Hot on the heels of NDP leader Marit Stiles’ visit to Springer Market Square, Bonnie Crombie made her own stop in town.
Hoping to build on Kingston and the Islands’ Liberal momentum, the Ontario Liberal Party is rallying and making its case to voters. After a nearly hour-long delay, Crombie, leader of the Ontario Liberal Party arrived at Ted Hsu’s campaign office on Princess St. at noon on Feb. 23, where she outlined her platform centred on ability, healthcare, and affordability.
“With just less than a week left, I feel the wind in our sails. We have the momentum, and that’s why I need every one of you to continue doing what you were doing. Just give it a little extra effort to make sure this guy [Ted Hsu] isn’t only re-elected, but with the biggest majority possible, because we need him,” Crombie said, addressing the crowd.
ed by Hsu, Crombie stopped by Pan Chancho Bakery ahead of the rally, tying the visit to her affordability platform. She outlined the Liberal Party’s plan to reduce income taxes for small businesses—like the one she’d just stepped into.
“The first $50,000 to $75,000, we are going to reduce that,” Crombie said. “Plus, we’re going to take the HST off your home heating and hydro. Between those two things we are going to save you $1,150 a year, that’s better than the $200 cheque that you got once.”
Following the affordability line, Crombie plans to build more affordable homes by removing hidden taxes, such as development charges, which, according to her, would reduce the price of homes by $170,000. The Liberals also plan to remove the land transfer tax for all first-time home buyers, seniors, and not-for-profits.
With an emphasis on ability, Crombie wants to hold the current Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, able for family doctor shortages in Ontario. According to the Ontario Medical Association, at least 2.3 million Ontarians don’t have regular access to primary care, and more than 2,500 physicians are needed in Ontario. She recalled a recent story published by the Toronto Star about a woman in Kingston who waited 40 hours for a hospital bed despite battling stage four breast cancer.
To address Ontario’s current healthcare system, Crombie offered a promise to redevelop Kingston General Hospital.
In an interview with The Journal, she detailed plans to attract, retain, and train new doctors, double residency spaces, and reduce istrative burdens.
“We need to reduce their istrative burdens because doctors spend half their time doing paperwork or making referral calls, so we need a centralized referral system that would eliminate that [istrative burden],” Crombie told The Journal.
Education is another key aspect of the Liberal Party’s plan. Crombie described the current system as “crumbling.” The Liberals plan to hire more teachers, special education staff, and staff, to address the backlog of school repairs.
“We have the plan, we have the talent, and now we need all of you to get out the vote,” Crombie said.
Among the local Kingstonians were Queen’s students Jacob Johnston, ArtSci ’25, president of the Queen’s University Liberal Association, along with Olivia Georgiou, ArtSci ’27, who serves as the association’s hip and campus outreach director. Johnston and Georgiou expressed the importance of student involvement in the political process, especially when it comes to the provincial government’s cuts to university funding.
“What happens in the province touches our lives, probably almost more than any other level of government. If we want to make change, if we want to have an impact, we need to vote,” Johnston said.
Both students encouraged their peers to engage with the election, make informed decisions, and vote for the change they want to see.
Polls for the provincial election are now open, as Ontarians can cast their votes early by visiting their local election office until 6 p.m. before election day on Feb. 27. Ontarians can vote at their assigned location according to their address on election day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Corrections
A previous version of this story misspelled Johnston’s last name and and incorrectly reported Georgiou’s position within QULA.
The Journal regrets the error
Tags
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be ed, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to [email protected].