Marit Stiles, Leader of the Official Opposition, and Shadow Minister for Education, Chandra Pasma (Ottawa West – Nepean) have written a joint letter requesting a value-for-money audit from the Auditor General’s Office into the Ontario Ministry of Education’s sole-vendor contract with Staples Inc. to provide elementary school teachers with classroom supplies:

“Ontarians deserve clear answers and an independent accounting of the Ministry of Education’s contract with Staples, including how and why the company was selected as the sole vendor," said Stiles.

“Doug Ford and Minister Calandra cannot continue to ignore teachers and education workers or make decisions that ultimately worsen the challenges facing our classrooms without being held accountable.”

"There are growing concerns about Staples being the sole vendor for the $750 classroom supplies fund, including the availability and pricing of supplies, shipment delays, and barriers preventing teachers from accessing the fund," said Pasma.

"Meanwhile, Doug Ford and his Minister of Education continue to ignore parents, teachers and education workers sounding the alarm over the lack of basic school supplies in classrooms.

"Students learn best when their classrooms have the resources and materials they need. Teachers, students, and parents deserve to know if the Ministry of Education appropriately spent public dollars on its deal with Staples."

NDP MPP Shadow Minister for Sport, Technology, Innovation and Democratic Reform Chris Glover (Spadina-Fort York) released the following statement:

"While Ford threatens municipalities with financial penalties for not buying Ontario-made, his government is directing them to SupportOntarioMade.ca, a website his government contracted to an American company. Ford’s hypocrisy is on full display: while telling Ontario municipalities to buy local, his government has been handing contracts to American corporations for the very technology that runs our provincial government.

"This isn't the first example either, as other government services are contracted to American companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Vercel and Namecheap. While Ford has made it harder for Ontarians to see his government’s emails through freedom-of-information requests, his government is handing those same communications to American technology companies. Under the U.S. Cloud Act, American companies can be compelled to provide data to U.S. authorities. Why is Doug Ford more comfortable allowing Donald Trump to have easier access to our government information than Ontarians?

"Despite the Ford government giving government tech contracts to American companies, Ontario has the second fastest growing tech sector in North America. Doug Ford's hypocrisy needs to stop, and rather than writing another cheque for an American business, he should put his money where his mouth is – in Ontario businesses, which will not only support our local economy, but protect and secure our government data."

Following new reports from the Ontario Health Coalition on the privatization of health care in Ontario, NDP MPPs Dr. Robin Lennox, Shadow Minister for Mental Health, Addictions, and Primary Care, and MPP France Gélinas, Shadow Minister for Health are sounding the alarm over the ongoing crisis in Ontario’s public healthcare system under Doug Ford and his Minister of Health.

“People across Ontario are sitting on wait-lists for MRIs for months, and now we find out that our publicly owned MRIs are sitting idle because Premier Ford and his Minister of Health won’t give our public hospitals the funding to operate them. It’s shameful, “ said MPP Lennox. “We can’t accept two-thirds of MRIs happening later than the recommended time. Not when peoples’ health and quality of life are on the line. We have the publicly owned MRI already, we just need to give our public hospitals the resources to use them 24-7 instead of pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into private clinics.”

"This is the consequence of a government that has chosen to pursue privatization instead of strengthening public healthcare, starving our hospitals of the resources they need while expanding private for-profit clinics where Ontarians are increasingly being asked to pay out of pocket.”

"For eight years, it has been clear that Doug Ford and his government do not care about supporting and improving our publicly delivered healthcare system," said MPP Gélinas. "Instead of listening to the warnings from experts with data and evidence, they have chosen to line the pockets of private clinics owners with the funding and resources that should have gone to our public health care system. This government has a duty to look after Ontarians and provide us with the fast, accessible, and dignified care we deserve."