Dear friends,

Summer is finally here and Davenport is buzzing with activity. From street fairs to graduations, Portugal Day to Pride, it is a great time to reconnect with neighbours, tackle some yard work or just enjoy the nicer weather.

On June 6, Doug Ford’s Conservatives adjourned the legislature for five months - meaning MPPs will not return until the end of October - well after the federal election. That means fewer opportunities for those of us in the Opposition to hold his government to account. During this time, legislation will not proceed and most committee work will cease.

However, my work as your MPP never stops. My community office at 1199 Bloor St. West is there to serve you and assist with any provincial matter. Drop by to say hello and find out more about how we can serve you! Also, I will be spending my summer all around our community, working with residents and local organizations. Get in touch to find out more!  I look forward to working with you to discuss how we can defend our public services and push forward a more hopeful agenda for a more sustainable and fair Ontario.

Below you will find a recap of some of the legislation that passed at the end of this session, updates on what I am working on as well as community event information. And you can always get more up-to-the-minute updates by following me on social media on twitter, facebook, and instagram.

Thanks and have a wonderful start to your summer.

Marit

Marit Stiles, MPP
Davenport

Recognizing National Indigenous Peoples Day

Today, on National Indigenous Peoples Day we honour and acknowledge the culture, history and enduring presence of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples on this land. It’s also a time to renew our push for true reconciliation and to take action to address the systemic inequalities and discrimination Indigenous people and communities face every day.

Happy Pride!

As we head into Pride weekend here in Toronto I want to extend my very best to Davenport’s LGBTQ2S community. I stand in solidarity with you as we keep working toward a world where homophobia, transphobia and hate are erased for good.

New cabinet, same cuts

Responding to massive public opposition, Doug Ford rearranged his cabinet ministers during a June 20 swearing in ceremony. Time and again we’ve seen PC MPPs more than willing to support Ford’s callous agenda of cuts. Changing the faces might look like a refresh, but it doesn’t change the impact of this government’s policies on our classrooms, hospitals and environment.

I’ll keep standing up against an agenda that puts the wealthiest Ontarians first while the rest of us are forced to pay the price.

GO Transit electrification in jeopardy?

Davenport has waited for years for the province to move forward on electrification of the GO Transit network. Despite a promise from the previous government that it would be completed by 2017, diesel trains still run through the heart of our communities and now there are growing concerns that the Ford government may be reneging on its commitment to electrification.

On June 3, I co-signed a letter with NDP Transit Critic Jessica Bell to the Minister of Transportation to raise the issue.

Read my letter here.

Community Meeting on Public Health Cuts

Thanks to overwhelming pressure from municipalities, experts and ordinary Ontarians, Doug Ford was forced to scrap the retroactive cuts to public health. While we should be happy about this victory, the cuts are still on their way – and they will have their biggest impact here in Toronto.

In order to talk about next steps and the impact these cuts will have here in Davenport, I’m hosting a community meeting on the public health cuts with Councillor and Chair of the Toronto Board of Health, Joe Cressy at 7pm on Thursday, July 4 at the Davenport-Perth Community Health Centre.

RSVP here to join us.

It’s time to make menstrual products free in schools

May 28 was Menstrual Hygiene Day, a day of awareness to help promote health and end stigma around menstruation. I was proud to table a motion that week, calling on the government to make menstrual products free in Ontario’s publicly-funded schools.

Watch the video and sign the petition here!

A Green New (Democratic) Deal for Ontario

Last weekend, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath announced a bold, competing vision to Doug Ford’s anti-environment agenda. Together, we’re committed to:

• Make Ontario net-zero by 2050, reaching a cut in emissions of at least 50 per cent by 2030

• Create more than a million new jobs

• Add billions of dollars to Ontario's economy

• Embark on the largest building retrofit program in the world

• Provide homeowners with rebates and interest free loans for renovations to move towards net-zero emissions homes

• Deliver a job-training guarantee

Read the full policy paper here.

We need your ideas and feedback as we work to build a stronger, more sustainable province and world. Stay tuned for more opportunities to get involved in this important work.

Bill 108 hands unprecedented power to developers, at the expense of real housing action

At a time when our city is facing a real housing crisis, the Ford government has passed a bill that gives developers sweeping new powers while taking away tools that municipalities need to ensure new housing is affordable, and that the services people need are there. Bill 108 restores the hated Ontario Municipal Board, allowing developers to simply override city planners and councilors to force through plans. This bill will have major implications for our Davenport neighbourhoods which will see a number of new developments along the Dufferin corridor in coming years.

And in one of the most dangerous changes, the bill clears the way for developers to pay to break the Endangered Species Act, putting Ontario’s wildlife at further risk of extinction. It’s an issue that many residents have contacted me about and I was proud to bring those concerns into third reading debate on this bill.

Read the full text of my speech here.

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