Schreiner calls for a “New Deal for Municipalities” at OSUM 2025 to tariff-proof Ontario and support small urban municipalities

May 1, 2025

COLLINGWOOD — Addressing delegates at the 2025 Ontario Small Urban Municipalities (OSUM) Conference, Ontario Greens Leader Mike Schreiner called for urgent provincial action to tariff-proof Ontario’s economy, invest in local communities, and fix the growing crisis of care across small urban municipalities.

“With youth unemployment nearing 16% and the threat of U.S. tariffs putting hundreds of thousands of Ontario jobs at risk, we need a plan that protects people, farmland, and tariff-proofs our economy,” Schreiner said. “The Ontario Greens will fight for the people and places we love, and to build a more resilient, locally-driven economy.”

Schreiner highlighted the need to invest in made-in-Ontario clean energy, build up sustainable industries, and protect farmland and the nature that shields communities from floods and extreme weather.

He took aim at the Ford government’s priorities, criticizing “wasteful projects designed exclusively for the GTA” like a tunnel under the 401 and the $2.2 billion subsidy for a foreign owned spa at Ontario Place, while rural hospitals close and municipalities struggle to pay for local roads and bridges.

“Doug Ford is giving tax payer dollars to foreign spa developers while people in towns like Walkerton are lining up for a shot at a family doctor,” said Schreiner. “It’s unacceptable.”

At the heart of his message was a call for a New Deal for Municipalities — one that includes:

• Uploading costs to the province that have been unfairly pushed onto municipalities and local property taxes
• Dedicated funding to address the mental health, addiction, and homelessness crises
• Predictable, sustainable infrastructure funding for municipalities
• A new funding formula to support hospitals and schools in smaller towns and cities

Schreiner also emphasized the need to build 2 million homes: “Let’s build homes people can afford in the places they want to live, near people they love — without paving over the farmland that feeds us.”

“The Ontario Greens are ready to work across party lines to tariff proof Ontario, fix the crisis of caring, and build a stronger, greener, more resilient Ontario.”

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