As the federal government adopts a bold plan to surpass its 2030 climate plan targets by dramatically hiking carbon taxes, spending billions to help Canadians retrofit homes, and provide massive incentives to carbon heavy industries to change their ways, the Ontario premier appears to be headed in the opposite direction. According to the auditor general’s recent update, this province is not even going to meet its miserly 2030 goal of reducing carbon emissions to 30 per cent below 2005 levels.   Read more

[Read more →]

Environment, evictions, schools dominate final days of Queen’s Park 2020 Session

By Jessica Bell

Queen’s Park closed for the year on December 8. Here are the legislative highlights from the final few weeks:

The Ford government continued trampling on Ontario’s natural environment. Government Bill 229 stripped the power of local conservation authorities to protect water quality and floodplains from development.   Read more

[Read more →]

READ MORE BY BRETT LAMB:  Read more

• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Oct. 2020)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Aug. 2020)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (July 2020)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Apr. 2020)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Mar. 2020)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Feb. 2020)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Jan. 2020)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Dec. 2019)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Nov. 2019)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Oct. 2019)

[Read more →]

Ontario’s Auditor General (AG) Bonnie Lysyk recently released a report sharply criticizing the province’s COVID-19 response. The report details a litany of failures by the government and its approach to dealing with the crisis. While some see her timing as unhelpful, to be critical as the proverbial ship is sinking, others see an opportunity to right the boat.   Read more

[Read more →]

The government’s Scrooge-like plan is not what we need

By Jessica Bell

It’s easy to make bold and lofty promises at a press conference, but a budget reveals a government’s true priorities.   Read more

[Read more →]

READ MORE BY BRETT LAMB:  Read more

• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Apr. 2020)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Mar. 2020)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Feb. 2020)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Jan. 2020)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Dec. 2019)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Nov. 2019)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Oct. 2019)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Sept. 2019)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How nice (August 2019)
• EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Summer 2019)

[Read more →]

One of the strangest things to happen over the course of this very strange spring was the apparent transformation of Premier Doug Ford into to a caring, compassionate leader. This illusion is fading quickly, as his government rams Bill 184 through the Ontario legislature. The new law will almost surely result in mass residential evictions of tenants who were unable to pay full rent during the COVID-19 lockdown.  Read more

[Read more →]

Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government is cancelling 758 renewable energy contracts, including a newly constructed wind farm in Prince Edward County, a move that will cost the Ontario taxpayer at least $231 million. The PCs are not only hard pressed to justify the move from a fiscal perspective, but it also makes no sense from a political vantage point when the electorate is increasingly concerned about climate change.   Read more

[Read more →]

Back at Queen’s Park, Ford resumes his agenda

By Jessica Bell

After ordering the longest break in almost 25 years, Doug Ford finally let Queen’s Park get back to business last month. While the government signalled they would take a more tempered approach, the legislation the government has introduced shows the premier is continuing his destructive path.   Read more

[Read more →]

Inclusionary Zoning is the answer for responsible development in Toronto

By Mike Layton

Development in Toronto is continuing to boom. However, we are not building affordable housing at the same pace as we are luxury condominiums. Our waiting lists for affordable housing continue to grow and we are now above 100,000 names on the active waiting list. Last year we only managed to house people in 522 units, while 6,181 names were added to the list.  Read more

[Read more →]

With his popularity in free fall, the premier tries reverse gear

By Jessica Bell

Over the past year, Doug Ford has hacked away at our schools, hospitals, and communities. He’s made devastating cuts to OSAP, ambulance services, and cancer-screening programs. Under his term, class sizes have ballooned, wait times at emergency rooms have increased, and university has become more expensive. It’s a bleak picture. But the good news is we have been fighting back – and Ford is now forced to listen.   Read more

[Read more →]

As they look to win votes in Ontario, federal Liberal candidates point to Doug Ford as a sort of warning about the dangers of casting a vote in favour of the Conservative Party of Canada. It seems even the Conservatives are buying into this narrative, as party leader Andrew Scheer brought Alberta Premier Jason Kenney to Ontario to give his campaign a boost this month. The distraction does little to veil the similarity between Conservative leaders, particularly when it comes to their climate plans.   Read more

[Read more →]

Just ask Doug Ford. Ford lost $42 million selling pot last year. Then he botched the roll-out of retail licences so badly that it is now under judicial review. Illegal pot is widely available and is in fact necessary to satisfy the market demand that the province has failed to meet.  Read more

[Read more →]