Politics, Editorials & Letters

With seventeen Canadians dying every day from opioid related causes, Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing NDP candidate Carol Hughes is marking International Overdose Awareness Day as an opportunity for Canadians to reconsider their impression of addiction. “The last year-and-a-half was harder than usual. For some, the isolation led to an increase in drug and alcohol consumption,” said Hughes.  “While many may realize they need ...

It may seem odd to share with Northern Ontarians a recent article I wrote for the Toronto Star about a transportation agency in Southern Ontario.  But the reasons are many and my concern from a northern viewpoint is extreme because this politically-driven juggernaut has been expanding its empire out of sight – with billions of our tax dollars – through ...

Canada’s freight railways and its publicly-owned passenger carrier, VIA Rail, have never been in worse shape, despite the frantic efforts of their flacks to tell us the opposite.  But have no fear.  The Trudeau government has come up with a brilliant plan to fix this mess:  Loan $4.5 billion to Senegal to build a new double-track railway.   The economic, ...

J’aime beaucoup regarder les sports. J’aime aller aux matchs des Leafs ou des Blue Jays aussi souvent que possible. En passant tellement de temps à Toronto, les gens pensent souvent que je peux m’y rendre souvent. Eh bien, j’aimerais que ce soit vrai. Tout simplement, c’est difficile de planifier à l’avance parce qu’il se passe toujours quelque chose, alors je ...

I really enjoy watching sports.  I love taking in Leaf or Blue Jays games as often as I can.  Spending so much time in Toronto, people often assume that I take in a good number.  Well, I wish that were true.  Quite simply, it is just hard to plan ahead so far because invariably something always comes up so I ...

NDP and Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath released the following statement: “COVID-19 cases have been on the rise, and the first day of school is three weeks from today. We urgently and desperately need to put the safety of children first, protect vulnerable people, and stop the spread. No unvaccinated person should be in a classroom or health care setting. ...

An open letter to the management and customer relations department of VIA Rail Canada I wanted to provide some feedback regarding the negative impacts I have felt as a result of VIA’s decision to reduce passenger train service in Northern Ontario and the need to restore it immediately.   Over the last year and half, travellers like myself have become ...

Hat’s Off To “Mr. Darwin Larrett” of Catfish Lake for sharing his valuable time with the senior citizens Of Catfish Lake this past year and taking time to share with them his empathy, understanding and teaching skills.   In the past year, Darwin always made himself available to lend a hand to those in need to our tiny neighbourhood members. ...

Transportation injustice comes in two flavours in Ontario:  federal and provincial.  The latter is more recent, but it’s just as sour.   The federal vandalization of Ontario’s rail service has been going on for decades, all the way back to the 1940s when Liberal cabinet minister C.D. Howe dropped all concern about the health of our railways in favour of ...

Lundi, le chef du NPD, Jagmeet Singh, et le député néo-démocrate Charlie Angus (Timmins–Baie James) ont visité la Première Nation de Neskantaga pour discuter de la crise de l’eau qui perdure dans la communauté. En 2015, Justin Trudeau a promis la fin des avis d’ébullition de l’eau dans les réserves et a fait de Neskantaga le symbole de la promesse ...

On Monday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and NDP MP Charlie Angus (Timmins—James Bay) visited Neskantaga First Nation to talk with the community about their longstanding water crisis. In 2015, Justin Trudeau promised an end to boiled water advisories on reserve and made Neskantaga the symbol of the Liberal promise to deliver on clean water. And yet the community is now ...

A couple of years ago, clearly, before the pandemic hit, I was on one of my regular constituency clinic tours and found myself looking for something better to do than sit and watch television after a rather long drive and jam-packed day of meeting constituents.  One of the constituents I met invited me to her church that evening for a ...

En fin de semaine, alors que des millions de Canadiens sont toujours sans emplois, les libéraux ont choisi de réduire de 800 $ le montant de la Prestation canadienne de la relance économique (PCRE) que les gens reçoivent. “Les Canadiens ont besoin d’un gouvernement qui est prêt et disposé à les soutenir lorsqu’ils ont besoin d’aide. Au lieu, les libéraux ...

Over the weekend, while millions of Canadians are still without work, the Liberals chose to cut the amount of CRB people receive by $800. “Canadians need a government that is ready and willing to support them when they need help. Instead, the Liberals made a huge cut to the vital CRB supports, leaving Canadians struggling to pay their bills,” said ...

Age, maturity and experience eventually bring the realization that some things in this life simply aren’t just or fair.  But that doesn’t mean surrendering to injustice without speaking out and pushing back.  Such is the case with the destruction of Northern Ontario’s rail passenger service.   For more than half-a-century, successive federal governments have committed transportation vandalism across Northern Ontario.  ...