When the Red Cross is called into a children's hospital to address a crisis...it is worth noting that Ford under spent by 900 million in health care 2022. Red Cross workers are ussually called in for disaster relief...
#onpoli
via
@torontostar
Toronto General Hospital just contacted me to let me know some of the medically necessary testing that I’m scheduled to have is no longer covered by OHIP and I must pay out of pocket on the day of testing to have it completed😭
THANK YOU
@fordnation
for healthcare privatizing
Just a friendly reminder that Ford only kept 37% of his election promises...
- he didn't reduce income tax by 20%
- he didn't end hallway medicine (made it worse)
- he didn't cut your hydro bill by 12% (increased by 4.3%)
- he didn't fix the Autism program
#Polimeter
#onpoli
Privacy concerns have been flooding in around the
#StaplesScandal
- given the directive to “monetize Service Ontario interactions”. I would say these concerns are valid.
Alongside a “sole-sourced” contract for Staples. The deal stinks.
#onpoli
A PC MPP cautioned me on my questions yesterday (honestly) and reminded me that my mom was watching. I let him know that she ALSO wants answers.
“The government may not want to give the answers but the people of Ontario want me to ask the questions"
#GreenbeltScandal
#OnPoli
I wish the Sunday Scrum would reference the fact that
@fordnation
underspent in healthcare (almost 1 Billion/last year). They created the crises in health care with
#Bill124
and under-utilization of surgical facilities.
#onpoli
#CBCNN
@RosieBarton
@CBCNews
“I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again —once more, with feeling. Ford should resign. So should Clark. And any self-respecting PC MPP ought to demand they both go. Supporting a government so obviously corrupt is morally reprehensible. It’s dirty, filthy gutter stuff.”
#onpoli
During a press conference this week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford pitched private surgeries as a solution to Ontario’s health care crisis.
Some procedures Ford singled out are offered by Ontario PC donors that lobbied Ford’s government.
#onpoli
#onthealth
This morning, I and other members of the NDP Caucus were removed from the Chamber at the Legislature of Ontario as we stood up for the rights of education workers.
I will always stand up for the Charter Rights of Canadians.
#onpoli
#bill28
✔️ “If you rob a bank and you get caught, you don’t get to keep the loot. This government MUST, immediately recall the legislature to reinstitute the protections to these lands that were removed from the Greenbelt. That is the first step in taking responsibility.”
#onpoli
👇
Can you do anything you want with land in Ontario? No, you cannot. We have rules and regulations enshrined in The Planning Act that govern how we use land. Why? Because there is a broad public interest in land use. It affects every aspect of our lives.
Whether we have a home…
"I wouldn't call it upselling. I would call it patient options," said Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones when asked about the risk of patients being persuaded to spend money at for-profit clinics.
Do you think it is off-side that Ford spent millions on Super Bowl commercials that “foster a positive impression of his govt”…Or would you rather have an ER that is open with nurses & doctors? We definitely hit a nerve🚩🚩
#onpoli
This government's decision to underspend on healthcare when children's hospitals are asking for $370 million dollars to address a funding gap & backlog in children's surgeries is morally reprehensible, isn't fiscally prudent & will cost our health care system more money.
#onpoli
Today your official opposition revealed that Ford’s leaked briefing notes indicated that Waterloo Region’s forced urban expansion of 2,380 hectares was requested by “Third Parties”…they were also tracking activists & MPPs
#onpoli
“By the way the officials dealt with this, none of us dealt with this”
The Premier now tells me when asked about ServiceOntario questions. It’s the first time we’ve seen the government try and put distance between it and the story. Seemingly putting blame on ministry officials.
Today is March 31st. This used to be a significant date in Ontario. Budget Day. Failure to table a budget came with fines for the Premier & Finance Minister.
But they changed the law to avoid accountability. Choosing partisan ambition over Ontario.
Consistently.
#onpoli
This morning I sent a letter to Premier Ford regarding Mandate Letters & the Public Order Emergency Commission.
It's time he articulates truth, accountability, and transparency in government as actions and not just words.
#onpoli
International Women’s Day is Friday.
It is common Parliamentary protocol to allow female MPPs to speak to this important day.
The independent members (Lib/Greens) just asked for permission to speak tomorrow.
They were just denied by the Ford Govt.
Can’t make it up.
#onpoli
Without health and safety, we don't have an economy, it's as simple as that.
If you're showing symptoms, don't go to work. Go get tested immediately. Let’s all do our part to flatten the curve by following public health guidelines and limiting your contact with others.
