Laura Mae Lindo MPP, Kitchener Centre

Today Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath asked MPP Laura Mae Lindo to continue in her role as Anti-Racism Critic for the Province of Ontario while adding to her critic role the important portfolio of Colleges and Universities across Ontario.

MPP Lindo has worked diligently to ensure that racial justice remains at the forefront of government work, and her connection to the post-secondary sector make her an ideal Official Opposition member to continue the advocacy of past Colleges and University critics. In her new role, Lindo will be fighting to end precarious employment for academic staff in the sector, replacing contract work with more full time positions, promoting greater equity and justice on campuses for marginalized students with more support for equity work being done on campus that has been severely under-funded in this province, and renewing the call for investments that recognize the persistence and prevalence of sexual and gendered violence.

She looks forward to working alongside her colleague, MPP for Waterloo, Catherine Fife, who has taken on the critical role of Finance and Treasury Board Critic and sends her warmest congratulations to her friend MPP Fife. 

Full release: 

QUEEN’S PARK — Ontarians need more help and hope to make it through COVID-19, says Andrea Horwath, Leader of the Official Opposition New Democrats, who has asked her MPPs to take on new critic responsibilities to push for better support for everyday families in the face of the brutal pandemic.
 
“People deserve hope,” said Horwath. “They deserve a government that gives them that hope by going all-in on stopping the spread, and they deserve a government that gives them the help they need to make it to the other side.
 
“Doug Ford was cutting long-term care, education and public health before the pandemic — and he doesn’t want to spend on those things now. That choice is making this pandemic longer, with more agony and more tragic loss, and leaving us vulnerable to the new COVID-19 variants.
 
“I’m assigning my incredible team of NDP MPPs to tackle some new portfolios, lean in to our alternative vision for a provincial government that puts people at the heart, and fight like hell to push this government to do better for folks.”
 
Horwath was joined by four key critics — Seniors, Home Care and Long Term Care, Deputy Leader Sara Singh (Brampton Centre); Health, France Gélinas (Nickel Belt); Education, Marit Stiles (Davenport); and Finance and Treasury Board, Catherine Fife (Waterloo) for a news conference Monday.
 
“Ontarians elected an Official Opposition that’s full of everyday people who are deeply caring, diverse, rich in real-world experience and hard-working,” said Horwath. “It’s an honour to work with this team of 40 New Democrat MPPs every day. I’m thankful for the difficult work they’ve done over the last couple years, I’m inspired by their passion, and I’m very pleased that they’re enthusiastically taking on new assignments to make life better for people.”