Common Ground | Terrain commun Ideas

Both provincial and federal Liberal governments tout inclusiveness and the value of diversity, and I would say, rightfully so. And yet we fully publicly fund two school systems that enshrines segregation. We segregate students based on religious grounds and we violate the rights of non-Catholic teachers to practice their craft at all the publicly funded schools in Ontario. These egregious and un-Canadian values should... more »

Fees for so called professional programs need to be brought back down to earth. High fees for programs such as engineering, MBAs, and medical schools create accessibility barriers. Only the well off or those willing to take on enormous debts can participate in these programs.

Creating a system, at least within government, if not for all employers so that resumes are not identified by name. It could be an anonymous number attached. That way, there would be no discrimination based on gender, race or culture.

Government to encourage and give incentives to corporations to engage seniors in innovative ways to make use of their knowledge and experience. This will benefit the corporations and keep seniors active and able to give back to society.

While the OSAP free tuition policies have been a tremendous step in reducing financial barriers for post-secondary students, textbooks continue to present a significant cost for many students. Ontario made a great first step in supporting eCampus Ontario's Open Textbook Library (https://openlibrary.ecampusontario.ca/) that provides over 200 free, shareable, online textbooks for PSE students and faculty to use. But... more »

Citizens want government to be online and available on their smartphone! Should be just as easy as online banking or buying something on Amazon. Ontario has done a great job lately in rolling out great new online services, like with the OSAP aid calculator (https://www.ontario.ca/page/osap-ontario-student-assistance-program), Budget Talks to get great ideas from citizens (https://talks.ontario.ca/), or the new healthcare... more »

To create a more inclusive and just society, we should explore how to better recognize/transfer foreign credentials and explore how to upgrade skills, knowledge and techniques to meet Canadian standards.

Offer one free dental cleaning for seniors. Dental care is often sacrficed by seniors on fixed income. They no longer have dental coverage after leaving the workplace upon retirement. One small step towards fairness and help for our seniors.

It is time to get rid of this destructive vestige of the Harris government of the late 1990s. It was implemented to: a) fool Ontarians into thinking that the government was "doing something to improve education". This is a red herring. A one day test does not improve education. In fact, this type of standardized testing has caused significant harm over the last two decades. b) follow the path that had been set in... more »

On the path to a Universal Basic Income in Ontario (which is still many years away), it's important to raise up those experiencing poverty by increasing the Ontario Works amounts to a reasonable threshold. Currently only $721 is given monthly ($337 basic needs + $384 shelter) to a single individual, for example, which in most cities and towns is woefully inadequate to survive. Linking OW rates to a reasonable percentage... more »

Your program to fight climate change is full of well thought out ideas and programs. This issue is vital to all Ontarians though certain special interest corporations and others will push back and deny than man has had any influence. Liberals really need to sell the importance of this issue. If you can get some high profile third party as good as Al Gore or David Suzuki onside to stand with you, you can win the election... more »

Kids with mental health issues should receive high quality treatment close to home within 30 days

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 »

If Ontario honestly wants to be an inclusive and just society, our school system must stop discriminating based on a faith. Public elementary Catholic schools in Ontario deny admission to non-Catholics. Public Catholic schools deny teaching opportunities to non-Catholics based solely on faith. These are unacceptable and completely contrary to the expectation of an inclusive society. *** Religious Discrimination... more »

defined pension plans which are paid by employees as well the employer in Ontario are guaranteed by the provincial government as was the Sears plan. It was administered by the company under the rules from Queens Park It was to be totally .funded by the company but the Govt. changed the rules at some point allowing the Company to only fund 80& and now at closings that is all the money there s to pay retirees,