To the editor:
Doug Ford’s recent initiative to return $200 to every Ontario taxpayer is bold and also ridiculous.
The accumulated sum, a whopping $3 billion could immediately move the dial on many issues important to citizens namely health care, addictions and community safety.
Although those of less means will undoubtedly spend their cheques stimulating the economy much or most of it will simply end up dormant in bank accounts or stock portfolios. Ford is trading what could be a transformational sum of money for political parlour tricks, ignoring the crisis on our doorstep.
Municipalities are being forced to cut services and raise taxes to pay for ballooning emergency services budgets that are the direct result of inadequate investments in social infrastructure.
Paying out dividends to every Ontarian is not an equitable solution. It only ensures that the addictions and mental health crisis continues to be carried on the backs of the marginalized. Alternatively strategic investments in health and wellness will ensure that every citizen, regardless of socio-economic status get to benefit from healthier and more prosperous cities.
Brian Hamilton
City Councillor McKellar Ward
Thunder Bay
