Wayne Gates
Special to Niagara Now/The Lake Report
On Monday, Oct. 20, the Ontario Legislature finally returned to work after a 19-week summer break — one of the longest in provincial history. That’s 133 days away from Queen’s Park. So far this year, we’ve only sat for five weeks total.
While the Ford government was away from Queen’s Park, families across Ontario were facing overlapping crises: a health-care system stretched to the breaking point, skyrocketing costs of living, and new uncertainty in trade relations with the U.S. that threatens tourism, agriculture, and manufacturing. This was no time to be away.
Front-line health-care workers have been sounding the alarm: burnout, overcrowded ERs and long wait times. Over 100,000 people in Niagara are without a family doctor.
Families are paying more for food, rent, and fuel, while wages cannot keep up with the cost of living. Farmers, small businesses, and tourism operators are struggling to stay afloat.
Meanwhile, U.S.–Canada tensions are putting pressure on Ontario jobs, industry and cross-border trade.
While people faced these challenges, the Premier took five months off from the legislature. Ontario families didn’t get 19 weeks off. Neither did health-care workers, farmers, or tourism workers.
When I returned to Queen’s Park this week, my message to Doug Ford was simple: the break is over. It’s time to get to work.
For me, that work starts with Niagara. Our economy relies on agriculture, viticulture and tourism — industries that define who we are. But rising costs and labour shortages threaten their survival.
Supporting these sectors isn’t just good for Niagara; it strengthens Ontario’s economy.
That’s why I’ll keep pushing for full, two-way, all-day GO Train service to Niagara. This isn’t a luxury — it’s essential infrastructure that would bring visitors, support businesses, ease congestion, protect the environment and connect people to jobs and opportunities.
Promises have been made for years. It’s time for shovels in the ground and trains on the tracks.
Health care remains the top concern in Niagara. Roughly 140,000 people here don’t have a family doctor. Too many wait hours in ERs or travel outside the region for basic care.
Our health-care workers have done everything they can with limited resources. They need support now. Ontario must invest in recruiting and retaining doctors, supporting nurses and properly staffing hospitals and clinics. This can’t wait.
Beyond these priorities, I’ll keep fighting to pass my private member’s bills: providing prostate-specific antigen testing for prostate cancer to save lives through early detection, creating an Ontario caregiver support benefit to help unpaid caregivers, and fixing the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board deeming system that leaves injured workers living in poverty.
This work is urgent. But none of it can happen if the government keeps taking months off from Queen’s Park while Ontarians struggle.
People are tired of broken promises and political games. They want a government that shows up and delivers real solutions.
The summer break is over. It’s time for the Ford government to get serious. Ontario can’t afford more delays.
Wayne Gates is the member of provincial parliament for the Niagara Falls riding, which includes Niagara-on-the-Lake.
