MEREDITH WILSON-SMITH



Just over one year ago, Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government was freshly minted at Queen’s Park.

On Thursday, the provincial legislature’s MPPs will rise for a break until Oct. 28, allowing them to spend time with their constituents working on local priorities.

Ian Arthur, New Democratic Party MPP for Kingston and the Islands, is taking the break as a chance to “work in the community” and do the “grassroots work that needs to be done.” He’s also using the summer as a chance to reflect on the provincial government’s past year and what he hopes to see moving forward.

Arthur spoke to the Whig-Standard about health care, education and growth in the Kingston area, along with where he hopes to focus his advocacy efforts over the rest of his time in office.

Q: Now that the session is wrapping up at Queen’s Park, how do you think the first year of this government went?

Arthur: I think it’s been pretty terrible for Ontarians. They’ve made it very clear that they are going to be a “cut” government, and they’ve actually managed to do that at the same time as putting out a record spending budget and continuing to add to our deficit. It’s actually quite shocking that we’re losing the services we’re losing while, at the same time, spending more money.

Q: Are there any updates on the Kingston General Hospital expansion project, given the provincial budget update released at the end of April?

Arthur: I don’t have a comment on that right now. It’s something I’ve been in contact with the Ministry (of Health and Long-Term Care) on. We’ll continue to work on it, but there’s nothing that I can say right now.

Q: Could you provide a sense of the timeline for Kingston’s third crossing (the new bridge over the Cataraqui River)? Will construction go ahead as planned this summer?

Arthur: We’ve been given an indication that’s continuing to go ahead. It’s through provincial funds. I have not heard anything otherwise to date.

Q: Last month, approximately 100 public and Catholic school board secondary school teachers in the area were served with redundancy notices. What do you think the next school year will look like in Kingston and the Islands?

Arthur: I think that’s going to be one of the hardest areas that’s hit by this government. I’ve continued to work with and support education workers. It almost seems like Ford has a targeted vendetta against education workers in this province. He’s managed to take on both teachers through unions and the school board at the same time in his attacks on education workers, and it’s incredibly unfair.

Andrea Horwath and I did an education roundtable on Monday, and when you hear the stories from the front-line workers, they’re talking about violence in the classrooms, they’re talking about having to be evacuated, they’re talking about how thin the classroom supports are already spread, and it’s just going to get worse.

Did you know that some of the classes that they’re going to have to teach in one room aren’t actually built to accommodate 40 desks, and that you can’t actually fit the amount of desks in the room that are needed for new class sizes? We’re going to have massive classes with fewer supports. This is at the same time that they’ve gutted funding for parents of children with autism. (The children are) going to be integrated into the school system without the supports and attention they need to live their best lives and to develop. It’s nothing short of a tragedy.

Q: One year into office, what’s your biggest takeaway so far?

Arthur: How important a grassroots movement is, and the voices of people of Ontario. When you look at the times that Ford has tried to cut things that are important and the times that we have successfully pushed back against that, it’s the strength that’s found in unity and the voices of Ontarians. It’s when you have the pushback from every corner of this province that they can’t help but listen. I think that’s really powerful, and I think that’s really growing.

Q: What do you hope to see over the next year at Queen’s Park?

Arthur: I’d like to see an end of regressive legislation, but I’m not too hopeful about that. What I’d like to see is building on grassroots organizing. I’m here for the summer — they extended how long the legislative break is so (Ford) could hide during the federal election. But that does give us an opportunity to work in the community, and we spoke against extending the break in the legislature, but they gave it to us anyway. So we’re going to spend our time working hard and connecting with constituents and doing the kind of grassroots work that needs to be done.

In terms of Queen’s Park, I’d like to see us continuing to introduce progressive legislation. Our MPPs do that every single week. The government often votes it down or makes it sit in committee, but it’s really important we keep providing that alternative vision for what Ontario needs to be.