The Ontario Liberal Party Leader has a lot of nice things to say about Milton.
myFM News had the chance to speak with Steven Del Duca.
He’s excited for Milton, now that a Ontario Liberal Party nominee has been named. Milton Town Councillor for Ward 4, Sameera Ali, won the vote earlier this month. Del Duca says that he’s excited to see what she can do should she win the next provincial election.
Councillor Ali is very vocal that Milton needs to improve its transit, focusing in on all-day GO transit. She feels that the potential joint Laurier-Conestoga campus in Milton could be a major factor in improving transit, while also being a valuable asset for the town. The joint campus was previously funded under the Liberal Ontario Government, but the funding was cut just months into Doug Ford’s tenure as the Premier. Del Duca says he’d be very keen to restart that project, or a similar one, should he be named Premier in 2022.
Del Duca adds that he had a chance to knock on doors with current Milton MP Adam van Koeverden during his campaign for the 2019 federal election. During the lead up to that election, Milton was viewed as a vital riding that could potentially decide the election. Del Duca says he believes Milton’s importance in elections stems from its rapid growth and development.
The Ontario Liberal Party Leader is very critical of the Premier’s response to COVID-19. He admits that in the early days of the pandemic, nearly every politician was in a panic-mode to figure what the next steps would be. Del Duca feels that now that we’re deep into a second wave, especially here in Halton, Premier Ford isn’t doing enough for residents.
He says he’s very concerned about the “confusion and inconsistent message” from Premier Doug Ford. He says the Premier has been caught ignoring the advice of Public Health Ontario, with respect to the criteria that would be used to determine which region would go into which stage. Del Duca feels that Ford has made it tough on the people of Milton, Halton, and other areas that are now in hot-zones.
He also addresses nursing homes and how they have been an ongoing issue during the pandemic, leading to an increasing number of deaths.
Schools are also an issue for Del Duca, as he says students and staff members continue to be at-risk.
As the Milton’s MPP and the local representative for Doug Ford’s Conservative Party, myFM News reached out to Parm Gill’s office for a statement regarding Del Duca’s criticism of the Ontario Government’s COVID-19 response. Here is what MPP Gill had to say:
“With the onset of the COVID-19, Ontario was one of the first provinces to take decisive action by closing our schools, implement job protected leaves, introduce a moratorium on residential, and soon after, commercial rent evictions, while passing a suite of financial supports.
“We won’t be taking any lessons from a previous Liberal Government that wasn’t there for Ontarians. Since 2011, the Del Duca Liberals only built 611 long term care beds.
“With the second wave of COVID-19, we moved forward with our preparedness plan that invested an additional $2.8 billion to reinforce our frontline health care providers, and keep people healthy and well. In an additional step forward our 2020 Budget lays out a $45 billion roadmap to protect, support, and recover.
“Here in Halton, our government recently announced that we’re investing $6,479,200 for up to 52 hospital beds for Halton Healthcare, and will be building 512 long-term care homes in the region.
“Our Government has been transparent every step of the way and will continue to ensure the health and wellbeing of all Ontarians is at the centre of every decision.”
The Ontario election is expected for June, 2022 – pending any surprises.
