This would allow people to better their own lives. The poor and students and seniors - low income or not - would be able to go to libraries and YMCA programmes, and wherever else there are programs and food banks .. to be able to travel to the edge of our Great Lakes to walk or picnic or just think about life .. to go to free concerts, and just generally be exposed to the wonders of our beautiful province. It would lift their spirits and raise their hopes and dreams. The increased use of public transportation would help reduce traffic issues and lower green house gasses. Obviously this is important. This would have all sorts of positive social aspects as well. More people using public transportation means safer friendlier communities. I see this as enabling people to improve their own lives. When students can get to school without the stress of high expense they will do better. When seniors can get to places freely they will go and enjoy their lives. When the poor can access all that our province has to offer, they will improve their ow lives. Joyfully.

URGENT:  Citizen rights are being abused and the Legislature is being bypassed as Ontario’s Attorney General decides to abruptly close the Local Planning Appeal Support Centre.   Add your support to three citizen and community advocacy groups based in Ottawa that are determined to hold the Attorney General accountable to the Legislature, which passed the Local Planning Appeal Support Centre Act in 2017.   On Feb. 21, barely nine months after the Support Centre began offering professional advice to citizens and citizen groups, the Attorney General has acted in a unilateral and possibly illegal way to shut down its operations.   Paul Johanis, chair of the Greenspace Alliance of Canada’s Capital, called the Attorney General’s move “outrageous” because of the impact the decision will have on citizens' groups fighting municipal planning decisions, because of how the decision was handed down to staff of the Centre, and because the announcement has bypassed elected representatives in the Ontario Legislature. Ecology Ottawa and the Federation of Citizens’ Associations of Ottawa are also demanding accountability from the Attorney General.   “What we as citizen advocates know is that on Feb. 21 somebody from the Attorney-General’s office told Mary Lee, executive director of the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal Support Centre, that she and her staff were no longer needed,” said Johanis. “This action dealt a blow to citizens across the province who may not be able to exercise their rights effectively without the advice Lee and her team of professionals were set up to provide.” According to Johanis, creation of the LPASC was one of the bright spots of the previous government's land use planning reforms. “After only nine months in operation, the government cannot rationally justify a move to close this centre.  As far as we can tell, the Act that created the Centre has not been repealed, which makes us wonder if the closure is even legal.” Send the Attorney General a clear message by signing our prepared message or by writing one of your own.

Beautiful old trees that are homes to Eagles, and other large birds are being taken out for no apparent reason, and clearcutting is being practiced everywhere in Qualicum Beach, Parksville, and Lantzville for subdivisions.

At 82, I don't have long left, but for those about to retire,like my children and grand children, the struggle to survive will become more difficult as they age, and I'd like to leave the planet knowing their lot will be easier I am lucky enough to be able to garden to supplement income and ensure I have decent food to eat, but as they are city bound, they will not have this option.

Saving the lives of Mothers and babies by continued sustainable funding for regulated education. Midwifery is not a business, it is an essential service. Fees for continued registration and education should not be a barrier to entry or continued employment. The provincial annual operational grant has been in place for 25 years because previous governments have recognized the importance of midwifery. "Midwives really do shoulder a proportionally higher burden of professional fees through our regulatory college to begin with," Elizabeth Brandeis, president of the Association of Ontario Midwives,... "So this cut of government support really does put that extra burden on midwives." Many women prefer to have a midwife than a doctor for prenatal and after birth care and there aren't enough midwives in Ontario. Midwives provide 6 weeks of support after the birth as well. They monitor the health of baby and mother after birth as well as coach with breast feeding and other newborn needs. As a mother of two I am very grateful that I was able to have a midwife for both pregnancies and births. The prenatal care was incredible, and even though there were complications in deliveries, each delivery was amazing and calm because of my midwives. They are skilled and able to deal with any issues as they are specialists. For postnatal care my midwife visited my home several times to check on how things were going. Then after the initial few weeks there were weekly visits to the clinic to check on baby and mother. She gave me the support, coaching, and information I needed that made me feel that everything was going ok. From CBC "there is already far greater demand for services than the province's 956 registered midwives can provide. "We know upward of 25 to 40 per cent of people who want to have a midwife can't currently access a midwife." "The combination of inequitable pay and higher professional dues really does create a tremendous stress on midwives." - Elizabeth Brandeis , president of the Association of Ontario Midwives This is a retrograde step for Ontario, while Alberta is leading the way "The loss of government funding in Ontario is in stark contrast to a boost for midwifery announced earlier this week by the Alberta government."; Alberta has also increased funding for midwifery services by $11 million over the last three years, bringing the total to $49 million. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/college-of-midwives-ontario-funding-cut-1.4946081

