elow are the responses we have received from provincial election candidates from the four major parties at Queen's Park running in Brampton South. We will update this page as more answers come in.
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Rimmy Jajj - Liberal Party Candidate
The Hoser: The federal government divested from a responsibility to build public housing in the early 1990s, downloading the responsibility to provinces and municipalities. If your party forms government, how many units of public housing can you commit to building in your first term?
Rimmy Jajj: The Ontario Liberal Party is committed to building 138,000 deeply affordable homes including 78,000 new social and community homes, 38,000 homes in supportive housing, and 22,000 new homes for Indigenous peoples. We are committed to ending the waitlist for affordable public housing in our first term.
The Hoser: Bill 124 has frozen public sector wage increases at 1 percent since 2019. Inflation has climbed upwards of six percent in 2022. Will your government keep Bill 124 as provincial law? If not, will you legislate any limitations to public sector workers’ collective bargaining rights?
Rimmy Jajj: The Ontario Liberal Party is committed to repealing Bill 124 and will further give raises to all Ontario health care workers. I will not support any limitations on the collective bargaining rights of public sector workers.
The Hoser: Communities and advocates concerned with police violence have for years been demanding a defunding of police services, rerouting that money to public social services. Is this a policy your government would pursue? If so, how much money would you reallocate from current provincial policing budgets?
Rimmy Jajj: The Ontario Liberal Party is committed to ensuring emergency situations receive the most appropriate response. This means ensuring more mental health workers are able to respond to low-risk emergency calls so that those with addictions and disabilities are diverted from the justice system to more appropriate services. We will invest in mental health first responders and the OPP Crisis Call Diversion Program and increase access to social workers. We will also ensure that our police force is properly trained in de-escalation, anti-racism, cultural sensitivity, and mental health matters and implement the use of body cameras. We will hire more diverse police officers so they are more reflective of the communities they serve.
The Hoser: Considering that COVID is airborne and cases are once again quite high, will your government make any investments in retrofits or building new hospitals, schools, public transit vehicles, or any other large-scale investments related to public health, indoor crowding and ventilation?
Rimmy Jajj: The Ontario Liberal Party is committed to upgrading the ventilation in our public buildings, including our schools. The COVID-19 pandemic showed us the importance of this and we are committed to investing to make the appropriate upgrades.
The Hoser: As of 2021, the living wage in Toronto was over $22 an hour. In all major cities and towns in the province, the $15/hr minimum wage is below a living wage. Inflation is now upwards of six percent, and scheduled wage increases and cost of living adjustments are not keeping up. Is your government committed to getting minimum wage levels to a living wage? If not, why?
Rimmy Jajj: The Ontario Liberal Party is committed to raising the minimum wage to $16/hour on January 1, 2023 in order to give businesses enough time to plan for this change. We are also committed to developing a living wage structure that recognizes and accounts for the difference in cost of living in different regions of the province and provides for a living wage for everyone.
