The outcome of the U.S. Steel Canada restructuring process will have major ramifications for Hamilton and the province. At Queen’s Park, the retirees and workers of U.S. Steel Canada will continue to have my full support, and I will continue to press the provincial government to extend as much protection to them as possible.

The Liberal provincial government released its latest budget last week, and unfortunately, it was generally disappointing. I hoped this budget would finally see significant investment in affordable housing to stem the housing crisis and offer hope to the thousands of Hamiltonians living in inadequate accommodation, but there was little movement. I was hoping the budget would address the concerns of families: strengthening healthcare, education and creating jobs. But instead of protecting vital services like healthcare and education, this budget will stretch household budgets and make it harder for seniors to stay healthy.

One of the most troubling changes is that most seniors are going to see a big increase to the annual deductible for their drug costs. For people on a fixed income, that’s significant. The NDP has highlighted the unfairness of this change and the burden it will place on seniors. I remain hopeful that our pressure will encourage the government to change course.

In real terms, hospital funding is declining for a fifth straight year. Although the budget has increased base hospital funding by a nominal 1 per cent, after a four-year freeze, this will not keep up with inflation, population growth, or the rising cost of an aging population. The consequences of these cuts are becoming very apparent in Hamilton. St. Joseph’s Hospital has been under particular pressure, with cuts at all campuses.

In a terrible blow for our community, St. Joseph’s is cutting staff and closing its psychiatric services unit in east Hamilton. People needing those services – many of them economically and socially vulnerable – will have to travel to the Mountain campus.

If they take the bus, this will be an extra hour’s journey each way. This is no way to encourage vulnerable people to get the treatment they need, and the root cause of this closure is the sustained chipping away at hospital budgets by the Liberal government over the last several years. We need a health policy that puts people first, and realizes that short-term slashing of vital services will lead to great hardship and greater long-term costs. I promise that I will continue to make that argument in the weeks ahead.

Originally published in Stoney Creek News, March 3, 2016

From Feb. 6 to 15, be sure to enjoy music, art, sports and activities for all ages. February also brings us Heritage Week and Black History Month. On the political side, the Ontario Legislature resumes on Feb. 16.

A strong focus of the upcoming session for myself and the Ontario NDP will be to advocate for a socially fair budget that promotes a greater prosperity more equally shared. Government decisions can have an incredible influence on people living on low incomes, and in the best cases, change their lives dramatically for the better.

We can all see that Hamilton is one of the hardest-hit cities in Ontario for poverty and precarious work. Less than half of Hamilton’s workers enjoy the benefits of a stable full-time job. We need help to alleviate poverty here, and we need the provincial government to pay attention to this and take it seriously.

Twenty thousand Hamiltonians – including six thousand children – rely on food banks every month. 73 per cent of them are actually in receipt of social assistance, but the rates are not sufficient to pay rent and food for most families. Six thousand children depending on food banks is a scandal. That’s the equivalent of over 260 full elementary school classes. No child should be at risk of hunger here.

We have an acute shortage of affordable housing units in Hamilton, and each year the shortfall grows by hundreds. Inadequate and unaffordable housing is one of the deepest roots of poverty and ill health. Unfortunately, we’ve seen very little progress on housing in Hamilton from the provincial government. I’ve written about this problem before, but the municipal and federal governments both invest more in Hamilton housing than does the province. This needs to change urgently. Affordable housing has to become a focal point for government action in the next two years.

There have been multiple demonstrations calling for an end to austerity, an end to healthcare and education cuts, renewed investment in affordable housing, and a livable wage. It is time for the government to heed these calls and implement a socially just economic policy.

