RICHTER REVEALS 5-POINT ‘LOCAL’ GREEN PLATFORM, BECAUSE LIFE IN ONTARIO IS ‘GETTING WORSE’
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
PARRY SOUND-MUSKOKA — Matt Richter and Mike Schreiner have had a list of beefs with Doug Ford and his government for years including “ignoring rural Ontario.”
Today the Greens leadership team re-iterated most of them when Richter “shared” his ‘5-point plan’ for the riding that will “take action to address five local concerns.”
Rural health care, education, the environment, municipal funding and “investing in kids.”
Sound familiar?
So what’s different now compared to 2022 and the election before?
“What’s different is that it’s getting worse,” said Richter. “And the reason we’re staying true to the message and staying true to the issues that are being raised is because people aren’t seeing any improvement on it.
“They want action.”

“The Ford government has had seven years to fix all these problems and they failed to fix them,” said Schreiner. “And so that’s why we need to elect a strong local champion like Matt to go down there and actually put forward the solutions the Ford government’s not delivering.”
Which of his five plans would he like Ford to act on first?
Richter said the government could “focus” on all of his platform priorities.
“But one they could get on right away is erasing the doctor shortage to the point that meets our needs. And Mike can speak about some of the strategies that can be used to free up the doctors that are already here in our country.”
Aren’t all governments doing that now?
“No they’re not,” jumped in Schreiner. “Two-point-five million Ontarians don’t have access to a doctor. And that’s going to grow to five million if the government doesn’t change course right now. So if you think the situation is bad now, it’s only going to get worse.
“And that’s exactly why we need to be accrediting internationally-trained doctors who already live in Ontario and are driving taxis. I can’t tell you how many doctors who are saying they are on the verge of retiring early because of the administrative and paperwork burden they’re facing.
“There was a resolution — and I voted for it — to reduce the administrative burden on family doctors. Graydon Smith and the Ford government voted against it.
“Even though doctors are saying you can free up more health care capacity right now if you would just reduce the paperwork burden on existing health care workers.”
Schreiner said “It’s worse in Ontario than any other province. Part of it is we have the lowest per capita funding of any health system in our country. We would have to increase funding for health care by $12 million (billion?) just to get to the national average.”
On the subject of hospital funding, Schreiner said the province needs to reduce the percentage of Local Share from 20 per cent.
“We’re calling for it to be cut in half. For a lot of smaller communities, rural municipalities, they don’t have the population base to be able to sustain that kind of financial contribution. And we need to change the formula…. They just don’t have the tax base like Toronto.”
Richter added “there’s a lot of confusion” on how much the government has committed to new Muskoka hospital builds.
“Ford and Graydon Smith and the PCs, they need to be upfront and honest about the exact amount that they’ve contributed for this hospital project build. There’s a lot of confusion in our community as to what the actual amount is. Is it a billion dollars or is it $750 million?
“That’s very difficult for a community to understand, what actually are we getting and what is on our Local Share responsibility.
“There were certain expectations that things were moving along to the point of getting ready shovels in the ground and here it is 2025 seven years after Graydon’s PCs have been at it in majority government and we’re still in the planning stages.”

Schreiner wouldn’t volunteer a grade mark for Smith’s performance as minister of the MNRF, even as he sits directly across from the MPP in the legislature.
“I have my view,” said Richter, who deferred to Schreiner.
“I don’t think it’s my role to put a grade on him or his job,” said Schreiner. “But I would say there are a number of things that we have been advocating for that the government has failed to deliver on.
“For example an inadequate fire preparedness plan that actually ensures that we have all of our wildland firefighters up north. We don’t have it fully staffed. Right now we’re only staffing about a third of what’s actually needed.
“And that’s his job as minister to ensure those staffing levels are what they need to be.”
Richter continued adding “the attorney general put a report out last fall, which was quite damning for a local MPP to be singled out for four out of the total six infractions were under his watch.
“That’s unfortunate and it doesn’t look well on an MPP that’s going to represent our riding.”
Smith said in a story here that one infraction was a clerical error made at the height of the summer firefighting season.
Asked about Premier Doug Ford taking on a national role in the fight with Donald Trump, Richter said: “He can switch and move over to the federal election in a few months.
“But I would hope that all provincial leaders would stand united and they have. I applaud all premiers and all politicians and our entire country as a whole who stand united.”
Schreiner continued: “The thing that disappoints me is to call a provincial election at a time when we should all be working across party lines to push back against Trump. To me it is irresponsible and selfish, putting his own job ahead of us.”
And how about Ford saying he was “100 per cent happy” that Trump won the U.S. election — until he imposed punitive tariffs.
Said Schreiner: “I don’t understand why the premier would be rooting for somebody to win an election who’s declared economic war on Canada.”
Richter officially kicks off his campaign tonight at Canvas Brewing in Huntsville.
5-Point Plan:
In introducing Richter and his announcement Tuesday, the Green leader said “I don’t know if I’ve never met a candidate who’s worked so hard for the people of this riding — when he’s not even elected yet. Imagine how hard he’s gonna work for you when he’s at Queen’s Park.
“Ontarians are “sick and tired of the unfairness of the Ford government paying attention to the GTA exclusively and abandoning rural ridings like Parry Sound-Muskoka.”
Richter’s plan, the leader said, was “designed by the people of his riding, because he listens to the people of Parry Sound-Muskoka.”
Richter, a party deputy leader, said he was honoured to “share my plan that is so needed and has been shared at the doorsteps, on phone calls and that our team will be making at the door. People are looking for fairness.
“This is not just a plan, but a promise. … I’m there to work for you. I will always put people ahead of party.”
Richter’s platform to
“address 5 local concerns”
- Investing in Rural Healthcare— by fighting for two new hospitals in Huntsville and Bracebridge that serve the needs of each community, and recruiting more family doctors so the 20,000 people in Parry Sound – Muskoka without one can have better care close to home.
- Helping You Save Money— by getting Ontario back in the business of building affordable homes and rentals and helping you save money on heating and support for local businesses hit hard by tariffs.
- Protecting Our Environment—safeguarding our watershed, working with Indigenous communities to conserve 30% of natural areas by 2030, and supporting our forestry industry.
- Funding Rural Infrastructure and Municipalities—because our roads, bridges, and local services deserve long-term investment, not short-term fixes.
- Investing in Our Kids—clearing the backlog in school repairs, supporting students with special needs, and extending OHIP to cover mental health care.
EMAIL: [email protected]
30 years of TRUSTED ‘Local Online Journalism’
SINCE MAY 20, 1994
Twitter: @muskokatoday, Facebook: mclairmont1
SUBSCRIBE for $30 by e-transferring to [email protected]
Mail cheque to MuskokaTODAY.com Box 34 Gravenhurst, Ont. P1P 1T5
And include your email address to get stories sent to your inbox