Editorials, Letters & Political Commentary

The Official Opposition New Democrats’ critic for Colleges and Universities, Chris Glover (Spadina—Fort York) said the NDP is very happy that yesterday’s Ontario Superior Court ruling strikes down Doug Ford’s attack on student unions, giving students who rely on student media and on-campus support centres hope that those services will be restored. “The court is very clear that Doug Ford’s ...

Official Opposition Education critic Marit Stiles issued the following statement:   “Making four online learning courses mandatory for graduating high school was only ever about cutting costs on the backs of students. It was never about Students, parents and educators have expressed concern about Doug Ford’s deep cuts to education that will take 10,000 teachers out of our classrooms and ...

Ontario NDP Transit critic Jessica Bell (University—Rosedale) and Transportation and Highways critic Jennifer French (Oshawa) are supporting the Ontario Good Roads Association’s call on the province to develop a Vision Zero strategy. While the City of Toronto and a number of other municipalities have adopted local Vision Zero plans, Ontario does not have a provincial road safety strategy. B.C., Alberta, ...

The Honourable Andrew Scheer, Leader of Canada’s Conservatives and the Official Opposition, issued a statement on the CN Rail Strike: “The CN strike is hurting all aspects of our economy, from agriculture, to manufacturing, to mining. That is why Justin Trudeau must recall Parliament as soon as possible to enact emergency legislation to get the rail cars moving again. “In ...

The NDP MPP for Sudbury, Jamie West, blasted the Ford government during question period Tuesday for suggesting that the current state of treacherous and poorly maintained winter roads in northern Ontario is good enough for Northerners.   Last week, the Ford government unanimously voted against a bill from NDP MPP Guy Bourgouin (Mushkegowuk—James Bay), the Making Northern Ontario Highways Safer Act — ...

New information revealed by the NDP shows that Doug Ford blew almost a quarter of a billion dollars ripping up green energy contracts. Peter Tabuns, Ontario NDP Energy critic, blasted Ford today in question period for burning through $231 million in taxpayer dollars while Ontario families struggle to afford high hydro prices that keep going up on Ford’s watch. The ...

During Monday’s question period, Windsor West MPP Lisa Gretzky, the NDP Official Opposition critic for Community and Social Services, asked the Ford government why it is spending $1 million to hire a consultant to help it cut even more funding from supports for people with developmental disabilities. Gretzky also asked why the winner of that million-dollar contract was instructed not ...

To the Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada: It has become exhausting facing the mounting challenges on our family owned remote tourist business after the ACR passenger train service was cancelled. When the Federal Government and CN did this it compromised our Northern identity. Railmark’s attempted take-over of the service was a total disaster – they didn’t have their ...

As the Federal political parties count down to the October election, they must have policy positions that speak to all national issues. Access to transportation is important to Canadians everywhere.  It would be valuable to learn the leaders’ positions on transportation access to the remote northern communities, and whether or not, they have formed an opinion on the use of ...

By, Rob Keen, Registered Professional Forester and CEO of Forests Ontario and Forest Recovery Canada Good news is rare, though it seems like nearly every day for the past few weeks there have been new commitments by global leaders to fight climate change by planting huge numbers of trees. In my 38 years as a forester, I’ve never experienced enthusiasm ...

Dear Brenda, For the third time in 10 days, I’ve heard this story There a rooster on the loose at SPG, There’s a rooster half-starved and on the loose out by the greenhouses I caught a starving rooster out by the dump can you take it. So what gives Wawa? You all get on the “organic is better” bandwagon. Order ...

It may not be obvious to most since very few attend council meetings, but some very good projects seemed to have been very quietly set aside.  Two of these were very important; the Municipal Organization & Compensation Study/Review and the development of a Community Hub. In 2017, Council budgeted for and approved funds to conduct an Organizational & Compensation Study/Review. ...

Doug Ford ripped up the Health and Physical Education curriculum, threatened teachers with a sex-ed snitch-line and spent $1 million on an online survey, only to release a new curriculum Wednesday that is largely unchanged from the 2015 sex-ed curriculum. The new curriculum is a victory for student safety, and for the families, teachers, education workers and experts who led ...

The good people of Northern Ontario, we are at a turning point in our history and this next election will decide whether we will finally come out of our decline or if our young will be forced to continue to look for work elsewhere. Over the last year, the Liberals have dealt a serious blow to Northerners by creating a ...

Agency Stores. Most people in Rural and Northern Ontario know what they are. Most people in Rural and Northern Ontario know their owners. They are the local shops in our communities, where people can buy a range of products from groceries to diapers and a bottle of wine or a case of beer. For 57 years, local stores in Rural ...