Safer communities start with stronger public services

May 3, 2023

GUELPH — Ontario Greens leader and MPP for Guelph Mike Schreiner released the following statement in response to reports that the Ford government is investing $51 million in new measures to target organized crime.

“Whether you’re living in a small rural township or a downtown core, everyone in Ontario deserves to feel safe.

But throwing more and more money at police budgets is not the silver-bullet solution that will make our communities stronger and safer. We also need to invest in better public services and caring communities.

To build caring, connected communities, we need to make upstream investments in housing, poverty reduction and mental health supports – the public services that make our communities whole.

Yet the Ford government has shown us that they’re more interested in underfunding, underspending and squirrelling money away in unallocated contingency funds.

And they continue to plough ahead with Bill 23 despite strong opposition from municipalities and local leaders, who know that it’s going to make life more expensive and make it harder for them to meet their residents’ needs.

The path to safer communities is a clear one.

Invest in the public services that make our lives better. Services like affordable and deeply affordable housing. Comprehensive mental healthcare when and where you need it. Social assistance rates that lift people out of poverty instead of locking them into it.

Ontario Greens will give people and municipalities the tools to build vibrant, dynamic communities where everyone has what they need.”

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