Celebrating One Year as MPP, International Women's Day Events, Ontario NDP Summer Internship Program, and more

For some, politics is personal – it’s about growing a career. For me it can only be about growing a community. It’s been almost a year since I was sworn-in as your MPP for Parkdale—High Park. It truly is the honour of a lifetime to serve our riding as your representative in provincial parliament.    As we near the one-year milestone, I’ve been reflecting on why it is that I decided to run for elected office—and to run as a New Democrat. The main reason? I believe in abundance. I know that in a province as wealthy as ours, we have the resources for everyone to thrive. And yet, in my previous role as a United Church minister, I saw families harmed every day by politicians who pretend there’s not enough to go around—that is, until it comes to payday for their insider buddies. I was heartbroken by moms who came to my office on school days with their kids in tow because they couldn’t afford to buy them lunch. By refugees forced to sleep on frozen winter sidewalks because there were no shelter beds in Toronto—one of the largest cities in North America. By families lined up at food banks, exhausted after working multiple jobs, because they still couldn’t make ends meet. I knew there needed to a systemic fix, not just the charitable side of things. We needed to bring real solutions.

The Ontario NDP is serious about strengthening our province and making life better and more affordable for all Ontarians. We’re fighting to double the supply of deeply affordable housing, and to bring in real rent controls, pharmacare, and consumer protections so that no one ever has to choose between essentials like food, housing and medication.   We’re committed to bolstering the public systems Ontarians rely on and are proud of. We know that to build a more stable and prosperous society we must invest in public health care, education, child care and transit—and double social assistance rates so no one falls through the cracks. That's how we build community. That's how we make a movement to last. So thank you for your trust this past year, and for working together for a brighter Parkdale—High Park.

Upcoming Events: Skating, Tenant Town Hall, Lunar New Year, and more!

February is shaping up to be quite a busy month! We have a lot of great events coming up in the riding and at Queen's Park: skating parties, tenant and education town halls, Lunar New Year celebrations and more. I've included all the details below. 👇 As this is the first newsletter of February, I also want to wish everyone a happy Black History Month and recognize the many contributions Black Canadians have made to Parkdale­—High Park and our province!  I look forward to seeing you in the community in the coming weeks.  With warmth and gratitude, Alexa

Won't you be my neighbour?

I hope this message finds you safe and warm. Winter has hit hard these past weeks, and global news has hit even harder. Between the frigid temperatures and record snowfall, Toronto is still digging itself out from the largest winter storm in our city's history--and the snowiest January to boot!  It's been a challenge, but as always our community has pulled together: shoveling sidewalks for seniors, helping neighbours dig out cars and laneways, and bringing those in need to warming shelters. It's mutual care and generosity such as this that strengthens our communities and helps builds our resilience. We see this in the example of our Minnesota neighbours, who have shown up bravely day after day in the depths of winter to protect their communities from the ICE threat. To stand against authoritarianism and white supremacy and try to help one another--as Renée Good and Alex Pretti heroically did--even to their very last breath.  American journalist Ana Marie Cox wrote last week on how Minnesota's longstanding tradition of mutual aid enabled its rapid mobilization against ICE--building the community connections, response networks and habits of helping that have been essential to their response. As she says, "truly resilient communities don’t arise out of an emergency. They come together before that through a thousand little acts on a regular basis." So in the weeks and months ahead, let's keep coming together as a community, both in joyful times and times of hardship. Because it's these connections more than anything that will help us protect one another--and our democracy. Click on the video below for my further thoughts on events in the US, their connection to Ontario politics and what we can all be doing to better help our neighbours:

With warmth and gratitude, Alexa