QUEEN’S PARK – The following statement was released in response to the Conservative government’s spending estimates showing large funding cuts to Legal Aid services, victim services, Indigenous Justice, and public transit.
“What justification is there for this government to cut $70 million from Legal Aid funding? Much like when they cut it in 2019, reducing Legal Aid funding hurts the most vulnerable members of our communities, including immigrants, working families being illegally evicted, and women facing domestic abuse. This cut and the $400,000 reduction in victim services spending will have a devastating effect on many people’s lives, and the people of this province deserve an explanation.
“Cutting $4.5 million to Indigenous justice undermines our reconciliation efforts by worsening access to the most fundamental duties of government. We have so much more work to do to provide just basic government services to the Indigenous people of Ontario, and this new cut continues the regrettable pattern of undervaluing Indigenous communities.
“As municipal transit agencies like the Toronto Transit Commission and OC Transpo face major funding crises and are forced to cut service, the Conservative government is reducing transit funding by $638 million. Alongside the $79 million reduction to transportation safety programs, the Conservatives are making it more difficult and more dangerous to get where you need to go.”
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