Nearly a week after the last time he was in front of cameras, Premier Doug Ford came out of quarantine for a minute on Thursday morning to say he was wrong. Apologizing for the overreach of the COVID restrictions he announced last Friday, Ford appeared emotional as he talked about what he did wrong, why he wants a second chance, and why now is finally the time to get serious about paid sick days. Continue reading “Ford Apologizes for Third Wave Missteps, Promises Plans for Sick Days”
As the province set a record for the second time this week for the most number of new COVID-19 cases in a single day, Premier Doug Ford took a beating from all opposition parties about his government’s recent action (or inaction depending on your point of view). Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner was among them, and in a statement Thursday he railed against “more game show tactics from Ford.” Continue reading “Schreiner Calls Out “Game Show Tactics” from Ford Government”
“Protecting People’s Health and the Economy” is the title on the 2021 -2022 Ontario Budget. Billed as “the second Budget the government has delivered during the pandemic,” and the first Budget for current Minister of Finance Peter Bethlenfalvy, the Government of Ontario aimed to address ongoing issues with the pandemic and province-wide vaccination program. The tally for the next fiscal year: $186 billion. Continue reading “Ontario’s 2021 Budget Focuses on Pandemic, Pandemic Relief and Vaccines”
Ontario school students and their parents will likely remember last year’s March Break as the last time that there was in-person learning until this past September. The pandemic hit our shores on the same week as March Break in 2020, and with school only recently going back to in-person learning here in Ontario, the Minister of Education has decided that March Break will happen, just happen a month later. Continue reading “March Break is Actually Going to be April Break This Year”
It’s the news everyone wanted to hear! (Sort of.) On the same day that most of Ontario’s school students returned to in-person learning, the Government of Ontario announced their intention to end the state of emergency and start the gradual re-opening of the province this week. Don’t celebrate yet though because all of this is still kind of tepid. Continue reading “Back to the Colour Code: Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph to Reopen February 16”
There are some good signs that the case count of COVID-19 infections is going down, but we are still far from the end of the line. Perhaps that’s why Ontario Liberal leader sent an open letter to his fellow opposition leaders this Monday to ask for their support in getting paid sick days back on the agenda, which is only the latest proposed measure to get such a vital protection for Ontario’s workers. Continue reading “Opposition Rallies for Paid Sick Days, Quicker Vaccine Distribution”
Premier Doug Ford has raised the alarm in the last few days that the new modelling of COVID-19 cases was going to make people “fall out of their chair” when they saw it. Tuesday was the day that Ford not only released the new modelling, but the new provincial restrictions based on that modelling, and the Premier said that there are “unthinkable consequences” coming if we don’t change course. Continue reading “Ford Warns of “Unthinkable Consequences” as Ontario Declares New State of Emergency”
We’ve finished one week of the new lockdown measures here in Ontario, but we have not yet detected any benefit in terms of decreased daily new cases or the rapid rollout of the two approved COVID-19 vaccines. Official Opposition leader Andra Horwath is demanding answers, and she’s demanding to get them in-person from Premier Doug Ford and his ministers, and our own local MPP agrees. Continue reading “Schreiner Joins Horwath Call to Re-open Legislature”
The colour-coded COVID-19 control system has been the subject of controversy and conversation since the moment it was released last week. But that controversy has gone up to a whole new level with a new media report that says while the plan was made in consultation with public health workers, it did not reflect their best advise on slowing the spread. Continue reading “Media Report Says Ontario Gov Rejected Public Health Advice on New Colour System”
A little over six months late from the actual start of the Provincial fiscal year, the Government of Ontario delivered the 2020-2021 budget with some of the usual fanfare. Called, “Ontario’s Action Plan: Protect, Support, Recover,” the government insists that their budget will strengthen frontline health care, and offer support for businesses and workers, while laying the groundwork for the future. The opposition obviously disagrees. Continue reading “The Ontario Budget Has Lots of New Spending, Some Say Not Enough”
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