In the U.S. Steel saga, the court of appeal has opened the possibility of releasing the secret agreement between U.S. Steel and the federal government. It is my strong hope that the workers, the pensioners, and the municipal and provincial governments are successful in finally gaining access to this deal, which could have material consequences for so many Hamiltonians. I was astounded to learn at the court hearings that even the judge presiding over the CCAA process had not been able to view the agreement. Our laws are in desperate need of a shake-up to rebalance the stakes between workers, pensioners and corporate creditors. I will continue to advocate for fair treatment of the workers and pensioners of U.S. Steel, and for government action to protect one of Hamilton’s major industries.

U.S. Steel must be held accountable for its attacks on its pensioners and on the people of Hamilton. We must act now..

I am very worried about the Liberal plan to hold a fire sale of public assets like Hydro One. We are all familiar with the debacle that was Highway 407, sold off at perhaps a quarter of its true value. The revenue generated by our shared public assets helps to pay for our schools and hospitals. Closing schools and daycares, laying off nurses, and selling off our electricity system to the highest bidder do nothing to help middle class and struggling Ontarians. It is no surprise that these asset sales are going hand-in-hand with planned cuts to education and healthcare funding.

On a happier note, I would like to thank the Insurance Bureau of Canada for their generous donation to Hamilton Food Share and St. Matthew’s House. It will help a lot of struggling families this spring.

I have been privileged recently to have met with many of the Canadian athletes who will be competing at this summer’s Pan Am and Parapan Am Games. I encourage you to offer them your wholehearted support, and to attend some of the many events if you can. I am very troubled by the hope-and-pray nature of some of the traffic management plans during the Games, especially those in and around Toronto. Hamilton-Toronto commuters may face challenging times, and I would advise any of you who can to make plans to carpool, take transit, or change your commute time well in advance of the Games. Happily, the City of Hamilton appears to have a good traffic plan in place, and with the inevitable exception of the stadium area, there should be only minimal disruption in our city.

In November, the Ministry of Community and Social Services rolled out new software called SAMS. Unfortunately, SAMS has been plagued with problems and many Ontarians who rely on social services such as ODSP and OW are not receiving the support they need.  Since November, families have been underpaid. Cheques have been too late to pay the rent. Staff are overwhelmed and exhausted. This is a disgraceful state of affairs after spending a quarter of a billion dollars. If you are a support recipient and have had difficulties with these programs, please call my office and my staff will assist you..

At the end of my first week back in the Legislature, I ask myself: “How am I supposed to explain this to my constituents?” I am proud and honoured to represent the people of Hamilton East-Stoney Creek at Queen’s Park. My constituents have placed their trust in me to represent their views and concerns fairly, and to hold this government to its obligations to the people of Ontario. However, a week of scandal, alleged bribery, and deflection has diminished this place. Phrases like “alleged bribery” should have no place in our public life. Weeks like this damage our democracy and the already-strained trust in Ontario politics.

This week, Premier Kathleen Wynne has repeatedly insulted Ontarians. She refuses to admit any mistakes. She refuses to concede that anything untoward has happened. In the face of the damning findings of the OPP and Elections Ontario, she refuses to hold Gerry Lougheed and Pat Sorbara accountable. She has sat silently when asked direct questions in the Assembly, enlisting her deputy to take the flak for her. She has attempted to deflect from Liberal scandals by hurling accusations at other parties. Today, the Premier sank to her lowest ebb yet. She cast aspersions on the good name of every opposition MPP and offered not a shred of evidence to back up her claim.

Trust in government depends on trust in public officials. Previous Premiers understood this. They required ministers and staff to resign when under investigation, because the public’s trust in the office must be protected. At this juncture, the public cannot be expected to place their trust in Gerry Lougheed or Pat Sorbara. After her appalling performances this week, Ontarians can hardly place their trust in Kathleen Wynne either.

How can a man under criminal investigation be allowed to continue overseeing the Sudbury police? How can one of the Premier’s closest aides remain at the heart of Ontario’s government while she is under criminal investigation? Above all, how can the Premier of Ontario not recognize the damage she is doing to the public’s trust in government?

