Editorials, Letters & Political Commentary

Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath said Wednesday she’s concerned that the Ford government’s recent review of the books is laying the groundwork for the privatization of public assets.   On the heels of Ford’s theatrical pronouncement that the deficit is deep and the province is in need of cash, this week’s release of a review of the books recommended a “divestiture” ...

Sep 26, 2018 @ 08:26 New Democrats say the Ford Tories’ theatrics over the state of the province’s books are designed to tee up massive cuts to health care, education, and more. On Tuesday, the government released a hasty review of the books, singling out spending in health care, education, social services, and post-secondary education.   “Doug Ford is setting ...

During question period Monday, Vic Fedeli, Doug Ford’s finance minister, confirmed that Ford will cut $100 million – the entire fund for natural gas expansion in northern and rural Ontario – and refused to answer questions from the NDP on the cancellation of more than $8.6 million in funding for a gas expansion project in Nipissing. The NDP’s infrastructure critic, ...

Doug Ford campaigned on a promise to put money back into the pockets of hard working Ontarians. To prove it, he recently announced cutting the carbon tax on natural gas which should reduce home heating bills by $80 per year. For the millions of Ontarians in urban areas, that’s a bonus because they’re on the natural gas grid. For hundreds ...

Finance Minister Vic Fedeli’s speech to the Economic Club set the stage for Doug Ford to make deep and painful cuts across Ontario, says NDP Finance critic Sandy Shaw.   “What Fedeli made clear on Friday is that nothing is safe in Ontario,” said Shaw. “Our hospitals, our children’s schools, our transit systems – everything our families need and count ...

Sep 21, 2018 @ 08:06 NDP Deputy Leader John Vanthof said that instead of standing up for families in Nipissing, MPP Vic Fedeli sided with Doug Ford and agreed to yank away $8.6 million in funding for a project to extend natural gas service to as many as 350 homes in the North Shore area of Trout Lake near North Bay. ...

Sep 17, 2018 @ 16:34 During question period Monday, the NDP’s labour critic, Jamie West, said that by cancelling the minimum wage increase, Doug Ford is taking more than $2,000 a year out of the pocket of minimum wage earners.   West said that with that kind of financial strain being inflicted on workers, it’s a shame that Doug Ford ...

Sep 17, 2018 @ 16:11   NDP Deputy Leader Sara Singh says the legal community is deeply concerned about the precedent being set by Doug Ford’s hasty use of the notwithstanding clause and called on Attorney General Caroline Mulroney to consider that concern after more than 400 legal professionals wrote Mulroney urging her to vote against Ford’s bill.   “By ...

Sep 17, 2018 @ 16:09 Despite continued assertions to the contrary, including his bogus claim Monday that he “had the longest consultation ever when we crisscrossed the province,” Doug Ford and his Conservatives never campaigned on cutting city council in Toronto, or anywhere else in the province – and new records show that he didn’t consult anyone. Today, NDP MPP ...

Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath issued the following statement on Doug Ford’s use of the legislature this weekend to push through a bill that will violate the Charter rights of all Ontarians in order to interfere in Toronto’s election. “NDP MPPs would be very happy to sit all weekend to deal with the issues facing Ontarians, issues such as painfully ...

Sep 10, 2018 @ 15:55 Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath is calling Doug Ford’s vow to invoke the notwithstanding clause and suspend part of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for Ontarians an unprecedented abuse of power.   “Invoking the notwithstanding clause in a case like this is an unprecedented move, literally suspending the Charter rights of Ontario people ...

Sep 10, 2018 @ 09:51   While I have never claimed to be an artist or have any particular artistic skills, any lack of my own artistic talents has never prevented me from appreciating the creativity of others. A society’s arts – be they visual, musical, theatrical, literary or whatever – provide an insightful reflection of our cultural values, beliefs ...

Taras Natyshak, NDP MPP for Essex, released the following statement regarding the appointment of Gavin Tighe, long-time Ford’s family lawyer and campaign donor, to chair the Public Accountants Council for the Province of Ontario.   “Doug Ford has given his family’s lawyer, Gavin Tighe, a $667,000 government contract with the Public Accountants Council. This looks like yet another pricey patronage ...

Following news of several government advisors being cut by Doug Ford, NDP critics Ian Arthur (Environment), Jessica Bell (Transit), Michael Mantha (Northern Development and Mines), Lisa Gretzky (Community and Social Services), Rima Berns-McGown (Poverty and Homelessness) and Laura Mae Lindo (Anti-Racism) released the following joint statement: “Kathleen Wynne and the Liberals delayed the Ring of Fire, spent 15 years failing ...

La fête du Travail est à nos portes, marquant la fin des vacances scolaires et le virage inévitable vers l’automne. Bien qu’il soit facile de se concentrer sur le jour férié, il est également important de se rappeler qu’il célèbre de nombreuses campagnes qui ont contribué à façonner nos milieux de travail modernes de maintes façons remarquables. Des défilés de ...