KING-VAUGHAN — Stephen Lecce, MPP for King-Vaughan, today announced that the just-released 2024 Budget: Building a Better Ontario, will greatly benefit King-Vaughan families and seniors. The Ontario Budget delivers significant achievements for the community, following sustained and relentless advocacy of MPP Lecce.
Highlights of Ontario’s investment for families in King-Vaughan include:
Delivering Canada’s first medical school that is primarily focused on training family doctors in Vaughan at the Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital, in partnership with York University. In addition, we are connecting approximately 600,000 people to primary health care by investing an additional $546 million over three years.
Funding Vaughan’s first Youth Wellness Hubs with a new hub in King-Vaughan, expanding wrap-around mental health services and increasing access to local healthcare for children.
Moving forward on mass transit, including the Yonge North Subway Extension into Vaughan for the first time.
Completing new school projects, including:
Kleinburg Nashville elementary school opening in September of 2024
New French Catholic secondary school in Vaughan opening in September of 2024
Building highways and improving road safety, including:
Moving ahead with the Bradford Bypass to better connect the corridor across King and York Region.
Investing $46 million over three years, including the purchase of four police helicopters, to improve community safety in York by supporting increased patrols and faster response times to major incidents and serious crimes, and $49 million to combat auto theft. This builds on a previously-announced investment of an additional $3.7 million to the York Regional Police to hire more front-line officers to combat crime.
Keeping costs down for people and businesses by proposing to extend the temporary cuts to the gasoline tax rate by 5.7 cents per litre and the fuel (diesel) tax rate by 5.3 cents per litre until December 31, 2024. This would save Ontario households $320 on average since the cuts were first introduced in July 2022. This relief is especially important as the federal carbon tax is set to increase on April 1, 2024.
Supporting individuals facing unstable housing conditions and dealing with mental health and addictions challenges by investing an additional $152 million over three years toward various supportive housing initiatives designed to support vulnerable people.
“These investments – from a new medical school to two approved long-term care homes – will make a significant difference in our community,” said MPP Stephen Lecce. “We will continue to stand up against the carbon tax and oppose new taxes on seniors and families in our community. Unlike the federal government, I believe fundamentally that cutting taxes and delivering financial relief is the right thing to do.”
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