It is time for the Premier to show real leadership to Ontarians. Real leaders make hard choices. They admit their mistakes. They swallow their pride. They recognize that the integrity of their office is more important than the pride of its occupant.

It is time for the Premier to take responsibility. The denials, deflections, and cover-ups must end today.

Paul Miller

MPP, Hamilton East-Stoney Creek.

Media Release

12 December 2014

Hamilton – New Democrat MPP Paul Miller’s Protecting Child Performers Act creates much-needed legal protection for Ontario’s youngest workers, but political game-playing by the Liberals is holding the bill up. The bill sets out clear rules about how child performers must be treated, protected and supported when performing in recorded or live entertainment. Miller has brought the legislation forward twice, only to have it sunk by Liberal inaction.

New Democrats moved a series of Committee motions to ensure the bill would be dealt with immediately, but the Liberal majority voted these motions down, preferring to not have the committee sit at all.

“This bill creates clear rules and protections for child actors. It’s been supported by all three parties, so let’s get it done,” said Miller. “This bill could have been dealt with this week. But the Liberals said no. We could be dealing with this bill first thing in January. But the Liberals said no, and there is no plan to meet in January at all. It appears to me that the Liberals don’t want to protect child actors.”

Miller first introduced his bill in 2013, where it made its way through committee and was ordered for third and final reading in December 2013. The Liberals never called the bill for its final vote.

Miller re-introduced the bill this summer, and it is ready to go through the committee process. On Monday, December 8, the Liberal majority on committee voted against dealing with the bill before the holidays. Liberal members then voted against dealing with it in the New Year. As a result, the Standing Committee on Social Policy has no scheduled sitting dates in January 2015.

“The Liberals are leaving child performers without protection over the holiday season and now into 2015. This is the one industry in Ontario in which young children work, and too many of them have no legal protection. The Liberals believe their holidays are more important than child actors working in Ontario,” continued Miller.

The bill has all-party support as well as the support of ACTRA and Canadian Actors’ Equity Association..

Please take the time this month to do a little or a lot for those less fortunate. A few of the many worthy organizations that need your support are: The Good Shepherd Venture Centre, 155 Cannon Street East; Hamilton Food Share, 339 Barton Street; and CityKidz, 601 Burlington Street East, Unit A. The Hamilton Fire Department is running “Operation Santa Claus Toy Drive” to collect new, unwrapped toys for children who range in age from infants to young teens. Toys can be dropped off at any Hamilton fire station until December 12^th.

You may remember that I have previously written about my bill to protect child performers. This is the one industry in Ontario in which young children work, and too many of them have no legal protection. Earlier in the year, the Government played games with my original bill, which had enjoyed all-party support in committee. It killed the bill. So in July, I re-introduced Bill 17, the Protecting Child Performers Act, 2014. At the end of October, it passed second reading and was referred to the committee on social policy. I am determined to ensure that child performers have legal protection for their working conditions, that their schooling comes first, and that they are treated as children first and performers second.

Next year will be an exciting one with the Pan Am and Parapan Games coming to Hamilton and Ontario. I’m as excited as anyone to see the best athletes from Canada and the Americas in our hometown, and I know you’ll give them a typically warm Hamilton welcome. I want the Games to be a triumph for the athletes, the volunteers, and the spectators. But I’m also looking out for each of you who have been asked to dig deep into your pockets to host these Games. I’ll keep fighting at Queen’s Park to put a lid on the never-ending fountain of spending. If this Government doesn’t get a grip on costs, it will be paying the bill with your tax dollars for years to come.

Last but certainly not least, I congratulate the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for another stellar season and for coming ever closer to bringing the Grey Cup home. It’s been a thrill to watch.

On behalf of my wife Carole and my staff Todd, Dave, Margo and Martin, I wish you the very best this holiday season and in the coming New Year. I hope to see many of you at the Santa Claus Parade this coming Saturday.

Paul Miller.