Ontario NDP focused on solutions during caucus retreat

KITCHENER – Official Opposition NDP Leader Marit Stiles addressed her 29-person MPP team on Wednesday, delivering the attached speech.

In the wake of Ford’s massive breach in public trust on following two explosive reports that revealed a corrupt and incompetent Greenbelt plan, Stiles laid out her plan to bring trust and ethics back to Queen’s Park:

“As Ontario’s Official Opposition, people are looking at us to lead the way, and to do things differently, and they are seeing how New Democrats stand up for them.

We're fighting for affordability, public health care, stronger services... but we are also fighting to return basic order to government and democracy, too. Returning trust.

We will continue to stand united and strong. We will continue to keep pushing back against this government’s dirty and selfish politics.

Let’s continue to win more for people".

Stiles reiterated the housing solutions the Ontario NDP and experts have been calling on the Ford government to implement, including:

• Real rent control
• Building truly affordable housing (including non-profit, public, co-op and supportive housing)
• Cracking down on land speculation
• Establishing inclusionary zoning to build homes within existing neighbourhoods, near transit and other key infrastructure
• Getting the federal and provincial governments back in the business of building homes that people can actually afford