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Decentralized Democracy

Bhutila Karpoche

  • MPP
  • Member of Provincial Parliament
  • Parkdale—High Park
  • New Democratic Party of Ontario
  • Ontario
  • 2849 Dundas St. W Toronto, ON M6P 1Y6 BKarpoche-CO@ndp.on.ca
  • tel: 416-763-5630
  • fax: 416-763-5640
  • BKarpoche-QP@ndp.on.ca

  • Government Page
  • Mar/6/24 11:50:00 a.m.

My question is to the Premier. Small businesses have not fully recovered from the pandemic. They are still struggling with inflation and economic uncertainty. The government’s website encourages small businesses to sign up for the Digital Main Street grant program, but this Conservative government told the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas members that the funding for the program will be cancelled in three weeks.

Why is the government abandoning small businesses yet again?

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  • Apr/6/23 2:20:00 p.m.
  • Re: Bill 91 

I’d like to thank my colleague from Toronto Centre for their presentation. This bill includes measures from the pandemic time that are going to be continued. One of the things the official opposition would like to see is the continuation of the paid sick days program. In fact, we think that every worker in this province should have at least 10 paid sick days. I was wondering if the member could comment on why it is so important that workers have access to paid sick days.

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  • Mar/29/23 11:30:00 a.m.

My question is to the Premier.

The Toronto District School Board was forced to tap into their reserves during the pandemic. This was to fulfill actions identified by the province for the health and safety of school communities and the academic success of students.

In a letter to the minister last week, the chair and director of the TDSB wrote, “We have depleted any working reserves and used reserves put away for other purposes.”

The Financial Accountability Office reported that this Conservative government did not spend $432 million of allocated funding for education in this fiscal year. At the same time, the TDSB was being forced to tap into their reserves.

Will the Premier repay the pandemic costs, as requested by the TDSB?

We cannot afford to lose staff when violence in schools is up.

We cannot afford to lose programs when student needs are high.

Why is the government leaving our students and schools without the supports they need?

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