By invoking the notwithstanding clause, Doug Ford and his government are admitting that their bill, forcing a one-sided contract on education workers, violates the Charter Rights of Canadians.
And they just don't care.
BREAKING: the Ford government will invoke the notwithstanding clause in order to impose a new contract on CUPE.
This is the 3rd time the government has used this measure.
#onpoli
I wrote to Minister Lecce today to amplify concerns my office is hearing from concerned parents about the removal of HEPA units from schools. It is well worth the investment to ensure students & education workers are learning and working as safely as possible
#onpoli
Excellent questions
@cbchh
tonight…thank you.
Greenbelt land-grab was never about housing ✔️
Why didn’t you know this “process” was so flawed? ✔️
Will you resign? ✔️
Disrespectful answers that insult the people of Ontario.
#friendswithbenefits
#onpoli
Ontario orders Waterloo to sprawl into farmland:
Ordering regions like
@RegionWaterloo
to REDUCE density & remove farmland
No appeals.
No comprehensive analysis on our aquifer.
Undermining years of progressive planning & democracy. Hellish.
#onpoli
Ford hasn't taken questions for 6 weeks. Then he shows up with this garbage. Shows his complete disrespect for Ontario. Seriously, take the time to read his "answers".
#onpoli
Today, Premier Doug Ford held his first news conference in nearly six weeks. Here's an edited sampling of how some of his answers to reporters' questions tended to wander away from the topic as his response went on.
#onpoli
Wake up Ontario 🙏
From Bill 28 “The Act is declared to operate notwithstanding sections 2, 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms and the ACT will apply DESPITE the Human Rights Code (Explanatory Note)
#onpoli
Today the official opposition pushed back on the PC narrative that they "invested in health care & education". With a 2.1 Billion Dollar surplus - there is no reason
@FordNation
can't
#RepealBill124
& pay nurses & educators what they deserve. Budgets are about choices.
#onpoli
Ontario can’t afford Doug Ford…
"The overpayment for these minor things is egregious," said the chief of surgery at a large Ontario hospital. "It doesn't look like great value for money."
#onpoli
#FollowTheMoney
#Priorities
Ontario’s Budget Officer has found that the Ford government failed to spend $7.2 billion of its budget last year, including $1.7 billion unspent on health as ERs are closing and surgery waitlists are growing …
#onpoli
#MindenMatters
#FollowTheMoney
“a developer approached the farmers offering to pay $58,000-an-acre because he heard the land would be rezoned to industrial, this is exactly why the RCMP is investigating Doug Ford right now,”
Call it Greenbelt 2.0 or Farmgate...the community deserves answers.
#onpoli
"The Auditor General has to stay in her lane." Premier Ford on the "sting operation" the AG initiated at casinos to detect money laundering. (police weren't happy)
Ford says she needs to focus on finding value for money.
#onpoli
Consensus in Canadian media is rare. But, as G&M put it, "There was already a bad smell coming from the Greenbelt decision. Unless the Premier provides some transparency on the issue [...] the smell is not going to go away"
#ONpoli
No transparency. No financial case. Instead a true gift from Ford to a US company funded by Ontario taxpayers. I've never witnessed a more disgraceful scrum, and that is saying a lot...Must watch.
#onpoli
NEW - Here is the full, unedited scrum my fellow reporters and I had with Minister
@ToddJMcCarthy
today. He was unable to tell taxpayers where purported cost savings are coming from, or why the deal was was sole-sourced.
Watch -
No one should have to spend their final years separated from their partner.
So today, I've introduced the Till Death Do Us Part Act, which will provide seniors with the right to live with their partner in long-term care.
#onpoli
“The Premier was not using his government-issued phone for at least a full week in November 2022, raising concerns that he is using a personal phone intentionally to avoid accountability through the Freedom of Information process,”
#onpoli
#GreenbeltScandal
NEW: Ontario’s Integrity commissioner is being asked to expand his Greenbelt probe to include communications on Doug Ford’s personal cell phone.
#onpoli
Former Toronto Mayor John Sewell interrupts delegations on the controversial
#Bill23
because he and others (like
@AMOpolicy
) we’re denied an opportunity to speak. I’ve never seen anything like this at Queen’s Park
#onpoli
The head of fundraising for the PC Party of Ontario sold tickets directly to developers for a fundraiser to benefit members of the Ford Family.
This isn’t over. Ontario has many legitimate questions.
#onpoli
#GreenbeltScandal
#FollowTheMoney
Ontario’s integrity commissioner says it's "interesting" that a developer who bought tickets for Premier Doug Ford’s daughter’s stag and doe purchased them from Tony Miele, the chair of the fundraising arm of the
@OntarioPCParty
#onpoli
The Premier’s office was directly involved in hiring Mr. Amato for Mr. Clark’s Chief of Staff.
