August 20th Weekly Update

Published on August 20, 2020

Dear Neighbour,

This has been a historic week in our province with progress on a number of transportation projects, including the issuance of Requests For Proposals for the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension and the Scarborough Subway Extension. These are long-term investments will make commuting easier within the City of Toronto and the GTHA.

Under this plan, the future Eglinton Crosstown will be extended west from the current terminus at Mount Dennis, connecting Toronto and Mississauga and creating a one-stop connection from our riding directly to the airport. The Scarborough Subway Extension will replace the aging Scarborough RT with a state of the art three-stop subway.

The release of these RFPs is another step forward in delivering the largest subway expansion in the country's history to commuters and businesses in the Greater Toronto Area.

In April 2019, the province announced its historic new transportation vision, with a preliminary estimated cost of $28.5 billion. In addition to the Scarborough Subway Extension and the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension, this plan also includes the all-new Ontario Line and the Yonge North Subway Extension. Planning is underway for all four priority projects with procurements staged to ensure each project is delivered successfully.

On August 5, 2020, Ontario announced three teams of bidders per project were shortlisted to advance tunnelling work on two of the four priority transit projects, the Scarborough Subway Extension and the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension, included in the Subway Transit Plan for the GTA.

Today, the Ontario government announced the hiring of an additional 200 Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers. These new recruits will provide OPP frontline officers with the additional resources they need to better protect communities.

This new hiring initiative is part of our government efforts to improve the OPP’s workplace culture and support the mental health and well-being of OPP personnel as they go above and beyond to serve and protect our communities.

I've been enjoying the great outdoors participating in this month's 30x30 challenge. Try to spend a minimum of 30 minutes outdoors a day, it's great for your physical and mental health. This past weekend, my husband and I rode 30KM from Simcoe to Port Dover. This is also a great way to spend some travel/tourism dollars by taking a staycation somewhere in Ontario to help support local businesses and strengthen Ontario's economic recovery.

My constituency office is open by appointment only. If you are in need of any assistance, you can make an appointment by calling my constituency office at (416) 781-2395 or email me at robin.martin@pc.ola.org.

Until next week,

Robin Martin, MPP
Eglinton-Lawrence

(416) 781-2395 - robin.martin@pc.ola.org

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HIGHLIGHTS
PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT

The Ontario government is one step closer to getting shovels in the ground on part of the largest subway expansion in Canadian history with the planned release of a Request for Proposals (RFP) to advance tunnelling work on the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension.
The Ontario government is one step closer to getting shovels in the ground on part of the largest subway expansion in Canadian history with the expectation that the
Request for Proposals (RFP) to advance tunnelling work on the Scarborough Subway Extension.
The Ontario government is providing $500,000 to retrain veterans for jobs in the IT and technology sector. This funding is part of a $1.8 million investment in IT and technology training projects announced today by Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development, at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 258 in Scarborough.
The Ontario government, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, is extending orders currently in force under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020 (ROA). The extensions provide the government with the necessary flexibility to address the ongoing risks and effects of the COVID-19 outbreak and ensure important measures remain in place to protect vulnerable populations, such as seniors, people with developmental disabilities and those with mental health and addiction issues.

For the most up-to-date COVID-19 information from the Government of Ontario visit ontario.ca/coronavirus

HIGHLIGHTS
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

The Canada Revenue Agency has opened applications for Period 5 – the first period of the enhanced CEWS program. Program changes for Periods 5-9 include:

The extension of the CEWS, including redesigned program details, until November 21, 2020.
Increased eligibility, meaning that all eligible employers who've experienced a revenue drop can now qualify for a base subsidy. The subsidy amount is based on the revenue drop.
Employers who are especially hard-hit can qualify for a top-up of up to 25%.
Provide certainty for employers that have already made business decisions for July and August, by ensuring they will not receive a subsidy rate lower than they would have under the previous rules.

HIGHLIGHTS
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT

Thanks to the new Bike Share Toronto – CAA South Central Ontario partnership, Bike Share Toronto riders will ride for free every Wednesday in the month of September. Riders can take out a bike for up to 30 minutes, return the bike to any station, and take out another bike for an additional free 30-minute ride.

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August 20th Weekly Update

Digital Activity Book for Kids

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What's Your Biggest Concern for Ontario?

August 20th Weekly Update

Digital Activity Book for Kids

Click on the photo to download it for free!

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What's Your Biggest Concern for Ontario?