As Marit Stiles is making her rounds throughout the province as she campaigns to be Ontario’s next premier, the leader of the Ontario NDP stopped in Ottawa reiterate her party’s vows to improve education in Ontario.
At the Maison de la Francophonie d’Ottawa on Richmond Road on Tuesday, Stiles was joined by Ottawa NDP candidates and local education representatives to announce her plan to fix schools and the education system in Ontario.
“Public education shapes the lives and the minds of our young children, and we need to make the investments that support the system in a way that ensures our children receive the best possible education,” Stiles said. “One that sets them up for work and life as curious, thoughtful and contributing system citizens.
“But after seven years of a Doug Ford government, that is not the system that we have.”
Under her leadership, the provincial government would commit to repairing and building schools, hiring educational and support staff, and implementing a universal school food program, “making sure that every student has the support that they need right now.”
In response to the tariffs on Canadian goods announced by U.S. president Donald Trump, which were paused on Monday but remain a threat, Stiles said investment in education will support Ontario’s economy.
“We need to build a tariff-proof Ontario for years to come. Today, I want to talk about one way that we can do that, by fixing our schools and giving our kids stability and opportunity,” she said. “This is about building our future, and it’s also about strengthening our economy.”
Speaking to reporters after her remarks, Stiles stressed the importance of improving affordability for Ontarians, saying that “Ontarians cannot take another hit” — especially when it comes to tariffs.
“We have to be ready to defend ourselves against these tariffs. We have to be ready to be strong and united across the country and frankly, as a province, we are weak and we are vulnerable,” she said. “That’s because … our province has never been more expensive to live in.
“It is so expensive to buy a home. People can’t make their rent. People can’t get their kids any support at school,” she continued. “These are already the anxieties I hear every day from everybody I talk to.”
Her campaign has promised not to increase income taxes in Ontario. When asked how a government led by Stiles would pay for these improvements, as well as the other commitments her campaign has made, Stiles said it is a matter of “priorities”.
“We are going to work, for example, with the federal government… to make sure that this school food program is universal not because we should, but because we have to. This is about who we are as Canadians and as Ontarians, and we are the only province that doesn’t have that program,” she said.
She also accused Ford of “wasting” taxpayers’ dollars on projects that are “not helping Ontarians, that are just helping his insider friends and big American corporations.” Instead, she said she would redirect those funds.
“We’ll make sure those dollars go back into our programs, services and products… So that we are stronger, so that we are ready and we are not vulnerable to the kinds of threats we’re seeing from the United States.”
