Ontario currently holds 34 percent of the seats in Parliament (even though we have 39 percent of the population) and yet, for decades and over successive governments – no matter what their party affiliation – Ottawa has failed to treat Ontario fairly when it comes to federal transfers for such vital services as healthcare, infrastructure, unemployment insurance, education and immigration.

Each year, taxpayers in communities across the country, including Flamborough, send their federal tax dollars to Ottawa. And Ottawa, in return, distributes some of that money to the provinces to help fund programs under provincial jurisdiction. Sadly, successive federal governments have shared fewer dollars with each Ontarian than with citizens in other provinces. In other words, Ontarians have been subsidizing the services in other parts of the country for many, many years.

The time has come to end this unfairness.

In real dollars, Ontario receives over $700 million less each year in healthcare funding from the federal government than it should – enough to hire 14,000 more full-time nurses to care for us in our hospitals and long-term care facilities or buy 250 more MRI machines to provide quicker diagnoses of critical illnesses.

In real dollars, Ontario receives $1 billion less in infrastructure funding from the federal government than we should – enough to build a four-lane highway from Sudbury to Toronto or pay for the construction of 67,000 more affordable housing spaces for families struggling to pay the rent.

In real dollars, our unemployed workers receive almost $5,000 less each year than an unemployed worker in another province. Imagine what that would mean to Flamborough families who have been affected by layoffs in the community.

The irony is, that the fiscal imbalance and its effects on Ontario actually hurt Canada as well. Ontario is, after all, the economic engine of this country. A strong Canada simply needs a strong Ontario.

The Flamborough Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a community All-Candidates’ Debate at Waterdown District High School starting at 7 p. m. on Tuesday, October 7. Free admission. Everyone welcome.

Penny Gardiner is President of the Flamborough Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors.