Editorials, Letters & Political Commentary

“There’s no place like home.”

Whether you are a doctor, nurse, cab driver, teacher or salesperson, we all understand that, along with the pleasures and perks that come with our jobs, we must accept headaches and heartaches. That’s just life. For me, one of the recurring heartaches is when I meet face to face with seniors facing moving from their home into a senior residence ...

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Premier Doug Ford’s Speech at the 2024 ROMA Annual Conference

Premier Ford delivered the following remarks at the 2024 Rural Ontario Municipal Association annual conference. “Well, good morning! Thank you, Jeyan, for that introduction. I’m thrilled to be back here…. For the 2024 ROMA Conference… Alongside my caucus and cabinet colleagues. Before I begin… I want to give a big thank you to the Rural Ontario Municipal Association… Mayor Robin Jones…The ...

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Hughes: Accorder la priorité aux trains de passagers ferait une énorme différence sur le plan des déplacements ferroviaires

À la même période l’année dernière, ce qui a fait les manchettes à la fin de la période des Fêtes, ce sont les graves retards qui ont touché les déplacements dans l’ensemble des aéroports canadiens. Heureusement, cette année, les déplacements aériens ont été considérablement plus stables pendant la période des Fêtes, et la plupart des voyageurs ont pu éviter de ...

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Hughes: Prioritizing trains and rail travel

This time last year, one of the big news stories coming out of the back end of the holiday season was the severe travel delays across Canadian airports. Thankfully, air travel was markedly more consistent this holiday season, and most travellers managed to evade any serious delays. However, the other major federally regulated travel industry, rail, remains plagued with poor ...

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Stiles, NDP propose highway safety solutions

Marit Stiles, Leader of the Official Opposition and Ontario NDP MPP Lise Vaugeois (Thunder Bay—Superior North) held a press conference today exposing the Conservative government’s inaction to prioritize road safety following the senseless fatalities of five Northern Ontarians within the past month. “Nearly every day, we see Highways 11 and 17 closed due to a tragic collision. The situation has ...

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Ford ignoring alarm bell on cancer surgery delays: NDP

Ontario NDP Health critic France Gélinas said Ontario is hearing another alarm bell from the province’s overrun health care system, a new Ontario Health report that shows that just over half of the most aggressive cancers were treated through surgery in the recommended time frame. She is urging the Ford government to act. “This troubling report from Ontario Health makes ...

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NDP demand justice for First Nations amidst tragic pattern of systemic failures

Ontario NDP MPP Lise Vaugeois (Thunder Bay—Superior North), Solicitor General Critic John Vanthof (Timiskaming—Cochrane), and Critic for Indigenous and Treaty Relations Sol Mamakwa (Kiiwetinoong) released a joint statement in response to the tragic death of Jenna Ostberg, a 21-year-old First Nations woman, following revelations that several domestic disturbance calls went unanswered until the situation escalated fatally: “This heartbreaking incident is ...

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New Democrats urge Liberals to push back CEBA deadline for Northern Ontario’s small businesses

With the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loan repayment deadline less than a month away, Canada’s NDP is urging, once again, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Minister for Small Business Rechie Valdez to extend the repayment deadline and loan forgiveness. While the Liberals are pushing small businesses to repay their loans, they’re handing out $21.6 billion in contracts to ...

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NDP: Beer Store transition shouldn’t come at the expense of good jobs

NDP MPPs are calling for workers to be put first as the provincial government moves to phase out the Beer Store’s Master Agreement – a move set to impact thousands of unionized workers. “With the jobs of thousands of unionized workers on the line, we need to ensure the transition is done in a way that doesn’t leave anyone behind,” ...

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Letter – CARP Urges Government to Protect CPP

The Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP) has sent a concerned letter to all federal, provincial and territorial finance ministers on the eve of the December 15th Finance Meeting. The letter, in response to ongoing discussion in Alberta regarding potential withdrawal from the CPP, is calling on the government to step up to protect the national pension plan. Bill VanGorder, CARP’s ...

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Dental care is on its way – NDP promise is becoming a reality

Details of the long-awaited national dental care were announced in Ottawa. Over the course of this coming year senior citizens will be able to get their teeth fixed. The program exists for children and will soon include all working-class individuals, families and people on disability. New Democrats ran in the 2021 election on making this program possible. New Democrats say ...

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Mamakwa responds to First Nations water legislation

Sol Mamakwa (Kiiwetinoong), Deputy Leader of the Ontario NDP and Official Opposition Critic for Indigenous and Treaty Relations issued the following statement in response to the tabling of federal First Nations water legislation: “Yesterday, the federal government tabled the First Nations Clean Water Act respecting water, source water, drinking water, wastewater, and related infrastructure on First Nations lands. Kiiwetinoong has ...

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Face à la hausse du recours des travailleurs aux banques alimentaires, le NPD exhorte le fédéral à lutter sérieusement contre la cupidité des entreprises qui fait grimper les prix des aliments pour les gens du Nord de l’Ontario

Lundi, après des mois de retard de la part des libéraux pour « stabiliser » les prix des aliments, les néo-démocrates ont forcé les PDG de Sobeys et de Loblaws à retourner devant le comité pour s’expliquer sur les prix exorbitants. Cela coïncide avec la publication du rapport de Feed Ontario, qui indique que le recours aux banques alimentaires de l’Ontario a ...

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With a rise in working people visiting food banks, NDP MPs Angus and Hughes urge the feds to get serious about corporate greed jacking up food prices for Northern Ontarians

On Monday, after months of delay from the Liberals to ‘stabilize’ grocery prices, New Democrats forced the CEO of Sobeys and Loblaws back to committee to answer for sky-high prices. This coincides with the release of the Feed Ontario report saying Ontario food bank use increased by 38 per cent last year. There has been a 37 per cent increase in ...

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NDP: Ford’s Conservatives denying vaccines to Ontario’s seniors

Today, Official Opposition NDP Seniors Critic, Lise Vaugeois (Thunder Bay—Superior North) called on Ford’s Conservatives to end discriminatory practices that deny OHIP coverage to individuals over 60 who need access to the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccine, and to end the denial of coverage for the shingles vaccine (Shingrix) for anyone over 70 years old. “My mother, who turns 96 ...

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