Common Ground | Terrain commun Affordable Cost of Living

Want to help seniors,especially single woman, who have little or only government pension ?

 

Illuminate the provincial portion of the OAS and CPP pensions and push for the Federal government to do the same.

We currently have the most expensive auto insurance premiums in Canada despite also having one of the lowest levels of accidents and fatalities. The average auto insurance premium in Ontario is $1,458, which is almost 55 per cent higher than the average of all other Canadian jurisdictions.

Public auto insurance programs, such as those in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, take a different approach. Standard rates apply to every... more »

You may have recently read in the news about Walmart throwing out perfectly good/edible food because they couldn't sell it... or some other reason that doesn't make sense.

Laws should force companies, farmers, or anyone creating and/or distributing food, to prevent food waste. These "near due dates" foods should be sent to food banks, instead of being thrown away. Or, to find a way to have them create pickup times at... more »

Current land-use polices, namely “Places To Grow Act”, enacted more than 10 years ago, is outdated and based on old environmental philosophy - concocted during early 1990s - that’s not compatible with the state of the technology available to us at the present (e.g. Electric Cars, Solar Roofs, etc.). According to the current Ontario Government Climate Change Action Plan, housing and transportation amount to about 55% of... more »

The Ontario Liberal Party should commit to making parking at all Ontario hospitals free of charge for patients, visitors and staff.

Parking charges at Ontario hospitals cost
on average $2.50 for each half an hour and $15 per day. I believe that this places an unfair and unnecessary burden on families, patients and even hospital staff who do not always have their parking validated as employees of the hospital. This is... more »

Insurance companies have far too much leverage when home or auto claims are being settled. Under current legislation policy holders have the right to choose which auto body shop they will use to complete a repair. Once the shop is selected, the insurance company then visits the shop and "encourages" the cheapest possible repair, ideally using aftermarket parts and parts salvaged from other vehicles. Even in cases where... more »

Currently, the government does not charge the HST on basic groceries - meat, dairy, fruits, and vegetables - but does on things like snack foods and prepared foods that are not necessarily as healthy for you. The reason for this is to encourage healthier diet choices.

My suggestion is that the HST for all food products at grocery or similar stores should be included in the price, rather than just applied at the cash... more »

I've notice (during my hosing hunt), that a lot of condos in Toronto are actually own by people not living in Ontario (let alone Toronto). If we have a foreign buyers tax, why not something similar for people buying/selling homes who don't even live in the province?

Homes, condos, apartments, etc. should first and foremost be for living... NOT investments to make money. Priority for home ownership should be for residents... more »

Child care fees can be upwards of $1000 a month which is the same or more than a mortgage payment or rent. With many parents unable to afford child care costs, they cannot go to work or school. Sometimes parents (many times mothers) stay home to watch their children when they would like to be working because they can't afford child care. Child care fee subsidy does exist but many times people with lower-middle incomes... more »

Seniors with a yearly income under $ 30,000 shall not pay any provincial taxes. Ontarians that worked all their lives shall not live in poverty in Ontario. we need to take care of our seniors because they are our parents and soon it will be us. By not charging provincial taxes for seniors with a yearly income under $ 30.000 we help to improve the level of net income for our seniors. Rather than charging provincial taxes... more »

When Bob Rae's NDP Ontario government removed the provincial sales tax from meals under $4 in the early 1990s it was a significant move. Nearly all fast food and cafe meals were priced below $4 and removing the PST had a significant impact. Fast forward 25 years and the $4 exemption threshold has not changed -- though meal prices certainly have! It is nearly impossible to find any cafe/restaurant that serves a complete... more »

Tax owners of vacant/unused property. Not specific to homes, but all types of property from vacant lots, parking, buildings. Get them to either put them on the market for others to use, or fix them up and rent to others who can use them. Do something to prevent current owners from squatting on the land, waiting for prices to go up and selling later. Get them to use it now.

Several other provinces have public auto insurance - but Ontario does not. This is one reason why we have the highest car insurance rates in the country.

If someone is injured or disabled in an accident, we end up paying most of the cost of health care for them, and possibly they will qualify for ODSP, EI, Workman's Comp or CPP Disability Benefits.

We should have public auto insurance to get the cost saving found in... more »

The Government of Ontario should cap any and all ATM transactions fees at a maximum of 50 cents per transaction.

It is not uncommon for Bank ATMs to charge users $2 per transaction and those

ATMs found in convenience stores - especially in low income areas - to charge even more. This is blantent corporate greed and highway robbery of Ontarians -especially low income individuals.

currently, people on O.D.S.P. are getting in the neighborhood of 1200.00 per month my bachelor apartment is 566 per month odsp only pays 479 per month for shelter thus the rest comes out of our food budget. you don't need a pilot project to know that increasing the amount per month is the right thing to do !!