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.
Tags: Annex · Editorial · Opinion
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.
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.
Tags: Annex · Editorial · Opinion
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.
Tags: Annex · Editorial · Opinion
By Joshua Snow
SEE MORE BY BRETT LAMB:
Tags: Annex · Editorial · Opinion
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.
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.
Tags: Annex · Editorial · Opinion
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.
Under the questionable leadership of Premier Doug Ford, Ontario is now the only province in Canada which has not signed onto the federally funded daycare plan that would see fees cut to $10 per day per child by 2025. The federal formula would give Ontario $10.2 billion over five years which is its per capita share. But Ford says that’s not enough and Ontario deserves more than other jurisdictions.
Tags: Annex · Editorial · Opinion
By Jessica Bell
As the Omicron wave overwhelms Ontario, University-Rosedale residents are facing big challenges. Parents are wracked with the decision over whether to send their children to school. Hospitals are near capacity. You can’t get a PCR test. Surgeries are being canceled. Demand at food banks is at record levels, driven by rising poverty, job loss and inflation. The science is rapidly evolving, people are exhausted, and there is no public consensus on how to proceed.
Tags: Annex · Columns · Opinion
Frustration. Nonsense. Chaos.
These are just a few words that are used to describe the situation for Ontario businesses following the release of the province’s plan to lift all Covid restrictions for businesses. You’d think there would be more celebration, but it’s hard, given the fact that small businesses are being impacted extra hard by policy that seems designed to hurt them.