Editorials, Letters & Political Commentary

Le « Revenu d’urgence Ontario » : la proposition d’Andrea Horwath pour aider les familles à payer leurs factures et à joindre le deux bouts

La chef néo-démocrate Andrea Horwath a exigé que les états financiers de ce mercredi comprissent un plan pour envoyer des chèques « Revenu d’urgence Ontario », d’une valeur de 2000 $ chacun, aux ménages souffrant de chômage ou d’une baisse des revenus pendant la crise de la COVID-19.   Ces paiements directs combleraient les lacunes laissées par l’attente de plusieurs semaines devant précéder ...

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Why a Northern Sawmill and Biomass Power Plant are Key to the Survival of North Ontario

As we reach the halfway point of Premier Ford’s mandate until the 2022 provincial election, Ontarians from across the political spectrum can agree that addressing the needs of Northern Ontario is critical – especially for a Premier who campaigned on standing up for Northern Ontario businesses and skilled workers.   Premier Ford’s mandate for supporting Northern Ontario’s economic development, namely ...

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Ford’s measures on vaping don’t do enough to protect young people

France Gélinas, Ontario NDP Health critic, released the following statement in response to the Ford government’s announcement about vaping:   “Instead of taking strong action to protect young people from the dangers of vaping, today we see the Doug Ford government coming forward with half measures that don’t go far enough. It’s no surprise that youth vaping is up. The ...

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Should VIA Rail’s transcontinental train be axed?

Dear Brenda,   National Post columnist Chris Selley says he wants VIA Rail’s transcontinental train axed: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/chris-selley-lets-kill-the-canadian-surely-the-first-worlds-most-dysfunctional-train   While I share some of Selley’s concerns, he misses key points that are vital to any debate about the train’s future.   When it was launched in 1955, The Canadian was the pride and joy of privately-owned Canadian Pacific (CP) and its future president ...

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License plate fiasco continues with concerns over readability at U.S. border

As concerns mount about the Ford government’s botched license plates, MPP Jennifer French, NDP critic for Transportation, continued to pressure the government to stop issuing the new blue plates, the latest criticism being that they are unreadable in bright sunlight and by various scanners. This morning, WKBW Buffalo reported that the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol is having issues reading ...

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Ford has broken his promise to fix rocketing auto insurance premiums

NDP MPPs have demanded Doug Ford explain why Ontarians are being forced to pay some of the highest auto insurance premiums in North America, with rates being jacked up every single year.   Black Creek—Humber River MPP Tom Rakocevic, NDP critic for Auto Insurance, said Doug Ford’s government’s failure to stop auto insurance hikes is just like the Liberals.   ...

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NDP calls on Elections Ontario to investigate possible PC breach of Election Finances Act

Taras Natyshak, the Official Opposition’s Ethics and Accountability critic, is calling on Elections Ontario to investigate whether Treasury Board President Peter Bethlenfalvy breached the Election Finances Act by failing to fully report his 2018 campaign expenses. The breach came to light after a worker on his 2018 election campaign had to go to Ontario’s Ministry of Labour to collect unpaid ...

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Contracting out employment services to foreign multinationals will hurt job matching

The Doug Ford government is gutting OW and ODSP employment services with its new scheme to contract out the program to multinational companies — one of which is a for-profit corporation — and the Ontario NDP is worried that will mean fewer Ontarians successfully supported into the job or program that’s best for them. “Today, municipalities and District Social Services ...

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NDP Say Doug Ford dings Ontario drivers with another insurance rate hike

Tom Rakocevic, Ontario NDP Auto Insurance critic, released the following statement in response to news that some Ontario drivers will be paying up to 11 percent more for auto insurance this year as rates continue to climb in the province: “It’s wrong for the Ford government to let auto insurers pile on with another rate hike as Ontario drivers struggle ...

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Horwath responds to hallway medicine reports

In response to reporting by CBC on shocking hallway medicine statistics, Andrea Horwath, Leader Official Opposition New Democrats, released the following statement: “After two years of the Ford government, we’ve seen hallway medicine go from bad to worse, and people are suffering. CBC’s reporting describes what so many families have experienced. Long waits in pain and worry. Nights spent on ...

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Ford paying to tear down yet another wind farm

The Official Opposition NDP is demanding to know how much Doug Ford’s war on the environment will cost this time, as Ford rips wind turbines out of the ground at the Nation Rise Wind Farm in North Stormont leaving Ontarians on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in cancellation costs, yet again.   “Doug Ford declared his war ...

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Ontario Government Fails to deliver needs-based autism funding

The Hon. Todd Smith has broken his promise to create a needs-based autism program by April 2020 that would implement all of the recommendations of the Autism Advisory Panel. In his press conference, he stated families may have to wait until 2021 to access core therapies that are needs-based. Families are devastated. The announcement that the Ford government will continue ...

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