Joel Harden MPP / Député, Ottawa Centre

Government of Ontario

Budget 2021

The government is presenting their budget this week and we are calling on them to provide people with help and hope. 

We want investments to help long-term care, hospitals, schools and job creation.

Our top budget priorities include:
 
Long-term care

  • Achieve four hours of daily hands-on care for every long-term care resident urgently by hiring 10,000 full-time PSWs in long-term care, and giving them higher wages and paid training
  • Immediately reinstate comprehensive Resident Quality Inspections in long-term care

Hospitals

  • Shore up the hospital sector with increases to base funding and eliminating all hospital deficits
  • Give hospitals funding to eliminate the backlog of surgeries and cancer screenings. A minimum of 227,500 patients are waiting in pain for surgeries that were delayed
  • Provide funding to get shovels in the ground on hospital construction and expansion urgently, including new hospital beds in Scarborough, and a new full hospital in Brampton

Students and schools

  • Help students recover pandemic learning loss by hiring additional teachers and education workers, guaranteeing smaller class sizes and no layoffs
  • Help students overcome the difficult pandemic year with new mental health supports in every school

Jobs

  • Fund 14 paid sick days and guarantee paid time off to get a vaccine
  • Provide small businesses with expanded rent and payroll supports until businesses are back on their feet

Tell us what you think. Fill out these questions to rank our four priorities and what else we should be pushing for.

Question 1/5

Out of our four top priorities, what is the most important to you?