Politics, Editorials & Letters

During Question Period yesterday, November 26th, 2024, Algoma Manitoulin MPP, Michael Mantha, pushed the government to provide update Northerners on the enhanced Northern Health Travel Grant provision that were announced earlier this year.   “Almost 7 months ago, the Minister of Health announced that the government would be enhancing the Northern Health Travel Grant.” Mantha said. “Why are Northerners still ...

Hockey is truly one of my passions. Hockey has long been and always will be Canada’s sport. With the whistling speed of the puck hurling toward the net and the flashing blades as the players rocket up and down the ice, what could be more exciting? I willingly admit to being loyal to a fault of a particular team that ...

Le hockey est vraiment l’une de mes grandes passions. Il a longtemps été, et restera toujours, le sport emblématique du Canada. Avec la vitesse fulgurante de la rondelle se dirigeant vers le filet et les lames scintillantes des patins qui fusent sur la glace, qu’y a-t-il de plus exaltant? J’admets volontiers ma loyauté, presque aveugle, envers une équipe en particulier ...

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has written to premiers asking them to scrap the provincial sales tax on daily essentials and monthly bills, matching his pledge to scrap the federal GST on home heating, internet and mobile bills, diapers, kids’ clothes and grab-and-go grocery items. “Working people are being gouged every time they pay their cell phone bill or stop at ...

Michael Mantha, MPP for Algoma-Manitoulin, has introduced legislation to end private, third-party contracts for driver examinations in Ontario. The Safer Driving Tests Act (Ending the Privatization Failure), 2024 will require that all driver examinations in Ontario are carried out by the Ministry of Transportation, and not third-party contractors.   “It’s become clear that operating driver examinations through a for-profit company ...

J’utilise régulièrement cette chronique pour parler des problèmes de viande et de pommes de terre qui touchent les gens d’Algoma-Manitoulin. Des questions comme la crise des soins de santé, la nécessité d’améliorer l’entretien des routes dans le Nord, notre réseau scolaire surpeuplé ou le manque de logements abordables dans notre province sont ce que j’entends le plus de la part ...

I regularly use this column to speak about the meat-and-potatoes issues that affect people in Algoma-Manitoulin. Issues like the healthcare crisis, the need for better highway and road maintenance in the North, our crowded school system, or the lack of affordable housing in our province are what I hear about most from people I meet with day-to-day and are top ...

CBC’s The Fifth Estate recently broke the news that the Canada Revenue Agency had discovered that hackers had managed to obtain confidential data on taxpayers used by private tax firm H&R Block. Fraudsters then used the confidential information, including H&R Block’s confidential credentials to log into the personal CRA accounts of thousands of individuals. What does this mean for most ...

For several years, Ontarians have been experiencing turmoil and pain on several fronts: access to affordable housing, access to health care, shortage of physicians, inflation and cost of living, impossibly low social assistance support, and timely access to programming for children with Autism, to name but a few of the burdensome issues. Most of the way through his second term, ...

Depuis plusieurs années, les Ontariennes et Ontariens vivent des troubles et des douleurs sur plusieurs fronts : l’accès à un logement abordable, l’accès aux soins de santé, la pénurie de médecins, l’inflation et le coût de la vie, le soutien de l’aide sociale incroyablement faible et l’accès en temps opportun aux programmes pour les enfants autistes, pour ne citer que ...

On Thursday, the NDP called for the abolishment of closed work permits that have allowed employers to trap, abuse, underpay, and exploit migrant workers in Canada. NDP critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Jenny Kwan made the announcement on Thursday alongside NDP critic for Labour Matthew Green, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), and the United Food and Commercial Workers union ...

The Ontario Autism Coalition (OAC) is calling for the immediate implementation of the Vulnerable Persons Alert system in light of the recent incident involving Logan, an 18-year-old autistic individual who went missing in Havelock, Ontario, for over two weeks. While we are relieved that Logan was found safe, this incident highlights significant gaps in our current approach to locating vulnerable ...

Today during Question Period MPP Michael Mantha (Algoma-Manitoulin) asked the Minister of Transportation to provide a clear timeline for the construction of a new swing bridge in Little Current.   “In this year’s budget the Minister of Finance specifically highlighted the plan to replace the Swing Bridge.” Mantha said. “Over half a year later and we still have no idea ...

From the early days before Confederation, Canada’s earliest settler leaders treated Indigenous peoples as others. They created systems that were designed to assimilate Indigenous peoples and strip them of their identity and their culture. One of the most widely recognized parts of this systemic discrimination was the development of residential schools. Supported by Canada’s first Prime Minister, John A. MacDonald, ...

Halloween vient de venir et aller. L’une de mes vacances préférées, j’ai toujours été un admirateur de la créativité exposée à cette période de l’année. Qu’il s’agisse des décorations élaborées que les gens mettent sur leurs maisons, des merveilleux costumes dans lesquelles les tricheurs apparaissent à ma porte, ou même simplement des histoires effrayantes fantastiques qui sortent en l’honneur de ...