Ontario NDP leader tours the north amid health, education crises

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles toured North Bay on Monday, criticizing the province's takeover of a local school board and recent hospital job cuts.

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles is touring northeastern Ontario this week, engaging with constituents on pressing local issues. Her first stop was in North Bay on Monday afternoon, where she met with representatives and participants of the PADDLE program, which supports adults with developmental disabilities.

Stiles has framed her northern tour as a direct response to the provincial legislature’s winter recess.

“That’s what I’m going to be doing for the next 100-plus days,” Stiles said.

“As long as we have off until the legislature resumes, I’m going to be going across the province and listening to people, where they’re at, what their concerns are, and what the government could be doing to better help them out.”

School board takeover draws scrutiny

A primary focus of her visit is the province’s recent takeover of the Near North District School Board. Education Minister Paul Calandra assumed control after a scathing 33-page ministry report found severe dysfunction, chaos, and a lack of leadership, which delayed a new $58 million school in Parry Sound.

The fallout has been severe, with hundreds of elementary students relocated and high school students taught remotely and in a half-demolished building after the board failed to meet ministry directives.

The province used its controversial Bill 33 to dissolve the elected trustees. Stiles expressed deep concern over the loss of local accountability and the potential for the minister’s appointment.

“The one thing about removing trustees is you move that local level of democracy that’s accountable to the people,” said Stiles.

“But I know that the people here and the parents have been raising their voices for a very long time. So, what I want now is to know that the person who’s going to be getting involved here is going to centralize parent voices and kids.”

Stile also warned against appointing “conservative insiders” without educational backgrounds.

Hospital job cuts spark outrage

The other major issue dominating her discussions is the planned elimination of 40 positions at the North Bay Regional Health Centre, a move the hospital says is necessary to find $5.6 million in savings.

The cuts include 13 nursing positions, along with registered practical nurses, personal support workers, clerical staff, a pharmacy technician and a patient food service worker.

Stiles echoed widespread community outrage over the plan.

“That is outrageous and we know already that they’re struggling with wait times. This is only going to make things worse,” she said.

While hospital officials and Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli have repeatedly stated the cuts will not impact patient care and the province notes annual funding has increased by 20 per cent since 2020.

Stiles laid the blame squarely on the government, criticizing Health Minister Sylvia Jones’s recent comment that it was “appropriate” for struggling hospitals to “find a path to balance.”

Stiles pitches solutions amid ‘crisis’

Attributing the problems to a provincial “lack of investment,” Stiles outlined her party’s proposed solutions for the healthcare system emphasizing the need for immediate government action.

“One of the solutions we talked about as well is bringing in patient-to-nurse ratios like they did in British Columbia. Things like that will make sure that our health care workers don’t burn out,” she said.

“It’s funny. There is only one answer to these problems, and the government needs to do something and they need to do something right now.”

Following her stop in North Bay, Stiles is scheduled to continue her tour with visits to Nickel Belt, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, and Algoma-Manitoulin.