january 2025 community update
Happy New Year! Welcome to my community newsletter. Legislators are back in their ridings for the holidays. You can re-watch some of the action from the legislature here.
Need help? Phone my office, send a message, or see my website before planning your visit to my office. Plan your visit to my office >>
Bonne Année! Bienvenue à mon bulletin d'information communautaire. Les député(e)s sont de retour dans leurs circonscriptions. Vous pouvez revoir ici une partie de l'action de la séance législative d'automne.
Besoin d'aide? Appelez mon bureau, envoyez un message ou consultez mon site web avant de planifier votre visite à mon bureau. Planifiez votre visite >>
Here's what you can find in this month's issue:
Across Ontario
Local Stories
In Our Community
Warm regards,
Ted
Across Ontario
Tariffs
Tariffs are on the minds of people I’ve talked to across the province because U.S. president Trump has threatened to put a 25% tariff on imports from Canada. I recently found out that, in Eastern Ontario, my home county, Frontenac, is the most trade exposed. This information came from a delegation from the Eastern Ontario Warden’s Caucus at the January 2025 Rural Ontario Municipalities Association conference.
Dealing with tariff threats and understanding and conveying the impacts of a trade war on our local economy and society to the government will require having our best people in charge.
Energy Efficiency Programs
After cancelling many Ontario Liberal energy efficiency GreenON programs when Doug Ford came to power in 2018, his government has reintroduced them as something "new": the Home Renovation Savings Program. There’s been a gap of six years since the cancelled programs. You know what Premier Ford lost us, besides six years of saving Ontarians money and helping the environment? We lost people with skills who have moved on, such as trained energy auditors. We need a government that takes seriously energy planning and the need to deal with climate change. Read more about this on my Substack.
ROMA
The Ontario Liberal Caucus met with several delegations at the Rural Ontario Municipalities Association (ROMA) Conference this month. South Central Ontario Region Economic Development Corporation told us that their community transit project will no longer receive funding past March 31st, even though ridership has exploded. Val Rita-Harty — a northern Ontario municipality with a population of less than 1,000 – has a water treatment facility in desperate need of repair, but their mayor says to fund it will bankrupt their township for the next generation. In Hastings and Prince Edward Counties, roads and bridges are crumbling. They are desperate to fund critical infrastructure projects. Rural municipalities need a new deal and Ontario Liberal MPPs want to deliver it.
An Early Election
Premier Ford has now confirmed that the provincial election will take place on February 27th, over a year before the legislated date in June 2026. Although Ford is using the threat of Trump’s tariffs as an excuse to “secure a new mandate”, no other Premier is seeking an election right now. This is not the time for Ford to be focused on securing his own power, it is the time to be putting forward a united Team Canada front in the face of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Please note that there won’t be a February newsletter because of Premier Ford’s early election call. My constituency office will maintain only basic services. If re-elected, I will resume the newsletter in March.
If you want more frequent updates about provincial news, subscribe to my Weekly Wrap where I cover five of the top news stories of the week.
Local Stories
Ontario Colleges Arbitration
Ontario colleges and faculty avoided going into a strike this month, agreeing to undergo binding arbitration. A strike had seemed imminent due to strong positions on either side. According to the CBC, “OPSEU had said it was looking to protect jobs and address unpaid work, but the colleges said the union’s demands would cost more than $1 billion and result in a 25 per cent drop in average teaching time.” I am glad that Ontario’s public colleges and the faculty union have been able to agree to binding arbitration. This avoids a strike which would have disrupted the lives of many students, including those at St. Lawrence College.
Wolfe Islander IV Stuck
My office has checked with federal government officials who have said the lift bridge in Burlington, which the Wolfe Islander 4 would have to pass through from the dry dock in Hamilton, is closed for the season until March. That doesn’t rule out a special opening, however we don’t know how long the repairs the ferry is currently undergoing will take. We have asked the MTO to keep us updated on the status of the repairs and how long they will take. It’s not acceptable for residents of Kingston and the Islands to be in the dark about critical transportation infrastructure.
If you are looking for a family doctor, make sure you are registered on the provincial waitlist Health Care Connect. You can register online here or call 1-800-445-1822.
In Our Community
Celebrate the New Year Community Skate
Thanks to everybody who came out to the skating party and for letting me ask you questions! We had a lot of families with kids, so schools, childcare, housing, and the cost of living were the subject of most people's concerns, but people also brought up other topics like energy. You never really understand issues unless you keep listening to the personal stories, so thank you for that!
QFLIP
Thank you to the Queen’s Feminist Leadership in Politics groups for the opportunity to provide opening remarks this month at their conference! It was so encouraging to see so many young women interested in politics and getting involved. One of the tools to make change in a democracy is supportive networks, and one outcome of this conference was to build them.
Burnbrae Farms
The Ontario egg industry represents about 7,000 jobs. I appreciated being able to learn from the management at Burnbrae Farms and to tour their grading station in Lyn. We spoke about avian influenza, supply management, how the Canadian egg industry intersects with the U.S. industry, how cages are evolving and the different kinds of products in the processed (non-shell) egg sector. I'm ready to work with the Ontario government to protect agriculture from any trade disruptions from the Trump administration.
State of the City
It was great to speak at the State of the City hosted by Kingston Chamber of Commerce to give an overview of what my office and the provincial government have been doing in the last year. It's been an eventful year for sectors such as housing, post-secondary, and energy. Kingston is always best served when all three levels of government work together, and I'm always glad to have events like State of the City, where representatives of municipal, provincial and federal governments talk to the community and answer questions.
Kingston Literacy and Skills
This month I went to go visit Kingston Literacy and Skills — we did a tour and they talked to me about a recent issue that has come up. The KL&S budget for their Literary and Basic Skills program hasn't been adjusted since 2014 despite the demand for programming increasing 100% recently — and demand is only expected to keep increasing because of the end of a federal program. Coupled with rising operating costs, the non-profit responsible for upskilling so many adults in Kingston is facing serious headwinds.