Editorials, Letters & Political Commentary

After four years in government, Doug Ford is leaving out northern families yet again, said Northern Ontario’s NDP MPPs responding to the Ford government’s economic and fiscal outlook on Monday. The following statement was issued by northern NDP MPPs Judith Monteith-Farrell (Thunder Bay – Atikokan), Sol Mamakwa (Kiiwetinoong), Jamie West (Sudbury), Guy Bourgouin (Mushkegowuk-James Bay), France Gélinas (Nickel Belt), Michael ...

Le Nord de l’Ontario est l’une des régions du pays les plus durement touchées par la crise des opioïdes. C’est pourquoi les député-es néo-démocrates de la région, Charlie Angus (Timmins–Baie James) et Carol Hughes (Algoma–Manitoulin–Kapuskasing), appuient la première initiative du parti pour la nouvelle session parlementaire – un projet de loi d’initiative parlementaire qui aiderait des centaines de familles dont ...

Northern Ontario has been one of the hardest hit parts of the country by the opioid crisis. That’s why local NDP MPs Charlie Angus (Timmins- James Bay) and Carol Hughes (Algoma-Manatoulin – Kapukasing) are backing the party’s first initiative in the new parliamentary session – a private member’s bill that would help hundreds of families dealing with loved ones who ...

MP Carol Hughes (Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing) and the NDP have reiterated their calls to strengthen the health care system to help keep Canadians healthy and safe. After almost two years of the pandemic, health care workers have been dealing with burnout and, due to staffing shortages, they continue to work to exhaustion. As COVID-19 cases remain high, the federal government could be ...

Sondages, sondages, partout. Si vous vivez et travaillez dans le Nord ontarien, vous avez sans doute été approché pour un sondage. Probablement pour plus d’un. Vous avez peut-être même reçu quelques questionnaires le même jour. La raison est simple. Statistique Canada, croyez-le ou non, a des ressources limitées. Cela signifie que ce service concentre sa collecte de données et ses ...

Surveys, surveys, everywhere. If you live and work in Northern Ontario, you no doubt have been targeted by a survey. Likely more than one. You may even receive a few on the same day. The reason for that is simple. Statistics Canada, believe it or not, has finite resources. Meaning they target their data collection and reporting to larger population ...

I recently had the good fortune of bumping into an acquaintance of mine I had not seen in a long while. The fellow, who has long been retired, started out as a young man doing home renovations and eventually moved up into house building. His skills and devotion to the trade seemed just to lead him almost unintentionally to become ...

J’ai récemment eu la chance de revoir un ami que je n’avais pas vue depuis longtemps. Le gars, qui est  à la retraite, a commencé comme un jeune homme faisant des rénovations domiciliaires et a finalement évolué dans la construction de maisons. Ses compétences et son dévouement au métier semblaient l’amener presque involontairement à devenir développeur. Son succès commercial ne ...

Official Opposition NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is calling on the government to re-start scheduled surgeries, and urgently give hospitals the staff and money they need to do them. “There are thousands of people who have had surgeries cancelled or delayed. Some are living in pain, and many are living with the anxiety and fear of knowing their cancer or illness ...

Official Opposition NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is vowing to address the family doctor shortage plaguing rural communities in Ontario. Horwath made the commitment Monday in a wide-ranging speech at the Rural Ontario Municipal Association’s annual conference, where she also spoke about the need for increased investments in rural communities including emergency operational funding, 100 per cent provincial funding of public ...

Doug Ford should have acted years ago to fix the housing conditions in First Nations communities outlined in a new study that shows poor housing conditions are hurting the health of First Nations children, said MPP Sol Mamakwa (Kiiwetinoong), the NDP’s critic for Indigenous and Treaty Relations. “I want to thank Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre, Sioux Lookout ...

Official Opposition NDP Leader Andrea Horwath wants the Jan. 31 reopening to be safer. She’s calling for paid sick days for all, restored access to COVID testing, and an expansion of the vaccine certificate program to include places like LCBOs and cannabis shops. “We all want the cycle of shutdowns and re-openings to stop. We also desperately need non-emergency surgeries ...

Dear Brenda, The more I dig, the more I realize that this Municipality has to come out from behind the curtain they hide behind. All Town Councils should be run with transparency, truth, inclusivity diversity, and most of all “ACCOUNTABILITY.” I had a phone call recently with the Mayor of our town. It was interesting and certainly eye-opening. He explained ...

Regarding the Passing of Sandra Elizabeth Scott, When my grandson, Dante was a year old, Sandra made a brave decision to give sole custody of him to his father to raise as she wanted him to have a safe and stable upbringing.  She protected him the best way she could from her addiction by walking away, which must have been ...

The Ford government must stop ignoring tragedies and deaths on Thunder Bay’s highways and take action this winter to protect Northern drivers using highways 17 and 11, said Judith Monteith-Farrell, NDP MPP for Thunder Bay – Atikokan. “Northern drivers, families and truck drivers are calling on Doug Ford to make our highways safer. Too many people have lost their loved ...