Dental Benefits
The Ministry of Health has a program that helps provide dental care to seniors. This program is available to seniors who make under $22,000 a year and for couples that make less than $37,100. This benefit helps lower-income individuals get otherwise unaffordable dental care, like fixing a cavity that could cost you about $500. A problem with this plan is that the increases to Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or Old Age Security (OAS) could possibly exclude them from these plans. MPP Hsu will ask Premier Ford and his government to raise the income cutoff so that people earning over $22,000 and couples making over $37,100 can still have the support they urgently need.
Preserving Green Spaces
MPP Hsu recently attended a meeting in Cobourg about preserving Northumberland’s green space. MPP Hsu remembered that his high school geography teacher, Rick Price, in the late 1970s, highlighted how Ontario was losing valuable farmland. The Golden Horseshoe has farmland that is a 3 hours’ drive from Kingston that grows food crops. Today, it continues to be lost to developers who want to build on the land.
Wildfires
As you know, Canada continues to see many wildfires across the country. MPP Hsu’s office receives weekly updates from the Minster of Natural Resources and Forestry. After the wildfires in May, the government promised $700,000 for four free training programs for volunteer and professional firefighters. These programs will help people learn how to fight wildfires. The problem with these programs though, is that they don’t lead to permanent jobs and good salaries, so many people leave for other jobs.
As MPP Hsu is the Liberal critic for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, he will continue to watch the wildfire situation and the actions of the Ontario government very closely, keeping the community and Ontario updated as things change.
National Intern Day
On National Intern Day we celebrate the great people in our office who are smart and hard working. Our team would be lost without them. So, thank you so much for the great work you do in the office!
Ontario Arts Council recipients
Since 1963, the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) has provided essential support to the professional arts community in Ontario. The OAC’s mission is to promote art creation and production for the benefit of Ontarians. Ted is proud of the many people and organizations in Kingston that have received an OAC award, allowing them to continue their work in the arts, thereby advancing our community.
Individual recipients in Kingston
Jared Beckstead-Craan, Ashley-Elizabeth Best, John Burge, Michael Casteels, GHY Cheung, Nancy Jo Cullen, Sadiqa de Meijer, Michael Duguay, Helen Humphreys, John Jantunen, Ryan Laidman, Barbara Lorraine Laing, Ying Lee, Brenda Leifso, Nicholas Lennox, Kirsteen MacLeod, ck nosun, David Parker, John Pigeau, Chantal Rousseau and Zoey Roy.
Organization recipients in Kingston
Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Brick Books, Calliope Collective, Cantabile Choirs of Kingston, Le Centre Culturel Frontenac, H’art Centre, Kingston Arts Council, Kingston Canadian Film Festival, Kingston Symphony Association, Kingston Theatre Alliance, Kingston WritersFest, KPP Concerts, Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre, PeerLess Productions, Reelout Arts Project Inc., Single Thread Theatre Company, Skeleton Park Arts Festival, Les Soliloques, SpiderWebShow, and SweetnFab Collective and Union Gallery
Labour Day picnic
Join MPP Hsu and MP Mark Gerretsen on Labour Day from 1 pm to 4 pm at Lake Ontario Park. You can meet your MPP and MP! There will be pizza, ice cream, prizes and live music. Hope to see you there!
Princess Street Promenade
Even though Ted Hsu wasn’t at the Promenade, he heard that it was great and helped our city’s small businesses grow! He will be at the Promenade on September 23!
Thank you for reading!