Mississauga News endorses Charles Sousa for Ontario Liberal Leader, says his private sector experience is "invaluable"

Like the Sousa campaign on Facebook!
Follow Charles on Twitter!
Follow the Sousa campaign on Twitter!

A great endorsement from the major paper of Ontario's third largest city!

It’s time to put Charles in charge.

We endorse Sousa, the 54-year-old MPP for Mississauga South who has held three Cabinet posts since first being elected in 2007. He has a 20-year background in banking that could prove invaluable in dealing with Ontario’s financial challenges.

Read more here!

"Sousa sounded and looked very much like a man who would be comfortable as the next premier of the province."

Like the Sousa campaign on Facebook!
Follow Charles on Twitter!

This article is a couple days old now, but I wanted to post it to show the extremely positive reception Charles received talking to local business leaders in Mississauga, while also outlining his vision to create jobs and grow the economy to protect our gains in health care and education.

Ontario's leaders must govern by addressing the long-term needs of the province, not by "just looking at the next election cycle," Mississauga South Liberal MPP Charles Sousa told the Mississauga Board of Trade this morning...

The second-term MPP pressed his home field advantage in front of an attentive audience at the Mississauga International Centre by outlining his policies to improve life in the GTA, which he said was burdened by both traffic gridlock and "political gridlock."

"It's all about growing the economy and jobs," the MPP said. "That will allow us to pay for the things that really matter — health care and education." 
Instead of headlines bemoaning the fact that traffic in the GTA is worse than it is in Los Angeles, Sousa said he wants to write a new economic story by implementing policies to create jobs and curb gridlock.
He outlined a five-point GTA plan that he claimed will put the 416 and 905 regions back on the road to prosperity.
"We can remove one complete layer of decision-making" by making Metrolinx responsible for MiWay, the TTC and all local transit systems in the GTA, he suggested.

It's finally time to build the high-speed rail connection from Windsor to Quebec City that every provincial government has talked about — but none has acted on — the Mississauga native said.
"It's time for action and we need to start with the Hamilton to Toronto and Toronto to Oshawa sections," he said.
Ontario must make significant long-term capital investments in high speed rail now because otherwise the economic benefit will be lost to the U.S., which is also looking at the prospect...

The former Labour and Immigration minister said the new policy he launched several weeks ago to attract more immigrants to Ontario is critical to meeting the province's future labour needs. "In the future 100 per cent of the net jobs will be filled by newcomers to Ontario."
Another long-term problem that has never been addressed, despite ongoing promises from every party, is the Ontario Condominium Act. Sousa promised "immediate reform” of the legislation to give owners a greater voice on condo boards and to force the licensing of condo managers.

Investing in post-secondary education in times of a down economy, such as the one we are in now, will pay huge dividends down the road as the economy recovers, argued the 54-year-old graduate of Gordon Graydon Secondary School.

He urged approval of a new university campus in neighbouring Milton, Ontario's fastest-growing municipality, as soon as possible. 
"We have the funding. We need to act,” he said.
At ease in front of the friendly MBOT audience, Sousa sounded and looked very much like a man who would be comfortable as the next premier of the province.
"We do have a strong foundation in this province  but we need to work together," he concluded. "It's not about the future of anyone's political stripe, it's about the future of the province." 

Check out the Charles Sousa plan for Northern Ontario!

Like the Sousa campaign on Facebook!
Follow Charles on Twitter!

A great week for the Charles Sousa campaign! After solid performances in the all candidates debates, and fantastic youth turnout at our pub night and the UTM Winterfest, Charles Sousa has rolled out his plan for Northern Ontario in the run up to the Northern region leadership debate tomorrow. Take a look!

Ontario Liberal leadership candidate, Charles Sousa, has the right plan to create jobs for northern families.

His vision for the North will mean accelerated job creation, better transit and more local decision making.

His plan has three points:

1. Further develop the mining sector and speed up the Ring of Fire to create jobs for northern families.

The Ring of Fire is one of the largest chromite deposits in the world, offering enormous untapped potential to create jobs for northern families and economic benefit for all of Ontario. To fast-track development in the area, Sousa will:

• Work with investors to reach deals that create jobs and provide new net returns for Ontario in the North;
• Invest better transportation systems to the North;
• Expand energy transmission capacity; and
• Engage First Nations partners so that they share and benefit from job creation and economic stimulus.

“We need to act now to create these jobs. Developing the Ring of Fire will be my top priority for the North,” said Sousa.

2. Support a reliable and sustainable ONTC to connect northern communities.

The recent decision to divest the ONTC has many communities concerned about how they’ll travel between communities. “Transit is vital to continued growth and important to northern families. That’s why I am committed to a sustainable, reliable ONTC that connects the North and supports jobs,” said Sousa.

3. Act upon local input into decision-making and build municipal partnerships.

Like other regions of the province, people in the North need to know that their input is valued and their priorities will be acted upon. “Under my leadership, local solutions will come from local input, because not all good ideas come from the Premier’s office.”

Sousa is running to be Ontario’s Jobs Premier and has already put forward several concrete ways to create jobs now. More information is available online at www.votesousa.ca.