Ontario’s main opposition parties have released major policy proposals targeting minimum-wage workers and land development as they look ahead to next June’s provincial election.
The Official Opposition New Democrats, led by Andrea Horwath, pledged Tuesday that, if elected, they would increase Ontario’s minimum wage to $16 an hour next year and by a dollar each year after that, to $20 by 2026.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Party vowed to curb the excessive use of ministerial zoning orders, which override normal planning and environmental rules to spur development, with Leader Steven Del Duca promising to better protect the environment as his party looks to rebuild after a crushing loss in 2018.
At a news conference Tuesday, Ms. Horwath criticized Premier Doug Ford’s government – which holds a majority in the legislature – for its recent pledge to boost the minimum wage to $15 an hour in January after scrapping plans for an increase when first elected in 2018.
Ms. Horwath said her party is taking an incremental approach to increasing the minimum wage so as not to harm small and medium-sized businesses. The NDP’s first increase would kick in Oct. 1 next year, followed by annual one-dollar increases starting May 1, 2023.
“We need to address the fact that people just can’t earn a living on the minimum wage as it stands here in Ontario,” she said. “We are the Official Opposition. We have every intention of running Doug Ford out of this province.”
Labour Minister Monte McNaughton told...
President Donald Trump spoke about his feud with Pope Leo XIV, claiming Pope Leo apparently said Iran “can have a nuclear weapon.” CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins asked Trump why he is fighting again...