Prime Minister Trudeau meets Premier Ford in Toronto

The two leaders discussed healthcare, immigration, and building more homes and key infrastructure

TORONTO, August 30, 2022 — Premier Doug Ford met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Queen’s Park today for the first times since 2018. Their meeting agenda included a discussion on the current pressures on the heath care system, as well as housing, labour market shortages, immigration, and other shared priorities.

The Premier and Prime Minister spoke about the current state of health care in Ontario and across the country, and the strains on health systems that have been heightened by the pandemic. They agreed on the importance of continuing to work closely as governments, as well as with our partners on the front line, to implement innovative solutions to problems that have been decades in the making.

Premier Ford raised the need for the federal government to work together with provinces on ensuring the long-term sustainability and accessibility of high-quality health care services for all Canadians and asked for a First Minister’s meeting to be held as soon as possible.

Prime Minister Trudeau and Premier Ford recognized labour shortages in Ontario and committed to continue working collaboratively on their shared objective of welcoming the number of immigrants necessary to help support the province and the country’s economic recovery and growth. The premier raised that removing barriers to immigration would significantly help Ontario respond to the labour and workforce shortages, including within the health care sector.

The leaders discussed solutions to tackle the housing crisis, including Ontario’s progress on building 1.5 million homes over 10 years. Recent actions taken include giving municipalities the tools to speed up housing construction and leveraging surplus provincial lands. They agreed that all three levels of government must work together to do what they can to get more homes built faster.

Also discussed by Ford and Trudeau was the recent passage of the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act, and the economic growth resulting from the production of electric vehicles (EV) and batteries in Ontario. The two leaders discussed the significant investments made by Canada and Ontario to support the development of electric vehicles and create jobs in the province. They further discussed the potential of the Ring of Fire to provide the minerals necessary to make batteries for electric vehicles. They also spoke of the importance of ensuring projects meet environmental standards and benefit Indigenous communities.

Ontario is making incredible strides toward becoming a reliable global supplier of responsibly sourced critical materials and building an end-to-end EV supply chain in the province. Both leaders agreed to continue to discuss critical minerals and collaborate on ways to support Ontario’s auto-manufacturing sector and the hardworking men and women who make it the success that it is.

Both leaders agreed to continue working together on delivering for the people of Ontario.

SOURCE: Government of Ontario, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

lead photo @fordnation, instagram

Other articles from totimes.ca – mtltimes.ca – otttimes.ca