Supporting the environment with outdoor cleanups

With the weather getting better, there was a lot of outdoor events I had the pleasure of attending this past month. I will be hosting a community summer BBQ sometime in June so stay tuned for further details. I hope to see you there!

Earth Day

In celebration of Earth Day, I hosted a Shoreline Cleanup aimed at keeping our waterfront here in Scarborough–Rouge Park clean of litter and beautiful for the summer months. We had many residents of all ages join us on a sunny Saturday afternoon to clean up our beaches and waterfront trails.

In addition, I had the opportunity to attend the Friends of the Rouge Watershed tree planting event where I joined with students from the TDSB’s Across Uhub, a non-profit organization that encourages youth leadership, and Toronto Outdoor Education Schools to plant 90 native trees and collect 100 kg of litter.

I also attended the Highland Creek Community Association’s Cleanup Day to lend my hand and show my support for the preservation of our environment. To top off this incredible month celebrating planet Earth and our environment, I attended CCRA’s Community Cleanup. At all these events and throughout the month, I was inspired to see great turnouts of all ages from our community working to protect and sustain our future.

Post-budget breakfast with Scarborough MPPs and Finance Minister Vic Fedeli.

Budget Highlights

Projecting a deficit of $11.7 billion in 2018/19, a $3.3 billion improvement from the deficit of $15 billion inherited from the previous government.
Charting a responsible path back to balanced budgets by 2023/24 while creating jobs and protecting what matters most.
Tackling the $343 billion public debt with a responsible debt burden reduction strategy that will restore fiscal health, preserve critical services and lower Ontario’s net debt-to-GDP ratio by 2022/23 to less than the 40.8 per cent inherited from the previous government.
Proposing a new Ontario Childcare Access and Relief from Expenses (CARE) tax credit. It would provide about 300,000 families with up to 75 per cent of their eligible child care expenses and allow families to access a broad range of child care options, including care in centres, homes and camps.
Committing up to $1 billion over the next five years to create up to 30,000 child care spaces in schools, including approximately 10,000 spaces in new schools, making life easier for parents and families by helping them find more affordable child care.
Investing an additional $384 million in hospitals and an additional $267 million in home and community care. This is essential to end hallway health care and direct more health care spending to where it’s needed the most.
Investing $3.8 billion for mental health, addictions and housing supports over 10 years, beginning with the creation of a mental health and addictions system.
Introducing a new dental program for low-income seniors who lack benefits. Individual seniors with annual incomes of $19,300 or less, or senior couples with combined annual incomes of less than $32,300, will be able to receive dental services in public health units, community health centres and Aboriginal Health Access Centres across the province.
Improving the condition of schools to support better learning and keep children and students safe by investing $1.4 billion in school renewal in the 2019/20 school year.
Making home ownership and renting more affordable by helping to increase the supply of housing that people need through the forthcoming Housing Supply Action Plan.
Making it easier to buy auto insurance, including giving drivers more choice when deciding which auto insurance coverage suits their needs and gives them more control over their rates.

These highlights will put money back in the pockets of Ontarians while protecting the essential services we rely on. For more information about the budget please visit: http://budget.ontario.ca/2019/.

I look forward to working with you to ensure our community continues to grow and prosper. My staff and I can be contacted at 416-283-8448 or vijay.thanigasalamco@pc.ola.org. The Constituency Office is located at 105 – 8130 Sheppard Ave. East.