Midwives deliver 15 per cent of the babies born in Ontario, care for 12 to 14 per cent of pregnant women and are turning away clients because they can’t meet the demand, according to the Association of Ontario Midwives (AOM), which plays an advocacy and support role for midwives. We need MORE funding. Not less The decision to remove all funding shows a contempt for the profession and for women's needs

There are several families like my own and MP Tom Kmiec's who have experienced the life altering pain of child or infant loss who could have benefitted from extended time to heal, process, or help our significant other heal beyond the standard ESA standards act or corporate allowances that are insufficient for this specifically devastating type of loss. More details here: https://globalnews.ca/news/4550439/conservative-mp-who-lost-newborn-daughter-urges-others-to-hug-your-kids-in-house-of-commons-speech/ http://www.blakerichards.ca/motion-110/help-motion-110/?fbclid=IwAR3fiYcLw5gh9xIBkfcXuHzXrTylaYAS9VJifDEl_eu2H4AT6w2fTiQGQLI

Every Canadian should live with dignity regardless of their circumstances. Combing the resources of all Federal and provincial income support programs could fully fund such a pension program with enough left over to support low-income housing and other social programs to lift everyone out of poverty. Such initiatives would also reduce medical and prescription costs as well as impact significantly to reduce the cost of situational mental disorders and associated stressors.

Children are our future leaders and law makers. We must raise our children with morals, integrity, self-esteem and to assimilate empathy into their lives and personal experiences and behaviours.

Bangladesh planned to start sending Rohingya refugees back to Burma on November 15th. There are rumours of delays. There are rumours it has already started. The UN has described the genocide in Burma as ongoing. They have said that the conditions in Burma are not conducive to the voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable return of refugees. BUT The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has made a deal with the governments of Bangladesh and Burma. The UNHCR has agreed to assess if the refugees that Bangladesh wants to send back, are going willingly. This means the UNHCR is helping to facilitate a process of repatriation, even though they know it is not safe to go back. This repatriation process has sparked terror in the camps. Some refugees have fled into hiding, a few have attempted suicide. Canada is on the executive committee of the UNHCR. Canada is the 8th largest donor to UNHCR. Canada needs to stop this process now.

Israel is an apartheid state that illegally occupies Palestinian land. Decades of United Nations Resolutions have done nothing to compel The State of Israel to comply with international law. As Educators, we do not wish to profit from the illegal seizure of Palestinian land, and the human rights abuses committed against Palestinian men, women and children. Please Boycott, Divest, and Sanction our pension plan holdings of all Israeli companies, and companies that do business with the state of Israel.

In 2017, over 1,200 people died of preventable overdose in Ontario - hundreds more than 2016. [1] That's three people every day - dead. Emergency room visits because of opioid use have also skyrocketed over the past year, at 7,512 visits, a 69 per cent increase over the 4,427 visits in 2016. But there is a solution. Overdose prevention and safe injection sites are proven to save lives. In Ontario, several such sites have saved over a thousand lives in the past year; not a single person has died at these sites. These sites reduce public injection; reduce drug paraphernalia litter; and do not increase drug-related crime. Meanwhile, they could save millions in healthcare costs - and thousands of lives. [2] The time for "review" is over. The Ontario government must move forward immediately with approving and funding overdose prevention sites across the province, in addition to urgently needed supports and rehabilitation. SOURCES: [1] https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/opioid-overdose-deaths-surpass-1200-in-ontario-for-2017-new-data-show [2] https://betablog.org/overdose-prevention-site-reduce-public-injecting/ [3] https://www.catie.ca/en/pif/fall-2018/harm-reduction-action-supervised-consumption-services-and-overdose-prevention-sites