2023 Platform Overview: Kitchener Centre By-Election

Electoral Reform
– Ranked ballots
(removes incentive for ‘strategic voting’)
– Proportional representation
(so the make-up of the legislature better reflects how the public voted)
– Proponent of Single Transferable Vote and the variant known as “Rural–Urban Proportional Representation” (which is STV but with MMP for the largest rural ridings)

Economy, Inflation & Cost of Living
– Raising the minimum wage $0.50/h each year
(min wage in 1980 would be $30/h in today’s money, current min wage in Ontario is $15.50/h)
– Introduce Universal Basic Income legislation which replaces Ontario Works (welfare)
– Reinstate rent control
– Three property limit for individuals & corporations to combat housing shortage
– Create an Ontario Telco Crown Corporation to undercut Rogers, Bell & Telus by 40% (like Sasktel in Saskatchewan)
– Ontario Grocer Crown Corporation to undercut Loblaws, Metro Inc & Empire (Sobey’s) and resell groceries at minimal profit
– Subsidies for Ontario Manufacturers
(bring manufacturing back to Ontario, increase our self reliance, decrease our dependency on global supply chain
– Anti-Trust Legislation targeting Rogers, Bell & Telus’ Telecommunications Monopoly
– Anti-Trust Legislation targeting Loblaws, Metro Inc & Empire’s Grocer Monopoly
– Anti-Trust Legislation targeting Ticketmaster/Live Nation monopolizing Ontarian venues and gouging fans
– In favour of a 4 Day Work Week
(lets do a pilot program to test the waters first though)

Housing
– Harsh capital gains legislation that is particularly grim for landlords
– Ban on corporate landlords. Dissolution of existing corporate landlords. No loopholes.
-Three property cap on property ownership:
i) Primary residence – taxed as is.
ii) Allow ownership of a secondary property but make the taxes prohibitively expensive – 5% property value per year – in other words, over 20 years you will have been taxed 100% of the property value. Second homes, cottages and pleasure properties are an extreme luxury and will be taxed to an extreme.
iii) Allow ownership of a tertiary property but tax the property owner 10% of the property value per year – in other words, over 10 years you will have been taxed 100% of the property value.
iv) Ban on owning a fourth property. If you own more than 3 properties after the deadline they will be ceased by the Ontario government and turned into housing co-ops – so I suggest you sell if you want any of your money back at all. Mind you, millions of other properties will be flooding the market so I would expect a significant loss selling in the buyer’s market this legislation created.
– Subsidies for high density housing developments & introduce taxes on low density housing projects
– Introduce a new tax on rents above the market median

Technology
– Categorize Internet as a Utility
(Public utilities are meant to supply goods/services that are considered essential)
– General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) for Ontarians like they have in the EU & California
(so we own our own data, it’s hosted here in Ontario and we can have our accounts scrubbed away into nothing at our request)
– Public Ledger of ALL Government Spending
(Every single expense billed to the province will be included in a comprehensive ledger. This includes every public institution in Ontario. Every public sector salary will even be listed but anonymized. We can’t hold our government accountable if we can’t follow the money.)
– Create an Ontario Telco Crown Corporation to undercut Rogers, Bell & Telus by at least 40% (just like Sasktel in Saskatchewan)
– Anti-Trust Legislation targeting Rogers, Bell & Telus’ Telecommunications Monopoly

Crime
– Decriminalize personal amounts of drugs (see drug policy section)
– Decriminalize, regulate & tax sex work (see Sex Work policy section)
– Increased police presence near bars (Hess St) and homeless shelters, especially at night
– Higher Jail Sentences for White Collar Crime
(higher jail sentences do not dissuade drug use but they do dissuade white collar crime)
-End the slap on the wrist “cost of business” approach to corporate misconduct:
300% fine on profits generated from illegal activity and jail time for executives
– Increased liability for Corporations, Individual Accountability, Corporations no longer ‘People’
– Introduce Clinical Psychologists into Police Departments (the line between ambulance and police services has blurred, we need shrinks on patrol with the police)
– Funding for Internal Affairs
(Police oversight is poor. Police can’t report each other for fear of their own lives. Outside accountability and increased funding is necessary. Police are not above the law. Increased mandatory schooling for new hires so our police aren’t among the least educated professions in Canada.)
– Funding for Court System
(expedite justice and increase staff)
– Increased border surveillance to catch gun smugglers coming up from the U.S.
– Supports existing gun control legislation but wary of overreach, such as Trudeau’s recently proposed policy

Miscellaneous Policy Positions
– Increased Arts Funding
(Artists can’t make a living in Ontario anymore. If we value the arts, which we do, we ought to increase arts funding)

