by Sylene Argent
“All the fights I have ever had in my career, whether it’s horse racing, thoracic cancer, or Highway #3, or [well] water issues…none of them would be possible without my community having my back,” Taras Natyshak, the Essex Riding NDP candidate in the provincial election, said at his official campaign launch on Sunday, May 6.
Natyshak is seeking re-election, in the June 7, 2018 Provincial election, for a third term.
“This campaign, what’s the motivator, what are we fighting for? Well, the things we all cherish, the things that make us a better community, are the things we have all built together as a collective,” Natyshak said, referring to the healthcare and education systems, the environment, and infrastructure that connects communities.
“When you go through the list, down the gamut of issues that make us a better community, and those are the things that have been under attack. Those are the things that are frustrating people about how the Liberal government has governed. They have degraded our healthcare system; they have cut, to the bone, where people are receiving care in hallways in our hospitals. They’ve cut education so desperately that teachers have to fundraise for pens and pencils and the fundamentals of education.
Life is getting harder, he said. “It doesn’t have to be like that. We can ensure that some of those fundamental aspects of society, like healthcare, like dental care, like pharmacare, things that just support basic health, are supported through government initiatives. That is a question of making it a priority for people, rather than the intangible things that government spends on every day, like massive tax breaks for the most profitable corporations that are doing really good.
“We sold off our most valuable public asset in hydro generation…Now, people are struggling to pay the bills,” he said.
“So, the things we are frustrated about the Liberal government, are all things that fit into a Conservative ideology,” the Belle River native said.
“What the message is today is that there is a better way…there are better ways to govern this province that respects taxpayer dollars, that invests in those things that make us all a healthier and more prosperous community, and that supports the fundamentals of a civil, cohesive society,” he said.
“I urge people to read through what our platform says,” Natyshak said, adding that some issues do not even require money, just some change.
The NDP, he said, has committed to adding 15000 new long-term care beds in the province over the first five years and 40,000 over the next several years, which will help mitigate over-crowding in hospitals. “That takes a big chunk out of the backlog in waiting lists for long-term care…it lets seniors have dignity and live their lives with the care they require. That isn’t the case right now.”
He said the platform will also offer long-term care residents a minimum of four hours of dedicated care per day.
The NDP platform, he added, includes bringing back hydro into the hands of the people. He said the NDP is also committed to reducing hydro rates by 30 percent. He added the NDP would get rid of time of use billing and average it out.
He recently tabled a motion that would call on the government to enact legislation to refund hydro customers who experience three outages to receive their delivery charge back.
“[Constituents] have seen my track record. They have seen there is not a fight that I’m not willing to launch on behalf of this community. I put my heart into the work I do. It is an honour to do it,” Natyshak said, adding the NDP is focused on becoming the government as it does not think Doug Ford is the answer. “We don’t need more Conservative policies driving our governance and our government. We need somebody in there for the right reasons.”
To learn more about the campaign, visit online at tarasnatyshak.ontariondp.ca.