A Note to My MPP and MP About The Direction of Ontario and Canada
Sharing the discouragement many of us in our 30s and younger are feeling living in Ontario and Canada right now.
Update: July 29, 2025 - Notably, I have received a response from both of the Green Party Member Mike Schreiner’s office. One of the e-mails outlined the political actions the Green Party has taken part in relevant to the concerns I had expressed. The other outlined community supports available - this is the email I have included below.
The Liberal Party Member, Dominique Orouke, has not responded. I have sent a follow-up e-mail including my address and postal code, as she is in fact the MP for my area.
July 8, 2025
E-mail sent to:
MPP Mike Schreiner
MP Dominique Orourke (My riding in Guelph does not have an elected MP currently. Therefore she may not respond).
Dear Mike and Dominique,
I am writing as a mid-thirties, female voter in Guelph, Ontario. I normally write emails to my MPP and MP that are well worded and thought out. However, I am finding myself so extremely overwhelmed by everything that is occurring in our province and country, that I am struggling to know what to say.
I am feeling so much hopelessness when it comes to the direction of not only the province of Ontario, but Canada. I am a social worker and see the impacts of a high cost of living crisis every day. Not only in the lives of the clients I serve, but in my own life as well.
As a 35 year old, I have needed to grieve that my life does not look the way I was told it would by the adults before me. I cannot afford a home, my income is unstable, I do not trust that the health care system will take care of me or my loved ones in the way it should. I am watching the climate crisis get worse and worse, and yet Doug Ford and Mark Carney are passing bills which further harm our environment and undermine environmental protections in the name of the economy.
I do not feel pride living in Ontario. I feel that I have watched our province shift further and further to the right and that what we are watching happen across our southern border is already starting to creep into Canada. Mark Carney is working with the Conservative Government. A party that has never had the interest of working class people on their agenda. We are tightening our borders and there are plans to increase Federal funding to invest in our military.
I am so stressed. I am so anxious about what my future in Ontario looks like. We are losing so many people to addictions. Our health care systems continue to falter. The job market is crumbling and I have friends in their mid 30s losing jobs that we were told were, “life career jobs”. Public services are being cut further and I feel as though I cannot keep up with the Bills being passed by Doug Ford and Carney. I also see no opposition or push back from the NDP or Green parties. I feel so disheartened by our system and it feels as though what is happening in the US, will be at the door of Canada in the next several years in some capacity with the changes that are being made.
Why is this happening? Why are Ontario and Canada going in the direction of moving further to the right? Have we learned nothing from history? Why is there no opposition to these bills (Such as Bill C5) being pushed so quickly?
Jessica del Rosso
July 16, 2025
Email from: MSchreiner-CO@ola.org
Hi Jessica,
Thank you for reaching out and sharing your thoughts and concerns about the current state of our province/country. Please know that you are not alone in your feelings of hopelessness.
If you are interested in connecting with others who feel similarly, the Guelph Climate Action Network recently hosted a series of Climate Circles for community members to gather and share their complex emotions related to climate change. Though this event series has ended, it may be worth connecting and/or keeping an eye out for similar GCAN events in the future.
Another community-based initiative, Resistance and Resilience Guelph, was recently formed in response to growing economic, political and social uncertainty. I believe this group was founded by Guelph's federal Green and NDP candidates from the most recent election.
MPP Schreiner and his Queen's Park team have been working hard to push the Premier to repeal Bill 5. This summer, MPP Schreiner has been travelling across the province, attending protests and meeting with stakeholders and advocacy groups to rally against the bill. You can see him speak at a recent Hamilton rally here. When the Legislature sits again in October, MPP Schreiner will be reading in his petition calling for the government to repeal Bill 5. If you're interested in signing and/or circulating that petition, you can find it here.
Thank you again for reaching out and I hope this has been helpful.
Best,
Office of Mike Schreiner
Member of Provincial Parliament for Guelph
Email: MSchreiner-CO@ola.org
Phone: 519-836-4190
Address: 173 Woolwich Street, Unit 102
Guelph, ON N1H 3V4
July 29, 2025
To: dominique.orourke@parl.gc.ca
Good Afternoon Dominique,
I am following up regarding the email I had sent on July 8th. Both offices of the Green Party member Mike Schreiner have responded. I still await any response from your office.
Jessica del Rosso
