Politics, Editorials & Letters

How many times has Canada been chosen as the best place to live or placed at least in the top ten best nations to live in the entire world? There have been many surveys based upon responses to a large variety of criteria. Admittedly I didn’t come up with a final answer in my research, but suffice to say we ...

  During question period on Tuesday, NDP Northern Development critic Michael Mantha said the Ford government must ensure access to wood supply for northern mills and forestry operations, to support the hundreds of jobs that depend on them. Mantha said the future of one mill in Fort Frances is in jeopardy, and another mill in Thessalon is cutting jobs because ...

In light of a shocking new opioid-related death-toll number, Bhutila Karpoche, Ontario NDP critic for Mental Health and Addictions, said it’s simply wrong for the Ford Conservatives to delay the approval of licence applications for overdose prevention sites, and limit their number.   According to new data reported by the Canadian Press, the first half of last year, the opioid ...

Recently I was in the positon of needing to make arrangements for a special retrofit project back home. Knowing such a project would likely take some time to complete and given my work schedule, doing the work myself just wasn’t practical. Besides, I admit that I didn’t really know where to begin, so I needed to hire someone. As I ...

Thank you to the ‘knucklehead(s)” who threw out fish guts or whatever over the hill where we walk our dogs (snow dump). Fine; ashes to ashes and give the coyotes and ravens a chance to survive — but please, not so close to home and worse — take it out of the plastic bag! My curious dog, searching in overdrive ...

As I write this column I find myself concluding another week of constituency clinics covering numerous northern communities in the riding. MPPs are back to the Legislature on Monday. I take pride in being able to say that my face is no stranger to virtually any community in Algoma-Manitoulin. There is no doubt in my mind that constituency clinics play ...

Dear Brenda, Doug Ford has turned his back on rural Ontario. So I would encourage rural Ontario to turn their back on Premier Ford. Randy  Hillier was elected by his constituents as their representative at Queens Park not to be Ford’s puppet. Randy has served his riding with great dignity and loyalty to the people. Due to Ford’s bad judgement on ...

Like many Ontarians, I often find myself trying to balance my career life with that of being a dad. I can honestly say that while being a politician and a father, both jobs come with some real challenges, but I couldn’t be happier and more proud to have the opportunity to fulfill my duties for each of these roles. I ...

I spend a great deal of time on the road which gives me lots of time to think things over. Just recently I was travelling along the TransCanada heading back from Wawa. The view along the shores of Lake Superior are truly breathtaking. The view made me think of how fortunate we are to live in Algoma-Manitoulin where we readily ...

Dear editor, How can we allow Ford to further endanger our plants, animals and the environment? Where is our government and why are they not stopping him? Sincerely, Dyanne Smart, Wawa

MPPs return to Queen’s Park on Tuesday, February 19 and budget day should be soon after. The question northerners are asking – is the $45 million promised by the PCs for the return of passenger rail service from Toronto to Cochrane in the budget?? Will Premier Ford keep his promise? Will Vic Fedeli keep his promise? The Northeastern Ontario Rail ...

Sometime in November 2018 Canadians started to notice that more and more of their fellow Canadians started to wear Yellow Vests. I have also taken notice and have been watching this unfold over the past few months. This wearing of the “Yellow Vest” has become synonymous with the events taking place world wide – albeit, in Canada we are relatively ...

The Official Opposition Health Care critic, France Gélinas, says the pervasiveness of kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies to pharmacies — designed to push their generics over those of competitors’ — affirms Ontario’s need for universal pharmacare, a prescription drug plan that covers everyone.   This weekend, CBC’s investigative news program The Fifth Estate reported that the practice of drug companies paying ...

On Monday afternoon, Doug Ford delivered a shocking and disturbing admission that he believes the head of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) to be a “political appointment.”   “The police are not political,” said NDP Community Safety and Correctional Services critic Kevin Yarde. “We require these brave officers to preserve the integrity of Ontario’s police force, and they need to ...

First, let me thank the organizers of the Christmas Hamper, they do a wonderful job of organizing and carrying out this event every year. However, I have spoken to many people this year and most have voiced the same concern – they felt humiliated when they went to pick up their baskets. I can understand the committee asking for identification, ...