Rebuilding the Ontario Liberal Party in Rural Ontario
Nate's Vision
As leader, Nate will make rebuilding in rural communities a priority.
“My wife grew up on a farm in Lambton County that has been in the family since 1834. That used to be a bellwether riding, but over time our party lost touch. We need to rebuild an active presence everywhere, empower more independent and community-minded representation, and deliver policies that meet the unique needs of rural communities.”
We have listened to rural voices in developing these policies, and we will continue to listen to rural voices as we work to rebuild trust in every community.
As an MP, Nate has earned a reputation for speaking his mind on behalf of his community, working across party lines, and acting with integrity. As leader, he will empower local communities by empowering MPPs to speak their minds.
Nate's Plan:
Expand access to high-quality healthcare
Support main streets and economic growth in rural communities
Provide a world-class education to all Ontario students
Support affordable, livable, and dynamic communities
Position Ontario’s agricultural economy to grow
BACKGROUNDER
Expand access to high-quality health-care
- Improve wages and working conditions for frontline healthcare workers.
- Develop and adequately fund a Northern and rural healthcare strategy to address workforce retention and ER closures, including an examination of loan forgiveness for those who commit to practise in underserved regions for 5 years.
- Expand access to family health teams, mental health and addictions professionals, and virtual care options.
- Strengthen seniors’ care, including increased funding for home and community care options, as well as higher-quality standards for long-term care.
- Explore opportunities to better work with hospital foundations to match and supplement funds raised for capital projects.
Support main streets and economic growth in rural communities
- Support the main street economy with standardized commercial leases, improved commercial lease dispute resolution, and a consideration of a commercial vacancy tax or other controls.
- Address homelessness with a Housing First approach, provide a new funding stream for municipalities to build and acquire rapid housing, and better support for mental health, addiction, and wraparound services.
- Promote and support employee ownership including work with the federal government alongside employment investment legislation modelled on BC.
- Strengthen seniors’ care, including increased funding for home and community care options, as well as higher-quality standards for long-term care.
- Explore opportunities to better work with hospital foundations to match and supplement funds raised for capital projects.
- Champion a federal-provincial skilled trades strategy that lowers barriers for entry into the skilled trades in areas like home construction, and fast-track foreign trained tradespeople for the Red Seal process in Ontario.
Support affordable, livable and dynamic communities
- Improve the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund by providing increased and stable overall funding for rural and Northern municipalities
- Deliver more affordable and reliable energy by accelerating the Clean Home Heating Program and investing in distributed energy resources.
- Enhance wireless and internet connectivity across Ontario to close all remaining gaps, including satellite connectivity in remote areas and along major highways.
- Implement an ambitious housing plan that will include new investments to enable municipalities to develop community-based housing alternatives, and establish an Ontario Housing Authority to help acquire and build non-market homes.
- Design long-term regional transit plans to better connect municipalities, and review existing rural microtransit projects and provide sustainable support.
Provide a world-class education to all Ontario students
- Deliver the best facilities for our kids by funding necessary repairs and upgrades, ensuring access to high-quality internet, proper air conditioning and filtration, expanding green retrofits, and keeping schools accessible to rural communities.
- Support creative solutions like community hubs and focus on joint-use school planning to ensure that rural communities do not lose access to school facilities. Review rural and northern education funding as part of these efforts, including the reliability of school transportation.
- Eliminate waitlists for special education and focus on areas that are currently most underserved.
- Broaden access to mental health supports in school by increasing the availability of mental health professionals.
Position Ontario’s agricultural economy to grow
- Protect agricultural land, including through a responsible land use policy that prevents sprawl, and work with farmers and conservation trusts to preserve farmland.
- Encourage the orderly transition of farms to the next generation by providing access to top-level management expertise, through labour mentorship, recruitment, and training programs, and by enhancing the Agristability Program for new entrants.
- Expand the mandate of the Agriculture Credit Corporation to create a beginning farmer credit line that offers working capital to new farmers.
- Support agri-food innovation to help farmers gain additional markets and grow the agri-food sector.
- Facilitate a “Grow Ontario” focus to assist farm producers to sell locally, and to help farmers increase productivity, including to adapt to longer growing seasons, advance climate smart practices, and develop crops more resilient to adverse weather.
- Work in partnership and collaboration with farmers to limit emissions from livestock and fertilizers, fund carbon intensity scoring, improve alternative proteins, develop climate-resilient crops and livestock, and protect soil and water resources.
