days per calendar year
• Increase vacation time to 3 weeks per year after five years with the same employer

[/two_third_last]
[one_third]

Pensions

[/one_third]

[two_third_last]

• Create portable retirement plans that stay with workers between employers
• Piloting a three-year, $65 million program to encourage Personal Support Workers who work in publicly funded home care to save for retirement through a group Tax-Free Savings Account
• Giving the new Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario an explicit mandate to expand access to high-quality retirement plans

[/two_third_last]