Ottawa, ON – Today, the Hon. Erin O’Toole, Leader of Canada’s Conservatives, announced his plan to build key infrastructure to get the economy moving through Canada’s Recovery Plan. “As Prime Minister, I will end the delays and get shovels in the ground on these major infrastructure projects to create jobs and improve the lives of millions of Canadians,” said O’Toole. “We’re going to build the world-class public transit, road, and 5G networks our country needs to compete and get every part of Canada moving again.” Instead of building the modern infrastructure needed for growing communities across Canada, the Trudeau Liberal government sat on billions of unspent infrastructure dollars and waited months to step up as a full funding partner for nationally significant projects. Canada’s Conservatives will be partners on key projects across the country, like Ontario’s GTA transit plan, Vancouver’s SkyTrain extension to Langley, Quebec City’s Third Link, and the Calgary Green Line. Through Canada’s Recovery Plan, Canada’s Conservatives will immediately unlock those unused dollars and invest in shovel-ready projects that will put Canadians to work, cut commute times, and clean up the environment. Under the infrastructure plan, Canada’s Conservatives will also: -- Provide more flexibility to municipalities and First Nations by removing onerous requirements to receive federal infrastructure funding. -- Scrap the failed Canada Infrastructure Bank and commit the money sitting unused on its books to infrastructure projects that can strengthen our economy. -- Reprioritize the Investing in Canada Plan toward infrastructure projects that would have the maximum benefit for economic recovery. -- Build digital infrastructure to connect all of Canada to high-speed Internet by 2025. “Our infrastructure investments are pivotal to rebuilding our economy and making life easier for Canadians,” said O’Toole. “Only Canada’s Conservatives have a plan to build infrastructure faster and create good jobs for Canadians to fuel our recovery.”

Edmonton, AB – Today, the Hon. Erin O’Toole, Leader of Canada’s Conservatives, released his plan to break down barriers for Canadians living with disabilities. One in five Canadians lives with a disability. People living with long-term conditions or disabilities were also among the most impacted groups during the pandemic, with more than one-third experiencing a temporary or permanent job loss or reduced hours. “As Prime Minister, I will work to build a Canada where people of every ability can live full lives and participate fully in society, including in the workforce,” said O’Toole. “Canada’s Recovery Plan will provide Canadians with living with disabilities the supports they need, while always leaving them further ahead when they choose to pursue work.” Canada’s Recovery Plan will support Canadians with disabilities by: Doubling the Disability Supplement in the Canada Workers Benefit from $713 to $1,500, providing a major boost to lower-income Canadians with disabilities on top of our increase in the Canada Workers Benefit. Overhauling the complex array of disability supports and benefits to ensure that working always leaves someone further ahead and work with the provinces to ensure federal programs are designed to work with provincial programs to achieve this result. Providing an additional $80 million per year through the Enabling Accessibility Fund to ensure: Additional incentives for small business and community projects to improve accessibility. Grants and support for all types of accessibility equipment that Canadians with disabilities need to work. Enhancements to existing programs that will get more Canadians with disabilities into the workforce. Reducing the number of hours required to qualify for the Disability Tax Credit and the Registered Disability Savings Plan from 14 to 10 hours per week. “The disability community has been advocating for these improvements for years, but their demands have too often been met with lip service rather than action,” said O’Toole. “Conservatives are prepared to put our money where our mouth is, providing real, immediate funding increases to support Canadians living with disabilities through this difficult time.” If you don’t care about securing better disability supports for Canadians, you have three parties to choose from in this election. If you do, then there is only one choice – Erin O’Toole and Canada’s Conservatives.

Winnipeg, MB – Today, the Hon. Erin O’Toole, Leader of Canada’s Conservatives, unveiled the Canada Job Surge Plan, a key part of Canada’s Recovery Plan that will recover the million jobs lost since the start of the pandemic by focusing on the hardest-hit sectors, incentivizing businesses to hire, reducing regulatory burden, and reforming our tax system to reward work. “Many Canadians have struggled for months to find work, especially women and young people,” said O’Toole. “As the country reopens, our top priority is getting as many people back to work in good jobs, in every part of Canada, in every sector, as quickly as possible.” Once the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) ends in October, an O’Toole government will get Canadians back to work by introducing the Canada Job Surge Plan, an initiative that will pay up to 50 per cent of the salary of net new hires for six months. The wage subsidy will be at least 25 per cent and will increase based on how long a new employee has been out of work, reaching 50 per cent for those who have been unemployed for ten months or more. The Canada Job Surge Plan will apply to all sectors, but it will be especially helpful to those sectors hit first and hardest by the pandemic, such as hospitality and tourism. “The Canada Job Surge Plan is just the beginning of our plan to secure jobs across Canada, and to secure the future,” O’Toole concluded. “The Liberals, NDP and Greens don’t have a plan to get Canadians back to work. Canada’s Conservatives got us out of the last recession—we’ll get our country out of this one too.”