The Citizen invited Ottawa candidates from the four major provincial parties to explain why you should vote for them on Feb. 27.
The Citizen invited Ottawa candidates from the four major provincial parties to explain why you should vote for them. Those who met our deadlines and protocols will be published this week and next. Today: Kanata-Carleton riding Green party candidate Jennifer Purdy.
Growing up, I had a family doctor in Kanata, and my parents did not have to wait years to find one or drive across the city. Nor did we have painful waits for ambulances. When I was a field hockey goalie at the Earl of March Scondary School, I suffered a fracture at practice. I went by ambulance to the Queensway Carleton Hospital, and was treated quickly.
As we all know, health care is in crisis, and we can only dream of the aforementioned scenarios these days. Before any discussion of building another hospital, we need to properly staff existing hospitals — in Kanata-Carleton’s case, the Queensway Carleton Hospital. The quickest way to increase the numbers of doctors, nurses and other health-care workers is to improve working conditions, and ensure incomes are appropriate to the education, training and increased risk inherent in these professions. I believe in protecting workers’ safety and rights, and in the case of hospitals, this would translate into better health care including accessibility for all.
We need to protect people currently working at QCH, so I will work with QCH as well as other MPPs to ensure that masking becomes mandatory for staff, patients and visitors, while obtaining funding for improvements in ventilation for all Ontario hospitals. It is so important to protect QCH staff from illnesses that further reduce staffing levels, and can lead to long-term disability. We must protect patients and visitors as well.
When I was a student at the Earl of March (’88-’92), there might have been one or two portable classrooms. I was shocked to see that a field where sports used to be played is now covered with portables. We need to invest more in education, and remember that education is an investment in everyone’s future, young and old. As MPP, I will be working to lower class sizes in our local schools, and again, protect staff and students’ safety and rights. This includes ensuring class sizes are not too large, because that puts untenable demands on teachers and other support staff, plus those children and youth who need just a bit more care and attention. I will work to reverse funding cuts for children diagnosed with autism and children with significant disabilities. It is an unfair situation, and has impacts that affect us as a community both short- and long-term.
Finally, schools across Ottawa, including Kanata-Carleton, have seen funding cuts of $1,500 per student since Doug Ford came into office in 2018.
As MPP, I will work with my colleagues from all parties to reverse this ill-advised cut.
Health care and education are essential benchmarks for Kanata-Carleton residents, and furthermore, both can attract people and businesses to our riding. It is important to remember that funding for both comes from us, the taxpayers. It is time to invest in our present, and preserve and build our future here in Kanata-Carleton.
Jennifer Purdy (she/her/elle), is the Green Party of Ontario candidate for Kanata-Carleton.
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