Ontario Liberals pledge to cancel Highway 413, spend $10 billion on schools
An Ontario Liberal government would spend $10 billion to build and repair schools if elected in June, with the party pledging to fund the promise by cancelling the planned Highway 413.
Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca attempted to paint the Progressive Conservatives as harming public education.
"We saw the undermining and the underfunding of publicly funded education by Doug Ford and the conservatives before the pandemic began," he said, referencing tense contract negotiations with teachers and the instituting of mandatory online courses in secondary school.
"Conservatives just cannot help themselves, that when they're given a chance ... one of their first actions is to go on the attack against publicly funded education."
The Liberals say their capital schools plan would build 200 more schools, repair, upgrade and rebuild another 4,500, and carry out renovations to ensure new ventilation systems in every school that needs them.
The party said it would allocate the $10 billion to be spent over five or six years, and it would be in addition to $14 billion over 10 years that has already been budgeted.
The Progressive Conservatives have not provided an overall cost estimate for the planned Highway 413 around the Greater Toronto Area, but the Liberals oppose it, saying it will destroy farmland and won't save commuters much time. Independent estimates have pegged the cost at up to $10 billion.
The school repair backlog has been pegged in recent years around $16 billion, a number that the NDP largely blames on the previous Liberal government that was in power for 15 years.
The Liberals closed more than 270 schools, the NDP noted. Del Duca said if the Liberals form government after this election, "we will not be closing any schools."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.