ETOBICOKE – Steven Del Duca was at Wedgewood Junior Public School to announce that an Ontario Liberal government will commit an additional $10 billion to build and repair schools across the province – the largest such investment in Ontario’s history.
The plan will be fully funded by cancelling the Doug Ford Conservatives’ wasteful and damaging Highway 413, which experts say will only save 30 seconds off commute times while destroying vital greenspace and farmland.
“Last year the Ford Conservatives cut $1.3 billion from education budgets, allowing our schools to crumble and decay,” said Dul Deca. “This election gives voters a clear choice, the wasteful Highway 413 paving through the Greenbelt or the Liberal plan to invest the $10 billion to build new schools in every part of Ontario and upgrade ventilation systems in schools that desperately need them.”
The Ontario Liberal Plan will:
- Build 200 more new schools across Ontario;
- Repair, upgrade and rebuild more than 4,500 schools;
- Put new technology and devices in classrooms to close the digital divide, increasing the existing budget for such resources;
- Reverse the Ford Conservatives’ budget cuts to after-hours community programs in schools.
Within the first 100 days after the election, an elected Ontario Liberal government would begin investing $10 billion to build and repair schools and eliminate the repair backlog. These renovations would include new ventilation systems in every school that needs them, providing students and teachers with a healthy, safe environment to teach and learn.
“Every parent knows that kids lost out on their education over the last two years,” said Del Duca. “Ontario Liberals will make historic investments that put our schools and our students back on track. The Ford Conservative’s will build a 60km highway that few people would use. My message to Ontarians today is: The Choice is Yours.”