Liberals need to renew our contract with the people of Ontario. Charles Sousa can get them to sign.

When Premier McGuinty announced his resignation, he said that it was time for new ideas and a renewal of the Ontario Liberal Party. After having some time to think about what kind of renewal we want to see in our party, I realized that I've had a front seat to seeing the positive impact that new energy and new ideas can have for the past 5 years.

The old Mississauga South was the epitome of old Tory Ontario. Largely mono cultural, it was one of the safest seats for the Ontario PC's in the whole province. But perhaps no community has been more positively impacted by change. Mississauga South is a vibrant, diverse, growing community, and Charles Sousa has been a strong representative for it. We've been great advances in Mississauga South with Charles as our MPP, including investments at Trillium Health Centre, new schools like Janet McDougald PS, progress on the Lakeview site, and a strong local economy helped by innovative tax reforms supported by Charles.

On a personal level, Charles also represented the new Ontario that families have built across the province. A successful businessman and the son of immigrants who escaped political repression, Charles represents the opportunity that this province holds. With his strong background in business and finance, but also having a strong understanding of the need to have strong and caring social services that families can rely on, Charles knows that we have to take a balanced approach to continue our strong action to grow our economy economy and renew our public service.

We've got big challenges to face as a party and a province, but I know Charles can win. I was canvassing with him in 2007 right from the get go when things looked pretty tough - we'd just lost the first Liberal MPP our riding had ever known, and we had just months before the election. But Charles knew how important it was that we get to every door and talk about the importance of protecting our public schools. As I watched the campaign grow and grow, from the back of his van to the campaign office on Lakeshore, I saw how he brought people from every community in Mississauga South together to support Liberal ideas, and on election day, Charles proved the pundits, who said he wouldn't chance wrong, winning a strong victory. In 2011, he worked hard again to renew his contract with the people of Mississauga South, becoming the first ever Liberal MPP to be re-elected in our riding.

He has the experience as Minister of Labour and Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. He has the knowledge about the economy to create jobs for families. He understands families coming to Ontario deserve strong, stable public services like health care and education. And he's a proven winner. If Charles Sousa decides to run for Ontario Liberal leader, he'll have my support and I urge you to consider him as well.

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On behalf of my family - Thank you, Dalton McGuinty

Wow. Like many Liberals today in Ontario, I was shocked by the news of Premier Dalton McGuinty announcing his resignation today. I've been incredibly lucky to get a chance to intern for the McGuinty Liberals at Queen's Park for two summers, and McGuinty's commitment to education, healthcare, and building a green economy motivated me to volunteer in the 2007/2011 elections, by-elections in St. Paul's, Toronto Centre, Ottawa West-Nepean and Kitchener-Waterloo. For Ontario Young Liberals like myself, McGuinty has a particularly important place in our hearts, pretty much serving as the only OLP Leader for our political awareness, and for his championing of many issues important to youth, like the 30% tuition rebate, extending the grace period for OSAP loans if you work for a non-profit (an OYL policy originally) and perhaps more than any contemporary leader in Canada, understanding that Ontario's economy is changing and putting the building blocks in place for a green knowledge economy.

Ultimately though, when I think about the McGuinty legacy though, I am brought back to something I posted last year the day before the election, my personal story of how the actions and policies of the McGuinty government have helped my family stay a family:

"My story of why I am a Liberal: I remember during the 90's my parents getting the Harris taxpayer rebate, and my mom telling me what she was going to do with it. "We're going to donate this to the church for charity, because as rough as things are for us sometimes, some family out there relying on social services for help just had those services cut to pay for this."




Fast-forward to 2006. My mother is diagnosed with breast cancer, but thanks to the investments in things like breast cancer screening under the McGuinty government, they catch it early. At the same time, I'm able to start going to university because the government believes in supporting students, and a mother is able to see her son succeed. That's moving forward. Together."

From my family and families like ours across Ontario, Thank you, Mr. Premier.

Hudak PC's support for defunding abortion runs much deeper than a press conference

On International Day of the Girl, Tim Hudak can try to put shiny gloss on the PC Party, he can pretend his party is focused on the economy, but this is what the heart of the Hudak PC Party is, with his frontbench MPP's sponsoring a news conference supporting the defunding of abortion in Ontario. Any claims about the PC focus on jobs and the economy can't hide that the MPP's sponsoring this press conference are both of Hudak's Labour critics, and his deputy whip. You'll also remember Hudak's deputy labour critic Rick Nicholls from this blog, talking about how he  "would like to remind my non-Christian-believing friends that...you need to respect and remember that this is Canadian land and that you and/or your ancestors decided to live and conduct your form of worship here...Just don't try to mix it all in with our founding principles and say it is because of diversity"


And let's not forget Hudak's own thoughts on the matter of abortion:

"Hudak admitted last year that he had signed an anti-abortion petition"

Forget last year, here's Hudak on the record responding directly to the Campaign Life Coalition:

Even taking a look at Hudak's "Job Creation Task Force", we see the PC's anti-choice agenda, demonstrated by Monte McNaughton, Hudak's critic for Economic Development and innovation, agreeing with the statement "I support measures to stop funding abortions with taxpayers money in Ontario", according to this survey from Citizen Impact, a socially conservative pressure group, and Skilled Trades and Apprenticeship Reform Critic Garfield Dunlop saying he "opposed abortion" as well as being a long-time opponent of gay marriage, calling it a "sin" and saying it would "destroy the fabric of our society."

While the Dalton McGuinty Liberals are focused on reducing the deficit and creating jobs, Tim Hudak, his "Job task force" and the PC caucus have other priorities.

Be a Young Liberal delegate to the next UN Climate Change Convention! Deadline to apply is tomorrow!

Click this link for more info

I had the opportunity to go to the COP-15 Conference in Copenhagen back in 2009, and it was a remarkable experience for me. Young Liberals have developed a proud history now of sending delegates as part of the International Federation of Liberal Youth, and I recommend any Young Liberal with an interest in the environment or international relations to consider being a delegate. Follow the link above to find out more info on how to apply, the deadline is tomorrow!