WHERE TIRES ARE A SPECIALTY, NOT A SIDELINE. Farm - Auto - Truck - Industrial - Lawn & Garden - On The Farm Service Vol 23 | Issue 30 35 Howard Ave., ELMIRA, ON | 519-669-3232
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JULY 11, 2019
ALL ABOUT BABIES
Rookie MPP learning on the fly: Harris one year in BY FAISAL ALI fali@woolwichobserver.com
Growing up in the halls of power at Queen’s Park, Kitchener-Conestogo MPP Mike Harris came into politics with a rare understanding of what to expect. The junior politician was swept into office as part of last year’s blue wave, joining the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario’s rise into a majority government that has, at times, invoked comparisons to the mid-90s administration of his father, the former PC premier Mike Harris senior. A little over a year into his first term in what has been a heady, fast-moving, if at times tumultuous government, the MPP is following in his father’s footsteps in more ways than one. Harris was selected as parliamentary assistant to the minister of Natural Resources and Forestry during last month’s cabinet shuffle by Doug Ford. Harris’ father similarly found himself earning his wings as a parliamentary assistant in 1983, a little over a year after his election as the member from Nipissing. It’s a position typically given to novice legislators in need of seasoning, putting the MPP in a ONE YEAR IN | 02
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Health Minister Christine Elliott (second from right) and Kitchener-Conestoga MPP Mike Harris (left) were in St. Jacobs Monday to announce the St. Jacobs Midwives will receive $232,000 as part of $28 million in new funding for midwifery services in the province. [VERONICA REINER / THE OBSERVER]
New funds for local midwives St. Jacobs provider receives new funding as province expands midwifery services BY VERONICA REINER vreiner@woolwichobserver.com
St. Jacobs Midwives will receive $232,000 as part of the provincial government’s $28-million expansion plan for midwifery services in Ontario. Health Minister Christine Elliott was in the village Monday morning to make the an-
nouncement, joined by Kitchener-Conestoga MPP Mike Harris. “This additional funding will mean more expecting families across Ontario will be able to access quality care from a midwife during pregnancy, labour, and birth as well as six weeks of support once the baby is born,” said Elliott. St. Jacobs Midwives serves
residents in the Woolwich and Wellesley townships, as well as Kitchener, Waterloo, Wilmot, and surrounding rural areas. Rosslyn Bentley, executive director of Woolwich Community Health Centre, said that there are between 40 and 60 families at any given time waiting for the services of a midwife. “It’s a very popular choice with
many of the families locally,” said Bentley. “It’s a very cost-effective way of delivering care, as well and really excellent results for low-risk women, which is the vast majority of people that are expecting a baby.” In addition to potentially clearing that waitlist across Waterloo Region, the funding could allow MIDWIFERY | 02
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