Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates Calls For End To Hospital Parking Fees As Niagara Health Increases Rates

“What we should do is eliminate hospital parking fees – for workers, doctors, patients, and families alike- and instead fully fund public health care.” – Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates

A News Release from the Constituency Office of Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates whose riding also includes Fort Erie and Niagara-on-the-Lake, with a Foreword from Doug Draper at Niagara At Large

Posted December 4^th, 2024 on Niagara At Large

A Brief Foreword by Niagara At Large reporter/publisher Doug Draper –

So you say you want another tax cut?

I do too, but not the way our senior levels of government – Liberal, Conservative and for one term in Ontario, the NDP – have been doing it for the past 30 or more years where the most generous cuts have gone to the rich and super-rich while the rest of see ours cut just a wee little bit.

And so it went, election after election, with one government after another promising more tax cuts until the progressive income tax system that worked so well for working and middle class people decades after the Second World War, where those who made more paid proportionally more, gave way to user fees that were slapped evenly on everyone, regardless of their ability to pay.

So here we are with higher and higher user fees slapped on us for everything from having a splash in a public pool on a hot summer day to, yes, parking at public hospitals.

After all, if governments aren’t going to take in the revenue they need to pay for services from a progressive income tax, they have to get the money from somewhere. So service providers like public hospitals are forced to jack up service fees where in the case of hospitals, just to use one of numerous examples, people on a lower income are forced to pay as much to park their vehicle as someone living on easy street.

Is that fair? Of course not.

But at least a couple of generations of Ontario voters – including those in my Baby Boomer generation – should have thought about that back when we allowed ourselves to be suckered into supporting the party that promised the biggest tax cut.

Having said that, I applaud Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates’ call for banning parking fees at public hospitals. My question is, how willing will he and his fellow New Democrats be to bring back a progressive tax system that is robust enough to cover the cost of the services we need if they are elected to government?

Now here is Wayne Gate’s  statement on banning parking fees at our hospitals  –

QUEENS PARK – MPP Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls) continued to fight for the elimination of parking fees at hospitals for staff, visitors, and patients, as Niagara Health plans to increase parking rates. (https://www.610cktb.com/news/parking-rates-going-up-at-niagara-health-before-year-end.html)

“Parking fees at hospitals should be eliminated, not increased,” said Gates.

“No one should be worried about paying for parking at a hospital during an affordability crisis, whether you are a patient, a loved one, a front-line worker, or a doctor. It’s unacceptable and I’ve heard directly from front-line staff at our hospitals who are having to rely on food banks just to get by. These costs they are charged for parking add up when workers are trying to make ends meet.”

A day pass for parking will be increased to $19 from $16, and costs for staff & doctor parking will also increase.

“The reality is, the Ford government has been underfunding health care by billions, while they have created a crisis in staffing that is leading to out-of-control wait times for services”, said Gates. “Ford has forced hospital systems to do more with less.

“What we should do is eliminate hospital parking fees – for workers, doctors, patients, and families alike- and instead fully fund public health care, so patients can get the care they need in a timely manner.”

MPP Gates called for an end to hospital parking fees (https://www.notllocal.com/local-news/mpp-wayne-gates-calls-for-end-to-hospital-parking-fees-9761689) at Queen’s Park last month.

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