Scarborough deserves better than Crawford’s Cuts

SCARBOROUGH – As advance polls open in Scarborough–Guildwood, voters in the by-election have an important choice: to continue the Ford Conservatives’ track record of paying more for less, or to vote Ontario NDP and elect a community champion who will stand up for Scarborough.

As Toronto’s budget chief since 2014, Scarborough–Southwest City Councillor (now Conservative candidate) Gary Crawford has been the politician most responsible for the city’s spending decisions.

Crawford drove Toronto into a fiscal mess. Who knows what he’d do at the provincial level?

He oversaw cuts to services that millions of people in Scarborough rely on, all while letting roads crumble, parks overgrow, the housing crisis worsen, and streets go unplowed in the winter.

CRAWFORD’S CUTS:

• Voted to give big developers a $364 million tax break
• Voted to close a library and cut library funding
• Voted AGAINST action on affordable housing
• Voted AGAINST support for renters
• Voted AGAINST affordable child care
• Voted AGAINST rapid transit for Scarborough during the SRT replacement
• Voted AGAINST improving TTC service
• Voted AGAINST standing up against Ford’s $200 million cut to public health just before the pandemic
• Voted AGAINST helping low-income seniors and businesses that struggled to pay their water bills during the pandemic

Scarborough deserves better than that.

With just seven seats in the Legislature, the leaderless Liberals don’t have the strength or ability to stand up for Scarborough. One of their leadership candidates even wants to cut public services.

Only Thadsha Navaneethan and the Ontario NDP will stand up for Scarborough. Electing her to join Marit Stiles’ strong Official Opposition NDP Caucus will guarantee a strong voice for Scarborough at Queen’s Park instead of more cuts.