What every voter should know.  And every voter should note how many  'he   
   doesn't give particulars or details'  are in Doug Ford's so-called platform .   
   . . .   
   ______________________________   
      
   HYDRO   
      
   Liberals:   
      
   With the decision to sell off 60 per cent of Hydro One and rising hydro costs,   
   the Liberals face an uphill battle to impress voters. Highlights:   
      
   ✿    Through its Ontario’s Fair Hydro Plan, the Liberals are offering a 25   
   per cent cut in hydro bills, with larger savings of 40-to-50 per cent for   
   rural communities   
   ✿    The affordability fund, launched last October, would help Ontarians who   
   don’t quality for low‐income conservation programs to buy items that   
   improve home energy efficiency, including LED light bulbs, greener appliances,   
   and better insulation   
      
   DOUG FORD'S PCs:   
      
   Doug Ford has said that he’d fire the CEO of Hydro One.   Since the   
   utility’s privatization, however, that power no longer rests with the   
   provincial government.   
   ((+_+))   
      
   Other highlights:   
      
   ✿     Cut hydro bills by 12 per cent, on top of the Liberals’ 25 per cent   
   promised cut and return all Hydro One dividends to Ontario families   
   ✿    Use “retroactive legislation” to prevent executives and board   
   members from receiving large payouts if their jobs are terminated     ((+_+))   
      
      
   NDP:   
   The NDP says its plan would cut hydro bills by 30 per cent. Highlights:   
      
   ✿✿   Return control of Hydro One to the provincial government by buying   
   back the share of the utility that’s been sold to private investors   
   ✿    Cut rural electricity rates by about 15 per cent   
   ✿    End time-of-use billing; set a flat rate of 10.3¢ per kWh (Currently,   
   rates fluctuate between 6.5–13.2¢ per kWh based on the time of day)   
   ✿    Open negotiations with the federal government to remove HST on hydro   
   bills   
   ________________________________   
      
   HEALTH CARE   
      
   Liberals:   
   ✿    Invest $822 million to bolster hospital care and infrastructure—the   
   largest annual boost in more than a decade   
   ✿    Spend $300 million over three years for registered nurses in every   
   long-term care facility in Ontario and increase the number of hours each RN   
   spends with patients by 2022   
   ✿    Introducing a drug and dental program to cover 80 per cent of specific   
   drugs and dental costs   
   ✿    Expanding OHIP+ program to cover drug costs to seniors 65 and over,   
   which is projected to cost $575 million   
   ✿    Spend $2.1 billion to “rebuild” Ontario’s mental health system   
   ✿    Hire 3,500 new nurses by the end of this year   
      
      
   Doug Ford's PCs:   
      
   The Ontario PCs haven’t yet released a comprehensive platform to replace   
   former leader Patrick Brown’s “People’s Guarantee.” But on the health   
   care front, Ford has promised to:   
      
   ✿    Add 15,000 new long-term care beds over the next five years and 30,000   
   new beds over the next 10 years   
   ✿    Put an end to “hallway medicine” (when hospital overcrowding leads   
   to patients being treated outside of more private rooms), although Ford   
   hasn’t provided specifics as to how   
   ✿    Spend $1.9 billion over the next decade on mental health and addiction   
   support   
   ✿    Encourage more doctors to move to northern Ontario by cutting their   
   provincial taxes down to as low as zero per cent   
   ✿    Opposed to planned safe-injection sites for Ontario, particularly “in   
   neighbourhoods”   
   ✿    Invest $98 million a year to provide dental care to low-income seniors   
      
      
   NDP:   
      
   The NDP has promised an overhaul of drug and dental care as well as a massive   
   boost to hospital care and adding a new ministry of mental health and   
   addictions.   
      
   ✿    Invest $19 billion over 10 years for hospitals, 2,000 new hospital beds   
   and 15,000 long-term care beds by 2023   
   ✿    Fund more hospital staff to ensure shorter wait times and fewer   
   cancellations for surgeries and remove “arbitrary annual caps” on the   
   number of surgeries due to understaffing   
   ✿    Implement a $475-million pharmacare plan covering 125 commonly   
   prescribed drugs including some take-home cancer medication and drugs used for   
   those transitioning genders   
   ✿    Expand full dental to contract, full and part-time workers, as well as   
   low-income children and retired seniors living without a pension or dental   
   insurance, at a cost of $670 million in the first year.   
   ✿    Hire 4,500 new nurses in her first year in office   
   _____________________________   
      
   EDUCATION   
      
   Liberals:   
      
   ✿    A $625 million boost for education funding and $300 million to improve   
   special education programs   
   ✿   As part of a $2.2 billion investment, provide free full-day daycare for   
   preschoolers, starting in 2020   
   ✿    Offer OSAP grants for lower-income students to cover their tuition   
   ✿    Set aside $411 million to fund a high-school apprenticeship program   
      
      
   Doug Ford's PCs:   
      
   Doug Ford has said he wants to “review the curriculum in all core subject   
   areas thoroughly“:   
   ✿    “Scrap Kathleen Wynne’s ideological sex-ed curriculum and replace   
   it with one that is age-appropriate, and only after real consultation with   
   parents occurs”   
   ✿    “Scrap discovery math, and replace it with proven methods of   
   teaching.”   
   ✿    Expand the mandate of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario   
   to include a complaints and investigations process to evaluate violations of   
   free speech   
      
      
   NDP:   
      
   The NDP has rolled out a 10-year, $16 billion capital plan which would delve   
   into:   
    ✿   Convert all new student debt into grants and retroactively forgive   
   interest for anyone with provincial student loan debts*   
   ✿    Create more than 200,000 new child care spaces, nearly a 51 per cent   
   increase from current levels   
   ✿    End standardized testing   
   ✿   Impose a moratorium on school closings   
   ✿   Make child care free for families earning $40,000 or less, with the goal   
   of child-care costs averaging $12 a day; the proposed price tag would be $375   
   million after the first year, $1 billion the following year and by 2023, it   
   would cost $3 billion    
   annually   
   ______________________________________   
      
   DRUGS & ALCOHOL   
      
   Liberals:   
   The Liberals are pushing full-throttle on the federal plan to legalize   
   recreational pot by this summer.   
      
   ✿    Plan to regulate the sale of marijuana through the Ontario Cannabis   
   Retail Corporation—the LCBO for weed—which was created on Dec. 12, 2017   
   ✿   The new LCBO subsidiary is projected to gain a net income of $100   
   million in 2020-21 fiscal year, following $48 million in start-up costs before   
   that   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)