Dear neighbour,
It’s official—Doug Ford is calling an early election and the Writ will drop on Wednesday, January 29.
As we enter into this election and a new year, I’ve been reflecting on the work ahead.
When speaking with many of you at the door and in the community, the same issues come up again and again. There’s a lack of affordable housing and a growing homelessness crisis. Many don’t have access to a family doctor. Schools are falling apart, and meaningful action on climate change is still missing.
I’ve also been thinking about what we’ve achieved together and how we can continue to push for real change in 2025.
To help make renting more affordable, we’ve advocated for stronger rent control, including vacancy control to cap rent hikes between tenants and a ban on above-guideline rent increases in large buildings.
To tackle the affordable housing and homelessness crisis, we introduced a motion to create a new public agency called Homes Ontario. The agency would oversee and finance the construction of at least 250,000 affordable homes over 10 years.
We stood with our neighbours at Taddle Creek, a family health clinic that lost two doctors this year—part of a larger crisis leaving 2.5 million Ontarians without a family doctor.
Frozen budgets, rising costs, and administrative burdens are driving health care professionals out of primary care. Without urgent government action, more Ontarians will lose access to the care they need.
Our kids deserve an excellent public education, but the Conservative government is leaving kids with no choice but to attend schools that are not properly maintained or staffed.
Take Jesse Ketchum Public School on Davenport Road as an example. It has 47 urgent repairs, including plumbing, HVAC issues, flood prevention, and electrical work. It’s in such bad shape that it would be cheaper to tear it down and rebuild than to fix it.
We also joined parents along with students, teachers, and community members outside Kensington Community School for a walk-in to demand better funding for our public schools after learning kids were being put in a Grades 4-5-6 split class because of a funding cuts.
We all want our kids to get an excellent public school education. Excellent public schools require investment from the provincial government, smaller class sizes, and more staffing.
Together we also stopped the worst of the Ford government’s Greenbelt grab, protecting prime farmland and precious wetlands.
We campaigned for better transit and a TTC that is properly funded so we can get around affordably and sustainably. To help protect our environment and get us moving, it’s vital we invest in clean, affordable public transit like subways, buses, streetcars and bike lanes - not Highway 413, which will only cost us billions and get in the way of our climate goals.
When I think about what we can accomplish together, I am optimistic we can build an Ontario that is greener, fairer and more affordable. When the election is over and we head into a new legislative session at Queen’s Park, I look forward to continuing this work and more with you.
Sincerely,
Jessica Bell
MPP, University-Rosedale
