Our kids can’t afford homes in the communities they grew up in, seniors can’t downsize, and everyday working people in places like Hawkesbury, Russell, Alexandria and Rockland can’t afford a home. It’s about time we get a government and an MPP that treats the Housing crisis for what it really is, a crisis.

If elected, here’s what we’d do:

1. Eliminating the provincial Land Transfer Tax for first-time homebuyers, seniors downsizing, and non-profit home builders—saving families and seniors on average $13,500 off the cost of a new home.  

2. Scrapping Development Charges on new middle-class housing, which can add up to $170,000 on the price of a new home, and replacing them with the Better Communities Fund to ensure that the province invests in and benefits from sustainable municipal growth.  

3. Making renting more affordable by introducing fair, phased-in rent control similar to Manitoba, resolving Landlord-Tenant Board disputes within two months, and establishing the Rental Emergency Support for Tenants (REST) Fund to help vulnerable renters avoid eviction during financial emergencies.  

   This plan will save folks in our region up to $170,000 on the cost of a new home, make rent more affordable, and get more homes and communities built by cutting the taxes that are making homes more expensive.

Leaked data from the Ministry of Health in Ontario painted a rough picture. Approximately 1 in 3 people in Glengarry-Prescott-Russell either don’t have access to a family doctor or are imminently at risk of losing their family doctor. We need to take our health seriously, not waste billions on venture projects in Toronto. Here’s our plan for health in Ontario:

1. Educate, attract and retain 3,100 new domestic and internationally trained family doctors.

2. Improve the Ontario Health Team network, using it to massively expand access to family doctors practicing in teams close to your home within four years.

3. Modernize family medicine, put an end to fax machines once and for all, and make appointments available on evenings and weekends.

4. Stop penalizing patients and doctors if they seek care at walk-in clinics.

5. Incentivize doctors to establish themselves in rural communities like Glengarry-Prescott-Russell.

6. Pay all nurses and PSWs a living wage so we can train and retain the support our system needs to provide care.

7. Ensure wage parity across the system so that regardless of whether you work for a hospital, in-home care, or in long-term care, you’re paid a fair, living wage.

Everything is getting more expensive in Ford’s Ontario and it seems like we just can’t catch a break. That’s why if elected, we’ll give some permanent relief to folks in our region, not cheap gimmicks.

1. Cut the income tax rate for middle-class Ontario families.

2. Eliminate sales tax (HST) on home heating and hydro bills.

3. Cut the small business tax rate by half.

These tax cutswould be the largest tax relief plan for the people of Ontario in over a decade, saving a middle-class family in our region approximately $1,150 every year. All the while giving a helping hand to our local businesses.

I have also heard from many disabled members of our community who have been desperately trying to put food on their table. Where we come from, we look after our own, when someone’s in need we lay a helping hand because that’s the right thing to do. That’s why I’m committed to permanently doubling Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) benefits and indexing it to inflation.

In 2018, the Ford government showed our francophone community what they really thought of us. Despite representing a small funding percentage he immediately cut into our services and into francophone education. We need a governement that truly understands and respects Franco-Ontarians and the unique challenges we face. If elected, here’s what we’ll do to revitalize and finally empower our francophonie:

1. Reinstate the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner.

2. Create a Francophone health care strategy.

3. Work with francophone school boards to bolster their funds to recruit and retain more teachers.

4. Develop a francophone childcare action plan to create more spaces for kids in french language daycares.

The Ontario Liberal plan to fight unjustified Trump tariffs:

1. Backstop Ontario businesses with a new Fight Tariffs Fund that gives them access to lower-than-market interest rates (at government rates). This will allow our businesses to protect and create jobs by reducing the cost of borrowing money to operate or invest in their businesses and workers. 

2. Ensure stimulus spending on infrastructure is focused on the projects communities in Ontario need the most – hospitals, schools, roads and transit. 

3. Lead an across-government effort to ensure we spend taxpayers’ money wisely – including directing departments and agencies to exclude American companies like Elon Musk’s Starlink from procurement opportunities – and invest the savings back into supporting this stimulus plan. 

4. Work with other provinces to eliminate nonsensical interprovincial trade barriers and build a truly Team Canada approach to growing our economy.

Statement from Trevor Stewart following Trump’s announcement of tariffs to be levied on March 4th:

“I want to make one thing clear, I love this country and this region, and I will always fight for it.

As we prepare to fight these looming tariffs, I encourage you to buy Canadian and, more importantly, buy local.

I ask myself how Doug Ford will defend the steelworkers at Ivaco in Hawkesbury when he has never even stepped foot in our region, not once in 7 years as Premier.

I will defend us in Eastern Ontario. I will be there for us, and I will always put us first.

We are all in this fight together. I’ve spoken with thousands of you who feel as if the world is getting darker, whether it be Trump’s election, tariffs, or our crumbling healthcare system. Know that there are still people fighting for us, the regular, everyday Ontarians. There is still hope.

On February 27th, I encourage you to vote for hope, vote to defend our region, and vote to put yourself first.”

Universities and colleges should be places of learning for all not just those who can afford it. I’ve heard from hundreds of students in our region wether they’re at uOttawa or at Collège La Cité, they are taking on untold amounts of debt in a simple effort to better themselves and their job prospects. We should be making accessing education easier and here’s how we can do it:

• Support the creation of 40,000 new paid co-op, internship, and apprenticeship positions through tax credits for employers who hire young people.

• Eliminate interest on OSAP loans and raise the income threshold for repayment to $50,000.

• Cap international student enrollment at 10% for each Ontario college and university, and expand campus resources and affordable student residence options.

• Fund colleges and universities fairly to help them avoid being heavily dependent on international student enrollment.