ON ELECTION: ON chapters mobilizing for June 7

[Oscar]

Ontario chapters mobilizing for June 7 provincial election

[ https://canadians.org/blog/ontario-chap ... l-election ]

May 7, 2018 - 7:03 am

(PHOTO: The London chapter and allies rallied this past Saturday calling for provincial funding to local hospitals to be restored. Photo by Len Elliott.)

Council of Canadians chapters are working to highlight key issues in the lead-up to the provincial election in Ontario on June 7.

This morning CBC reports, "Polling suggests nearly half of Ontario voters haven't fully made up their minds, and that makes them persuadable over the next month."

This evening party leaders Kathleen Wynne, Doug Ford and Andrea Horwarth will participate in a live televised debate and the writ - which officially starts the election campaign - will be issued on Wednesday May 9.

Among upcoming chapter activities:

• May 10: the Guelph chapter as a member of the Guelph Wellington Coalition for Social Justice will be holding an all-candidates meeting co-sponsored by the Canadian Federation of University Women and CFRU 93.3 FM;
• May 14: the South Niagara chapter is co-organizing an all-candidates debate on health care (in St. Catherines) with the Ontario Health Coalition, the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP), and the Retired Teachers of Ontario Foundation;
• May 14: the Peterborough-Kawarthas chapter, the Peterborough Health Coalition and four community partners will hold an all-candidates debate;
• May 16: the London chapter is organizing for a people's forum to find out what issues matter to local residents;
• May 17: the South Niagara chapter and allies are organizing an all candidates debate on health care (in Niagara Falls);
• May 23: the South Niagara chapter and allies are organizing an all candidates debate on health care (in Niagara Centre);
• May 24: the London chapter will be at the London Health Coalition all-candidates meeting in London North Centre;
• May 24: the South Niagara chapter and allies are organizing an all candidates debate on health care (in Niagara West).

And already:

• the Guelph chapter has been posting a series of creative memes on their Facebook page to encourage people to vote;
• the London chapter held a rally on May 5 with the Ontario Health Coalition, OSSTF, OPSEU, Unifor and the London and District Labour Council to call for closed hospital wards to be reopened and funding to local hospitals to be restored;
• the Kitchener-Waterloo chapter co-sponsored a public forum on May 3 with the Ontario Health Coalition featuring British health policy expert John Lister speaking on hospital overcrowding, cuts, P3s and privatization;
• the Halton chapter attended the Wellington Water Watchers concert on April 29 to support the call for the provincial government to phase out bottled water takings in Ontario;
• the London chapter - a member of the London Health Coalition - participated in a meeting on April 24 to discuss 'What should be done by the next Ontario government to fix the crisis in public healthcare?';
• the Windsor-Essex chapter and allies hosted a pre-election 'Healing Health Care' public forum on April 17.

Also, organizers Mark Calzavara and Rachel Small recently developed an Ontario Election Survey that was circulated to our supporters in this province. An amazing 3,845 people responded and told us which key issues will inform their vote. We'll be sharing those results this week so please watch for that in the coming days!

To read the promises the parties are making, please see:

• Change for the Better - NDP
[ https://www.ontariondp.ca/platform ]

• A Plan for Care and Opportunity - Liberals
[ https://news.ontario.ca/mof/en/2018/03/ ... unity.html ]

• For The People - PCs
[ http://www.fordnationlive.ca/ ]

• Green Vision - Greens
[ https://gpo.ca/vision/ ]

#onelxn

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]

[Oscar]

Council of Canadians releases Ontario election report card rating party platforms

[ https://canadians.org/media/ontario-ele ... eport-card ]

May 28, 2018 Media Release

(GRAPHIC: Report Card)

Toronto – The Council of Canadians released an Ontario Election report card today, rating the four main party platforms according to a “Key Election Issues” survey of Council supporters in Ontario.

The Council of Canadians’ online survey [ https://canadians.org/Ontario2018 ], conducted between April 21 and May 9, received 3,892 responses from Ontario supporters of the social justice organization. The survey asked, “Which issues are important to you and will inform how you will vote in the upcoming election?”

Fifty-two of the listed issues received more than 50 per cent support from respondents, forming the rubric for analyzing each of the main parties’ positions during the election campaign (up until May 24th). Where there was a reasonably clear commitment to a key issue identified in the survey, a checkmark was given.

Here are the results for each party:

NDP: 36/52 = 69%
Greens: 29/52 = 55%
Liberals: 21/52 = 40%
Progressive Conservatives: 6/52= 12%

Graphics: Report card summary [ https://www.flickr.com/photos/councilof ... 510375165/ ].
Detailed report card [ https://www.flickr.com/photos/councilof ... 415788541/ ].
Full breakdown of results [ https://aaf1a18515da0e792f78-c27fdabe95 ... 7299860000] .

95% of respondents stated they had voted in the 2014 provincial election – far higher than the province-wide voter turnout of 52% in 2014. 98% of respondents stated they will vote on June 7.

“This is the most important election Ontario has seen in decades,” said Mark Calzavara, an Organizer with the Council of Canadians. “Whichever party wins on June 7th, the Council of Canadians will endeavour to convince the new government to prioritize these key issues.”

“We have more than 60,000 supporters across Ontario and more than 3,000 supporters in several key ridings,” said Rachel Small, an Organizer with the Council of Canadians. “They are informed and engaged and they vote. They know what they want the future of Ontario to look like, and they will organize in their communities to make that happen.”

The full survey results are available on the Council of Canadians’ Ontario Election webpage [ https://canadians.org/Ontario2018 ] and are summarized in this graphic [ https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/949/40195 ... d509_o.png ].

The Council of Canadians is non-partisan. We believe in active citizen involvement in the electoral process. While the Council does not endorse candidates, parties or holders of public office, the organization may support positions taken that are consistent with its goals and mission. -30-

For more information or to arrange interviews:

Dylan Penner, Media Officer, Council of Canadians,
613-795-8685, dpenner@canadians.org. Twitter: @CouncilOfCDNs