Back in 1973, when Ontario Premier Doug Ford was just nine years old, Conservative Premier Bill Davis brought in the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act. This was the foundational legislation for what we now call the Greenbelt—2 million acres of farmland, forest, wetlands and watersheds in southern Ontario. Every premier since then, of every political stripe, has fought to protect that—until now. Premier Doug Ford is bent on tearing the area apart despite whatever promises he made in the last election, and that destruction is justified by a false premise.  Read more

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Back in 2018, Doug Ford spoke his truth and it was caught on camera. The reaction to that video was so swift and forceful that the premier was forced to make a promise: he would never touch the Greenbelt, he said. If we’ve learned anything about Doug Ford since then, it’s that saying one thing and doing another is standard practice, and promises are meant to be broken. In breaking his promise on the Greenbelt, Ford is inflicting incomparable damage on this province that extends from the land to our trust in democratic systems.  Read more

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SEE MORE:  Read more

• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Oct. 2022)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Sept. 2022)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Aug. 2022)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: A chacun son principles (July 2022)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Provincial Election 2022)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (May 2022)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Spring 2022)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Winter 2022)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Jan. 2022)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Dec. 2021)

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The Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC) is reviewing Ottawa’s use of the Emergencies Act to break up the “Freedom Convoy” in Ottawa and at border crossings last winter. Their work involves hearing the testimony of people involved, including senior civil servants. In the past, premiers have testified in such commissions, despite the fact that the commission’s mandate is to hold all levels of government to account for the events that led to Prime Minister Trudeau’s invocation of the Emergencies Act last winter.  Read more

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This sets province back to the 1940s

By Jessica Bell

Now that the provincial and city elections are over, the real Doug Ford has stepped out from behind the veneer of moderation. The Premier has unleashed his aggressive plan to spur suburban sprawl, parking lots, and highways across the Greater Golden Horseshoe area, at the expense of farmland, renters, municipal services, and all-important climate change goals.    Read more

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The province is dissolving Ontario’s independent COVID-19 Science Advisory Table and replacing it  with, what one member described, as its exact antithesis. The science table didn’t hesitate to bring attention to facts the government didn’t want to hear, but which the public needed to know.   Read more

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Annex backs NDP, province backs PCs overall

By Carly Penrose

New Democrat Jessica Bell won University-Rosedale by 4,000 votes while Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives won a sweeping majority in the bid to lead Ontario’s government.  Read more

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The provincial PCs handily won another majority at Queen’s Park. The progressive parties split the vote and Doug Ford walked up the middle with his “get it done” message. It’s a simple and catchy phrase that Ford could utter authentically. A key plank in their plan is building Highway 413, but it appears that getting it done might not be so simple.  Read more

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Doug Ford has lowered the discourse for campaign-time politics by sucking another party into a vacuum of sorts. The PCs have given free licence plate renewals and are promising a five-cent drop in the gasoline tax—if reelected. 

The Liberals have countered with a buck-a-fare public transit plan. It feels like we are at the CNE with hucksters competing for attention.  Read more

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We are just weeks away from the provincial election and voters are being besieged with election advertising. Every party is making bold claims of course, but the ruling Progressive Conservatives under Doug Ford are touting their environmental credentials, and that is nothing but offensive and absurd.  Read more

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It’s silly season at Queen’s Park as the ruling Progressive Conservatives seek another mandate from voters this June. And it’s not beneath Doug Ford to attempt to bribe voters with their own money and ignore criticism about behaving in a fiscally reckless fashion.   Read more

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Policing is largely a provincial matter, but faced with massive trucks and bouncy castles clogging up central Ottawa, plus blockades at key border crossings, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had to invoke the Emergencies Act. As usual, Ontario Premier Doug Ford was too focused on the next election to do his job, and he should have to answer for it.  Read more

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MPPs return to Queen’s Park in final controversial legislative session

By Jessica Bell

Canadian-content rules lowered for Ontario Line

Premier Ford is allowing companies who would like to build vehicles for the Ontario Line to cut their Canadian-manufactured content from 25 per cent to 10 per cent.    Read more

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