Politics, Editorials & Letters

On Thursday, May 27th during the Question Period NDP MP Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay) secured a commitment from the Liberal government to address the worsening COVID-19 crisis in Northern Ontario. “Over the last week, the city of Timmins and the community of Moosonee declared a state of emergency over the spike in COVID,” said Angus in the House of Commons, ...

With vision threatening conditions projected to increase by as much as 29% over the next decade, it’s time for parliament to help shape a comprehensive strategy that can put a dent in that trajectory.  That is the message that Carol Hughes is sharing with parliamentarians as she encourages them to get behind her motion to develop a National Strategy for ...

Alors que l’on prévoit une augmentation de 29 % des troubles de la vue au cours de la prochaine décennie, il est temps que le Parlement participe à l’élaboration d’une stratégie globale susceptible d’infléchir cette trajectoire.  C’est le message que Carol Hughes transmet aux parlementaires en les encourageant à soutenir sa motion visant à élaborer une stratégie nationale d’action pour ...

Secretive … Aloof … Lacking Transparency …   These are just some of the terms one might use to describe the provincial government’s handling of restoring passenger rail services in north-eastern Ontario.   Over the span of a thousand days, various politicians, ministries, and agencies of the Crown have provided the public with a series of Coles Notes updates related ...

Premier Doug Ford was always opposed any program that offers any help to workers to stay home when they are sick. One of Doug Ford’s first actions as premier was to take away Ontario’s two measly paid sick days. When a limited federal program was introduced to provide small supports to some workers who do not have paid sick days, ...

Alors que les craintes de pandémie s’intensifient au milieu de la plus grande vague jamais enregistrée, le budget de lundi offre une gamme de mesures mitigées et a souligne la réticence du gouvernement à demander aux plus riches du Canada de contribuer un peu plus à leur pays, selon la députée d’Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing, Carol Hughes. C’est l’une des principales conclusions du ...

With pandemic concerns growing amidst the strongest wave yet, Monday’s budget offered a mixed bag of measures and highlighted the government’s reticence to ask Canada’s wealthiest  to contribute a little more to their country according to Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing MP, Carol Hughes. That was one of the biggest take-aways from the budget that Hughes is describing as more of an election document ...

Suze Morrison, MPP for Toronto Centre and NDP critic for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls response, issued the following statement on the tragic murder of Cileana Taylor, a young Annishnaabe woman from Curve Lake First Nation: “I want to express my sorrow and anger at the loss of Cileana Taylor. I offer my sincerest condolences to Cileana’s family, ...

J’attends avec impatience la semaine de circonscription d’avril. Je pense que je suis prêt pour un certain temps loin de Queen’s Park et une pause de cette longue route que je voyage dans les deux sens chaque fin de semaine. J’ai toujours soutenu que, loin d’être une perte de temps monotone chaque fin de semaine, cela me donne en fait ...

I’m looking forward to the April constituency week.  I think I’m ready for some time away from Queen’s Park and a break from that long road I travel both ways every weekend.  I’ve always maintained that, far from being a monotonous waste of time each weekend, it actually provides me with a wonderful opportunity to really think things through uninterrupted.  ...

On Saturday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh presented the NDP’s plan to help young people thrive instead of being buried in debt. The NDP’s plan includes putting a moratorium on student loan payments, cancelling up to $20,000 per student of federal student loan debt and giving new graduates a five-year head start without having to repay any federal student loan. While ...

NDP Environment critic Sandy Shaw is demanding the Ford government block Nestlé from handing Ontario’s water rights to an American private equity firm, One Rock Capital Partners, which is planning to buy Nestlé’s North American water-bottling operations. The province’s moratorium on new or expanded permits for water taking for bottling is due to expire on April 1. On Monday, United ...

Official Opposition NDP critic for Colleges and Universities, Laura Mae Lindo (Kitchener Centre) has released a statement in response to a government announcement regarding Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) for micro-credential programs: “Students don’t just need permission to borrow more money — they need a break on student loan repayments. COVID has taken away their summer jobs, and delayed their ...

Andrea Horwath’s NDP will use its Opposition Day Motion slot Monday to give the Doug Ford government another chance to give all Ontarians paid sick days​ to help end the pandemic sooner. “Paid sick days will help Ontario beat COVID-19 quicker, and end the frustrating cycle of lockdowns,” said Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath. “Workers without paid sick days are ...

In politics, it’s all in the eye of the beholder. Right? Obviously, there is a wide range of political perspectives that are aimed to achieve similar goals. The path to achieving those goals is often far more controversial than the actual goals themselves. The People of Ontario vote every four years to elect the governing party that they collectively believe ...