Lisa Gretzky MPP, for Windsor West

WINDSOR – Lisa Gretzky MPP Windsor West released the following statement after the Financial Accountability Office’s latest report showing Ford is sitting on $5.5 billion that he budgeted to spend this year. 
 
“Windsor families are trying to keep up as the cost of housing, child care, gas, groceries and everything else are rising fast. Our hospitals here in Windsor have long wait times, and thousands of patients that need procedures, like heart by-pass and knee surgeries, are waiting in pain,” said Gretzky. “Families need their provincial government to put them first and make sure the services they need are available. They need Ford to work on making life more affordable, but clearly he doesn’t want to invest in things Ontarians count on like public health care, public schools and social services.
 
The Ford government failed to spend $5.5 billion in budgeted cash so far – including $670 million unspent on public health, $554 million unspent on schools, $260 million unspent on housing, and $1.1 billion unspent on social supports like ODSP. 
 
“The cost of living in Windsor, and across Ontario, is rising fast under Doug Ford. We need tangible things to make life cheaper, like the NDP’s new bill to regulate price gouging at the gas pump, which is more important than ever as gas prices reach record highs in Windsor,” said Gretzky. “The Ontario NDP is putting forward plans to make life easier for Ontarians, we have a plan to make housing more affordable and to fix health and long-term care. We’ll keeping fighting for families and make sure people can afford to live here in Windsor.”