Editorial News

Following the tragic and horrific loss of five people, including three children, as a result of intimate partner violence in Sault Ste. Marie, Official Opposition NDP Leader Marit Stiles urgently called on Premier Ford to take action and declare intimate partner violence an epidemic in Ontario. “Tragically, gender-based violence and femicide is on the rise, and we are long overdue ...

October 25th, 2023   Dear Community Partner,   The Wawa Christmas Hamper needs your help! For over 60 years, we have been providing families in need, seniors and the less fortunate in the Wawa area with Christmas hampers to help brighten their holiday season. Hampers include all the fixings for a Christmas dinner including a turkey, potatoes, vegetables, fruit and ...

La semaine passée, les néo-démocrates ont adopté une motion visant à forcer les PDG des grandes chaînes d’épicerie du Canada à comparaître à nouveau pour s’expliquer sur la flambée des prix des aliments. Cette motion fait suite à l’échec lamentable du ministre libéral de l’Industrie à faire baisser les prix des aliments pour la population canadienne. L’approche inadaptée des libéraux, ...

Last week, New Democrats passed a motion to force Canada’s big grocery CEOs to come back to testify regarding sky-high food prices. This comes after the Liberal Industry Minister’s abysmal failure to bring down food prices for Canadians. The Liberals’ out-of-touch approach to politely ask grocery CEOs to ‘stabilize’ prices that are already sky-high isn’t working — and Canadians need ...

Ontario NDP MPP Guy Bourgouin (Mushkegowuk— James Bay), Official Opposition critic for Natural Resources and Forestry, and Lise Vaugeois (Thunder Bay—Superior North) are calling out the Ford Conservatives for their disregard for the dedicated Wildland firefighters who have been courageously engaging in life-threatening work, on behalf of the people of Ontario. Last week, the Ford Conservatives held a press conference ...

Today during Question Period Michael Mantha, MPP for Algoma-Manitoulin, called on Health Minister Sylvia Jones to address potential closures of emergency rooms (ER) in Northern Ontario.   Last week, Manitoulin Health Centre announced that they may have to close one of their ERs for days throughout the month of October due to a shortage of doctors. Other hospitals in Algoma-Manitoulin, ...

Ontario NDP MPP Chris Glover (Spadina – Fort York), Official Opposition Critic for Accessibility and Disability Justice Sarah Jama (Hamilton Centre), and MPP Peter Tabuns (Toronto – Danforth) announced their legislation today, September 18, 2023 to proclaim September 23rd as the International Day of Sign Languages to raise awareness about the importance of sign languages, the need for accessibility services, ...

MPP Michael Mantha (Algoma-Manitoulin) responded to Health Minister Sylvia Jones’ announcement that the government will provide a one-time funding increase to Public Health Units (PHU) who voluntarily merge. “In the North PHUs provide services to vast areas spanning dozens of communities with unique needs and circumstances,” said Mantha. “The realities faced by Northern PHUs are different from those in urban ...

Regular readers of this column are accustomed to me relating events and issues at Queen’s Park to everyday experiences that I find myself in, be they personal or professional. I think, in a way, the writing style compliments the way I approach my job. It is one of the things I do to stay focused, grounded and in touch with ...

Les lecteurs réguliers de cette chronique savent que je fais des liens entre les événements quotidiens et les enjeux de Queen’s Park. Je pense que, d’une certaine manière, le style d’écriture complète la façon dont j’aborde mon travail. C’est l’une des choses que je fais pour rester en contact avec les gens d’Algoma-Manitoulin. Cette semaine, cependant, ce que je veux ...

On Wednesday, NDP MP Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay) is calling on the Liberal government to ensure the proposal for Alstom workers to build subway cars for the Toronto Transit Commission goes ahead by providing the necessary funding. The NDP is demanding that the Liberals prioritize improving Toronto’s subway system, and focus on creating good, unionized jobs in Northern Ontario. “The ...

Following the release of the Auditor General’s “Special Report on the Changes to the Greenbelt“, Michael Mantha (MPP for Algoma-Manitoulin) is calling on the Premier to immediately recall the legislature and reverse the removal of land from the Greenbelt that happened last fall. MPP Mantha issued the following statement: “Today the Auditor General made it clear that the ‘exercise’ undertaken ...

Les lecteurs de cette chronique savent à quel point je suis fier d’être un habitant du Nord né et élevé. J’ai grandi à Gogama, où le français était la langue maternelle dans presque tous les foyers. Les gens parlaient français dans les églises, les écoles et les entreprises. Dans l’esprit de mes frères et sœurs et de mes amis, notre ...

Readers of this column know how proud I am to be a born and bred Northerner. I grew up in Gogama, where French was the mother tongue in almost every home. People spoke French in churches, schools, and businesses. In the minds of my siblings and friends, our whole world was French-speaking. For us, French was the norm. You may ...

Marit Stiles, Leader of the Official Opposition NDP and NDP MPPs Lise Vaugeois (Thunder Bay – Superior North) and Sol Mamakwa (Kiiwetinoong) demanded support and resources for forest fire workers during a press conference today addressing the severe and urgent crisis as wildfire season rages on amidst a retention and recruitment crisis. “Forest fire crews have been doing incredibly difficult ...