Accountability of Government
– Monthly Town Halls in Kitchener Centre where the public can put their MPP on the spot and hold them accountable
– Weekly Updates Published by your MPP
– Tying 25% of my Salary to my Approval Rating Among Constituents in Kitchener Centre
– 8 year Term Limits on MPPs
– Public Ledger of ALL Government Spending
(Public utilities are meant to supply goods/services that are considered essential)
– General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) for Ontarians like they have in the EU & California
(so we own our own data, it’s hosted here in Ontario and we can have our accounts scrubbed away into nothing at our request)
– Public Ledger of ALL Government Spending
(Every single expense billed to the province will be included in a comprehensive ledger. This includes every public institution in Ontario. Every public sector salary will even be listed but anonymized. We can’t hold our government accountable if we can’t follow the money.)
– Legislation to make politicians’ campaign promises binding
– Legislation mandating MPPs lose their jobs, causing a by-election, if they don’t hold enough Monthly Town Halls or publish enough Weekly Updates about themselves

Heathcare
– Stop Ford Government from intentionally starving Public Healthcare
– Expand OHIP to include Counseling, Optometrists & Dental
– Massively expand access to qualified counseling services, psychologists and psychiatrists
– Increase Nurse’s Wages
– Hire more doctors to meet increased demand as as we recover from the pandemic and baby boomers enter old age
– Abolition of for-profit long-term care facilities and nursing homes in Ontario
– Paycuts to Hospital Administrator Salaries

Education
– Free (or cheap) Post Secondary for Ontarians
– Taxing University Profits
(Just the Engineering Dept alone at the University of Waterloo makes $500M each year!)
– Legislate a 25% discount for online enrollment (students got gouged during covid, they deserve a partial refund on covid tuition too)
– Increased Arts Funding
– Larger class sizes in Public Schools (our cultural obsession with smaller class sizes is misplaced, studies show no improvement in student performance with smaller classes, lets save money)
– Increased wages for Teachers & Support Staff
– Increased funding for Public Education
– Increased Funding for Trade Schools
– Disincentivize Universities and Encourage Colleges & Trade Schools
– Change Ontario Curriculum so “applied classes” aren’t “college streamed” while “academic classes” are “university streamed”

Environment
– Expanded Rapid Transit Developments
– Cheap subsidized Public Transit
($1 city busses, $12 All-Day GO Train Service between Kitchener to Toronto)
– Gasoline Tax +1%
– Provincial subsidy for Heat Pumps
– Ban the sale of Air Conditioners unequipped with the additional valve and plumbing necessary to run them in reverse as Heat Pumps
– Massive funding for vertical farming, lab grown meat & dairy products
– Introduce a Plastic Packaging tax
– Protect the Green Belt
– Increase Hunting Tags availability

Drug Policy
– Decriminalize Drug Possession of Personal Amounts like Portugal and British Columbia
– Introduce Drug Counseling Alternative to Prison like Portugal did in 2001
– Reduce taxes on the legal marijuana market so it can actually compete with black market bud
(80% of the weed is smoked by 20% of the people and they’re still mostly buying from the black market)
– Reverse 2023 taxes on e-cigarettes & juice
– Legislation that anywhere selling tobacco must also sell e-cigarettes, juice and other smoking cessation products including patches & gum at an affordable price
– Making drugs less attractive by lowering the cost of living while raising the quality of living will change people’s disposition towards drugs

Decriminalize, Tax & Regulate Sex Work
– Prostitution is the oldest profession. Recession proof. Taxable. Decriminalizing sex work will make it safer for sex workers. No need to jump into a strangers car to negotiate. Sex workers could openly explain their boundaries and prices without fear of being prosecuted if it’s not illegal.
– Not to be conflated with sex trafficking which will remain illegal and be prosecuted to a greater extent.

Tax Regulations
– Harsh capital gains legislation that is particularly grim for landlords
– Progressive tax on multiple property owners (See Housing Policy)
– Large tax hike on the 1% (who earn $500k/year)
– Wealth Tax
– Inheritance Tax
– Taxing University Profits
(Just the Engineering Dept alone at the University of Waterloo makes $500M each year!)
– Reduce taxes on the legal marijuana market so it can actually compete with black market bud
– Reverse 2023 taxes on e-cigarettes & juice
– Reduce or Abolish Inter-Provincial taxes
– Low density developments tax
– Subsidies for high density housing developments & introduce taxes on low density housing projects
– Taxing Currency Exchanges & Stock Trades
– Introduce a Tax on Housing Rentals charging above the Market Median Rate
– Introduce a plastic packaging tax