Woodstock families need better care, not cuts

WOODSTOCK – NDP Leader Andrea Horwath will end hallway medicine and fix the painfully long wait times – stopping Doug Ford’s $6 billion in across-the-board cuts before they start.

In the Oxford region, Ford’s cuts would mean layoffs for at least 24 nurses and health care professionals and 10 hospital beds being mothballed – making the hallway medicine crisis even worse. Ford’s cuts will mean 483 teachers from area schools would lose their jobs.

“After decades of switching between bad and worse, there’s this growing idea that we don’t have to accept cuts anymore,” said Horwath. “We don’t have to go from cuts to deeper cuts. We don’t have to watch our health care waits get longer and longer as our emergency rooms get more and more crowded.

“This time, there’s a growing idea that people can win Thursday’s election. We can choose better health care over cuts. We can fix what’s wrong and do what’s right for everyday families.”

Doug Ford is promising to cut $6 billion from hospitals, schools and other services families count on to give the richest corporations a $5 billion tax break. Meanwhile, in exchange for the deep cuts to their hospitals, schools and highway maintenance, most people will get an $18 a year tax break.

On the other hand, Horwath’s plan asks the very richest people and richest corporations to pay a little more. Her platform commits to:

• Ending hallway medicine
• Fixing seniors care
• Lowering hydro bills by 30 per cent
• Creating thousands of student co-op jobs and internships
• Providing drug and dental coverage for everyone

The NDP’s fully-costed Change for the Better platform can be found at ontariondp.ca/platform.