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

This is important so that ODSP and OW clients can live a reasonable life and be able to afford decent food all month long and to ease the stress of struggling to pay bills. ODSP and OW clients deserve to have a decent roof over their heads especially with winter coming on.

20% of Canadians are reported to have a disability, including 200,000 Canadian children; This is predicted to rise to 25% by 2031; People of all ages have disabilities of many types; There is no building code in Canada mandating that housing be made accessible to people with disabilities; Universal design will accommodate anyone of any age or ability, going beyond mere accessibility, and demonstrating an underlying commitment to including as wide a range of users as possible; and The Canadian Human Rights Code and Charter of Rights and Freedoms forbid discrimination on the basis of disability.

Let's make sure that the Clean Energy Act only lets BC Hydro burn clean wood, which is not creosote-soaked rail ties.

This is important because if this dilbit pipeline/tanker project is allowed to proceed it will inevitably ruin B.C.'s environment and economy in the event of another catastrophic oil spill similar to the Exxon Valdez in Alaska, Kalamazoo River in Michigan, RedDeer River in Alberta, North Saskatchewan River, and many more across the globe. The photographs of crude oil-covered sea birds and mammals should be enough to make anyone want to do something to stop this madness.

Samsing, operators of the North Kent Wind Farm, continue pile driving into the bedrock of Chatham Kent, knowing that it has destroyed the water wells of dozens of families. Ontario regulators are doing nothing to protect these families, who have relied on well water for generations. The pile driving sends toxic sediment into the water that ruins water pumps. The sediment could eventually settle, but the vibrations from the turbines prevent this. Ultimately, the pile driving has resulted in dozens of families and their farms being cut off from their water supply. A few farmers tried to blockade the site to prevent further damage and Samsung sued them for the cost of delays. Tell Samsung to clean up its act! Boycott their phones, TVs and appliances and demand your pension funds divest from them now.