SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Chandra Pasma

  • MPP
  • Member of Provincial Parliament
  • Ottawa West—Nepean
  • New Democratic Party of Ontario
  • Ontario
  • Unit 500 1580 Merivale Rd. Nepean, ON K2G 4B5 CPasma-CO@ndp.on.ca
  • tel: 613-721-8075
  • fax: 613-721-5756
  • CPasma-QP@ndp.on.ca

  • Government Page
  • Oct/27/22 10:40:00 a.m.

Last week we learned from the commission hearings in Ottawa that while the Premier was busy hiding from his political responsibilities, the occupation of our city forced kids with cancer to miss chemo and radiation treatments at CHEO. Families of sick children were also forced to pay out of pocket for hotel rooms to ensure they weren’t late for surgery.

This was a crisis, and the commission wants to ask the Premier what solutions he had in mind to address it. Ottawa residents want to know too. Is the Premier fighting the summons so he doesn’t have to admit he had no plan?

Workers in Ottawa lost thousands of dollars in income because the occupation shut their workplaces down for 28 days. They used up all their savings, struggled to pay rent, had cellphones cut off and defaulted on student loan payments.

One of the questions the commission wants to ask the Premier is why he wouldn’t attend tripartite meetings on the situation—and guess what, Speaker, Ottawa residents want to know that too. Why does the Premier think he doesn’t owe Ottawa workers any answers?

The occupiers harassed schoolchildren and their parents and threatened to drive circles around local elementary schools. They trapped people with disabilities in their homes, preventing Para Transpo from getting downtown. They took food from a homeless shelter.

The commission wants to know why the Premier waited until February 11 to declare a provincial emergency—stop me if you’ve heard this one before, Speaker—but Ottawa residents want to know that too.

So will the Premier quit hiding, come to Ottawa and testify and give Ottawa residents the answers we deserve?

281 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
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