Oakville North-Burlington Newsletter August 30, 2024
“I am pleased to share that St. Cecilia Catholic Elementary school in North Oakville is now complete, creating 671 student spaces. This is welcome news for our fast-growing community. Through this investment, families and students have access to a quality learning environment in the years ahead. Our government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, is investing in innovative and modern learning spaces, so that students will have access to quality education that will equip them with lifelong skills in a safe and healthy environment”. – MPP Effie Triantafilopoulos
Learn More: https://effiempp.ca/ontario-opening-new-school-in-oakville/
CHET Academy Opens in Burlington
Honoured to attend the grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony of CHET Academy in Burlington!
The workers trained there are essential to our economy, ensuring that goods and resources flow smoothly across the province, supporting industries, businesses, and communities alike.
Under the leadership of Premier Doug Ford, our province is making vital investments to ensure Ontario is creating good paying jobs and is open for business.
Happy Convenience Store Week!
This week, we celebrate the essential role that convenience stores and their dedicated employees play in supporting our communities in Oakville North-Burlington and across Ontario.
In 2021, the Ontario government passed legislation that formally recognized these contributions which make our neighbourhoods stronger! Today I was so pleased to visit Beckers in Oakville and Hasty Market in Burlington to thank them for their invaluable service to our communities.
Celebrating VOICE for Hearing Impaired Children’s Ontario Trillium Foundation Grant
I had the pleasure of welcoming VOICE for Hearing Impaired Children to our community office to celebrate the award of an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant.
This funding helped equip their summer camp with assistive listening devices, making it accessible and ensuring a joyful, enriching experience for children and their families.
It’s so meaningful to me that our government under the leadership of Premier Doug Ford is supporting initiatives that make a real difference in the lives of youth and their families in our community!
Star Student Pooria Receives the Schulich Leader Scholarship
It was a pleasure to welcome Pooria and his mom Samira to our community office today and congratulate him on receiving the prestigious Schulich Leader Scholarship. At just 18, Pooria has already made our community so proud, standing out among over 300,000 candidates across Canada.
As he heads to Queen’s University to major in computing with a focus on Artificial Intelligence, I’m confident that his future is incredibly bright. Congratulations, Pooria, and best of luck on your academic journey!
Connecting With Thrilok and Nikitha
We had the pleasure of welcoming Thrilok and Nikitha to our community office today! It was a great opportunity to connect and discuss some exciting ideas for our community.
A special thank you for bringing donuts for the team, it truly made our day a little sweeter!
Connecting with Our Community
I had a great time door knocking in Oakville North-Burlington with Team Effie. Hearing directly from our community is so important, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to connect with so many of you.
Your feedback helps shape the work we do to make our community and province the best place to live, work and raise a family.
Looking forward to continuing these important conversations in the days ahead.
Honouring the Life and Legacy of Veronica Tyrell
Honoured to recognize Veronica Tyrrell Day in Oakville, remembering a trailblazing activist who dedicated her life to advancing unity and understanding.
Veronica Tyrrell’s leadership and advocacy continue to inspire us all. Her legacy lives on in the park that bears her name and in our community.
Province Launches Largest Competitive Energy Procurement in Ontario History
The Ontario government is launching the largest competitive energy procurement in the province’s history, focused on generating affordable electricity for families and businesses. This builds on the province’s plan to procure up to 5,000 megawatts (MW) of energy through a series of procurements to help foster economic prosperity and meet the growing demand for clean and reliable energy.
The government announced a plan of action for more affordable energy, supporting Ontario’s diverse supply mix including nuclear, hydroelectric, renewables, natural gas, and biomass. The Second Long-Term Procurement (LT2) will plan future energy initiatives in communities that provide consent while protecting prime agricultural areas, including:
- Requiring energy project developers to receive municipal support resolutions to ensure local support and consent for new projects.
- Prohibiting all projects in specialty crop areas and ground-mounted solar in prime agricultural areas to prevent solar farms.
- Incentivizing projects located in northern Ontario and those which avoid prime agricultural areas, along with a plan to unlock Crown Lands for renewable energy.
- Incentivizing economic opportunities for projects with or by Indigenous communities on whose traditional territory the projects are proposed.
- Requiring Agricultural Impact Assessments for projects that are permitted on all prime agricultural areas.
To advance Ontario’s expanded electricity needs, the IESO is expected to report back with a procurement design framework by September 20, 2024, and consider how to conclude energy and capacity procurements by February 28, 2026. The accelerated timelines will ensure that Ontario can continue to support large-scale investments that require a clean and reliable energy supply to create well-paying jobs across the province.
Learn More: https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1004981/province-launches-largest-competitive-energy-procurement-in-ontario-history
Ontario Reducing Wait Times for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Procedures
As part of the Your Healthplan, the Ontario government is taking the next step to make it easier and faster for people to connect to publicly-funded surgeries and procedures by adding approximately 60,000 gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy procedures at community surgical and diagnostic centres across the province each year.
A call for applications for new licences is open, with new licences expected to be issued starting in Winter 2025 that will connect nearly 60,000 more people to procedures each year. This expansion of services will help reduce wait times for GI endoscopy procedures across the province from the date the order/requisition was received to the date people receive their procedure.
As the government significantly expands the number of surgeries and procedures being done through community surgical and diagnostic centres, it is ensuring these centres are integrated and linked with the broader public health system. This includes requiring new facilities to provide detailed staffing plans that protect the stability of staffing resources at public hospitals, report into the province’s wait times information system and participate in regional central intakes, where available, to ensure people get the care they need as quickly as possible. All community surgical and diagnostic centres are under the oversight of Accreditation Canada’s new quality assurance program which provides the same strong requirements as public hospitals to improve quality standards at facilities and ensure consistent patient safety and quality care.
Learn More: https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1004974/ontario-reducing-wait-times-for-gastrointestinal-endoscopy-procedures
Ontario Students Going Back-to-Basics with Fewer Distractions This Fall
The Ontario government is investing $47.5 million to support safe and healthy learning, along with implementing the most comprehensive plan in Canada to restrict student use of cellphones and ban vaping in schools. By removing distractions, students can focus their attention on academic achievement, which will include modernized courses in business and career studies, and technological education.
The new provincewide measures are taking effect on September 1, 2024 to directly counter the alarming rise of vaping and cellphone distractions in schools. The new rules will help combat the negative impact mobile devices, social media and vaping are having on academic achievement, mental health and physical well-being.
The government is investing $47.5 million to support the implementation of the new rules, including:
- $15 million to support the expansion of programs that offer direct supports for students who are at risk of substance use and addictive behaviours
- $1 million to School Mental Health Ontario to develop webinars and resources for parents and students to learn how to talk about the adverse effects of vaping and excessive cellphone usage
- $1.5 million for school boards to work with their parent involvement committees to enable parents and community partners to run grassroots campaigns to deter vaping and cellphone distractions
- Further, as announced in Budget 2024, $30 million to school boards for vape detectors and other security upgrades in schools
Learn More: https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1004987/ontario-students-going-back-to-basics-with-fewer-distractions-this-fall
| Oakville North-Burlington Spirit Awards |
It’s truly an honour to shine a light on the dedicated volunteers who have contributed to making our community better. Thank you for your community spirit. If you would like to nominate a member of our community who has gone above and beyond to contribute to our community, please contact my office and let me know at Effie.triantafilopoulos@pc.ola.org
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