Toronto, ON – Steven Del Duca, leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, made the following statement:
Today’s schools announcement is, in fact, a lacklustre attempt by Doug Ford to simultaneously repackage a previous Liberal commitment and deliver a cut at the worst possible time.
In 2017, $16B was allocated by the previous Liberal government to build and renovate public schools over ten years, and an additional $1.2B was earmarked for renewals and repairs over two years.
Today, Ford announced only $12B over ten years and $500M this year for capital projects.
This kind of cut is particularly appalling at this moment, given that our public schools need to urgently be in a state of good repair to withstand the challenge arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.