Ontario farmers are expressing their concern about the Ontario government’s latest proposal to supercharge the development of housing. It’s called Bill 97 – the Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act – and while that sounds like it has nothing to do with farming, there is a caveat in the legislation that has farmers concerned. Something they say will accelerate the loss of precious farmland in Ontario. Continue reading “Farm Groups Have Concerns About Bill 97 Leading to Land Loss”
It’s 2019 all over again! That’s how Guelph MPP and Green Party leader Mike Schreiner described the situation at Queen’s Park during his most recent appearance on Open Sources Guelph. It’s been a very busy first few months for the new Ontario Legislature, and as we close 2022, Schreiner has notes about Bill 23, Doug Ford’s leadership style, and whether or not he’s going to change team colours. Continue reading “On OSG, Schreiner Calls Out Ford Policies as “Dangerous” and “Unnecessary””
Christmas came early for the Ministry of Education as they’ve achieved another deal with a group of education workers. The rare Sunday news comes from the Ontario Council of Educational Workers (OCEW), a collection of unions representing thousands of education workers in schools around the province, who have now reached a tentative agreement with the Ontario government after a days-long stretch of bargaining. Continue reading “ON Gov Achieves New Deal with Another Group of Education Workers”
This week marks the end of the fall legislative session at Queen’s Park, and what a session it’s been! That was essentially the point on Thursday when Guelph MPP and Green Party of Ontario leader Mike Schreiner held a press conference to mark the end of the session, and he did not mince words when it came to his appraisal of the first six months of the new Ontario government. Continue reading “Schreiner Looks Back at “Squandered Opportunities” at Queen’s Park This Fall”
Monday dawned with another day of job action by education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), but now it will be the last day too. In a sudden press conference at Queen’s Park this morning, Premier Doug Ford said that his government will move to revoke the highly controversial Bill 28 that imposed a new contract on CUPE using the notwithstanding clause if the school workers promise to return to work. Continue reading “Ford Blinks! CUPE Agrees to End Strike After Gov Promises to Revoke Bill 28”
All eyes in Ontario on Friday were on the protests by education workers around the province, so what a good time to make a controversial move on a sensitive area of interest like the Greenbelt. On Friday afternoon, the Government of Ontario launched 30 days of consultation about removing 7,400 acres of land from the edge of the Greenbelt to make room more homes, which is okay, because this is technically a Greenbelt expansion. Continue reading “As Workers Strike, Ford Government Moves on the Greenbelt”
As the hours counted down on Thursday, it was clear that a job action on Friday by the education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) was inevitable despite the Government of Ontario’s attempt to stop it. Despite a lot of action around Queen’s Park Thursday, CUPE workers look to be hitting the picket lines on Friday no matter what happens in the legislature. Continue reading “CUPE Strike Ready to Go Friday As All Sides Hit Impasse”
Day two of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference brought two big speakers with some different ideas about the needs of cities. In one slot was the man currently serving in the post of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and in the other was the man who’s currently the only elected opposition leader in the Ontario legislature, and they offered very different visions indeed. Continue reading “Competing Vision for Cities on Day Two of the AMO Conference”
They tell you to open with a joke, and that’s what Premier Doug Ford did as one of the first speakers at this year’s Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in Ottawa on Monday. Ford made light of his viral encounter with a bee at a media availability on Friday, and then dug into substance by assuring Ontario’s municipal leaders that the challenges they’re facing are manageable. Continue reading “Upbeat Ford Addresses AMO and Ontario Mayors at Annual Conference”
It was a busy day at Queen’s Park as the Lieutenant Governor delivered the Speech from the Throne, and then the Government of Ontario re-delivered the 2022 provincial budget. There were a few slight tweaks between the one delivered back in April and the one that now awaits passage nearly six months after the start of the Province’s fiscal year, but there was one particular point of interest that got the most attention. Continue reading “New Ontario Budget Almost the Same as the Old One”
Guelph Politico 