Expensive promises have started to flow on the campaign trail of Ontario\u2019s snap election<\/a> \u2014 but exactly how much they\u2019ll cost the next government isn\u2019t something the parties are ready to say.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n On Wednesday, the Ontario Liberals<\/a> and NDP tried to move the debate onto the Progressive Conservatives\u2019 record on social issues with promises around social support and housing.<\/p>\n The Ontario NDP<\/a> unveiled a major homelessness promise, while the Liberals made a commitment to double rates of disability assistance.<\/p>\n The day before, the PCs had said they would take over Ottawa\u2019s beleaguered light rail transit system.<\/p>\n None of those promises were costed, though parties are promising more details when they unveil their platforms later in the campaign.<\/p>\n NDP Leader Marit Stiles was in Toronto\u2019s High Park neighbourhood to draw attention to encampments, a topic both her party and the Liberals believe Doug Ford\u2019s PCs may be weak on.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cAfter seven years of Doug Ford, encampments are the new normal,\u201d she said. \u201cSeeing tents in parks is a stark reminder of how utterly Doug Ford has failed. He has failed on housing, he has failed on health care, he has failed on creating good jobs, and he has failed to make life affordable.\u201d<\/p>\n To the west, in Hamilton, Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie was making similar comments.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery small town, every community, not just large cities, are seeing tents and encampments,\u201d Crombie said. \u201cAnd let me tell you that I don\u2019t remember seeing them eight years ago or nine years ago or 10 years ago, this is a failure of Doug Ford\u2019s Ontario.\u201d<\/p>\n For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n On Monday, Stiles announced that, if elected, her party would create 60,000 supportive housing units, part of the NDP\u2019s plan to create a public sector builder to boost the number of new homes.<\/p>\n The NDP would also upload the cost of shelters to Queen\u2019s Park, taking on a cost that has fallen to property taxpayers since the 1990s.<\/p>\n Neither promise, however, has a dollar figure attached to it. Stiles said the province could not \u201cafford not to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n Crombie\u2019s Liberals also made a large, as-yet-unfunded promise to improve the province\u2019s social safety net.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n If elected, the Liberals said they would double the rate of the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and then peg its increases to inflation.<\/p>\n \u201cODSP rates are so low that people are forced to live in poverty and rely on food banks just to get by. It\u2019s unacceptable,\u201d Crombie said. \u201cKeeping people healthy starts with getting them the basics, and that is why as premier, I will double ODSP. Permanently.\u201d<\/p>\n Before taking questions, the Liberal leader said she wouldn\u2019t be revealing the cost of the pledge but that it would be calculated in the party\u2019s platform when it is released later in the campaign.<\/p>\n The NDP and Liberals both hope Ford\u2019s PCs are vulnerable on the issue of homelessness and encampments, which have increased in recent years.<\/p>\n The Association of Municipalities of Ontario has calculated more than 81,000 people across Ontario were homeless at some point in 2024, a 51 per cent increase from 2016.<\/p>\n The municipal organization has called that figure \u201cstaggering\u201d and demanded action from the provincial government to end chronic homelessness.<\/p>\n Before the early election, Ford\u2019s housing minister had tabled a proposed bill to give police more powers to prosecute public drug use, new consequences for repeat trespassers and $75.5 million for cities to build housing and clear encampments.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n That law did not pass before the legislature was dissolved for the early election but the funding did begin to flow to cities, which the PCs said at the time were seeing success in starting to clear encampments<\/a>.<\/p>\n If re-elected, the Progressive Conservatives said they would retable and pass their encampment bill<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t![\"For](\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/wp-content\/themes\/shaw-globalnews\/images\/skyline\/national.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\nGet breaking National news<\/h3>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tOntario NDP Leader Marit Stiles speaks during a campaign event in Ottawa, Tuesday, Feb.4, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Adrian Wyld.\t\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tOntario PC Leader Doug Ford speaks with union leadership as he makes a campaign stop at a sheet metal workers union and training facility, in Ottawa, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025.\t\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tTHE CANADIAN PRESS\/Adrian Wyld\t\t\t\t<\/cite>
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n