Someone with no experience or training. We heard in Committee that this is not normal.
Note: Legal counsel was present.
#GreenbeltGrab
#onpoli
Cash stash: Ontario’s Budget Office found that the government is sitting on piles of unspent contingency funds: $8.5 billion this year and a projected $44 billion over the next six years.
“Typically, contingency funds run a billion dollars a year.
#onpoli
The week that was in
#onpoli
: Ford fights inquiry summons, new housing measures, and questions about a very large stash of government cash. — by
@DanielKitts
I asked a very simple question of the Minister.
“Was it concerning that a company the Ford govt collaborated with had to pay $700 million in fines for unethical business conduct?”
The people of Ontario deserve answers, and the Minister refuses to provide them
#onpoli
Guess who’s currently registered to lobby
@fordnation
on Walmart’s behalf?
Why, it’s the Premier’s former war-room director. Now it makes more sense that big box stores are getting preferential treatment...
The Premier thinks I need a lesson on “marketing & sales”. I think he needs a lesson on how to govern with integrity.
These expensive Super-Bowl commercials (which are inaccurate) shouldn’t be a budget priority. People deserve to know the full-price tag… 🏈
#onpoli
“It’s now clear that (Doug) Ford and (Sylvia) Jones have always known that Bill 124 was contributing to the staffing crisis in our hospitals,” Ontario NDP health critic France Gélinas
#onpoli
#RepealBill124
@NickelBelt
The Ford government is facing furious criticism after internal documents, obtained by Global News, acknowledged that low wages and Bill 124 have had a negative impact on Ontario’s ability to retain nurses in the province’s health care sector.
#onpoli
NEW: The auditor general says the Ford government failed to take account of all costs in its claim that moving the Ontario Science Centre to Ontario Place would save taxpayer money.
👇to read story👇
#onpoli
Getting to Toronto via public transit from Kitchener-Waterloo should never take 4+hrs (or 3hrs) 👀 When will KW get a direct train on the weekend to the GTA? Asking for commuters/students/ patients/family & 1 MPP
#onpoli
@C_Mulroney
@GOtransitKT
@Metrolinx
@GOtransit
No one believes Amato acted alone…all roads lead to the Premier.
“The legislative watchdogs exposed a flawed process in which Clark’s chief of staff, Ryan Amato, personally selected the properties chosen to be removed from the Greenbelt after meetings with developers.”
#onpoli
Doug Ford is on day 10 of 14 of self-isolation & he's earning his full pay while at home. As of this morning, he'd earned just over $4500.
I asked the gov't to explain why Doug Ford is entitled to 14 days paid sick leave while essential workers only get 3.
#onpoli
#COVID19
We now know that
#Bill23
will cost Waterloo Region $530 million over 10 years. That's $ for roads, sewers, transit, libraries, & other city services that taxpayers will have to foot the bill for. This will harm our community’s ability to build housing & infrastructure.
#onpoli
If you're wondering why the budget is so high...so many of your tax dollars are going to private health care interests & shareholders. Never has Ontario spent so much, and delivered so little.
#onpoli
Nothing to see here....just Extendicare praising the Ford Government for helping to keep them in business....all the while they're facing a class-action lawsuit for gross negligence.
770+ acres of the best farmland in Ontario…for industrial use?
“Why has the Grand River Conservation Authority not had any input in this planning?”
And “why has there been no public engagement or even discussion about this particular location?”
Unprecedented in WR
#onpoli
Thousands are showing support for Harry Leslie Smith, a Second World War veteran and tireless refugee advocate, as the 95-year-old receives treatment in hospital in Belleville, Ont.
#ICYMI
They are not "throwing everything" at the health care system.
The FAO reported that Ford under-spent by $900 million in health care this year.
PC govt has a 3.5 BILLION $ contingency fund of unallocated cash on its books.
#onpoli
“From what we’ve heard from the chief medical officer, it’s kind of levelling off here in Toronto“ Says Premier Ford when asked about overcrowding in hospitals “We’re throwing everything we can at the healthcare system“
.
@sflecce
- you say your consulting parents. Which parents?
Because I'm having conversations with parents like Niki who have NO confidence in your plan to reopen schools.
“I know we have a few mayors that don’t want to play in the sandbox, one being Mayor Crombie, and I don’t know what her issue is...stop the whining and complaining that I hear”
@fordnation
This guy keeps telling women what to do...it's damn irritating.
#onpoli
#RepealBill23
Every presenter at pre-budget consultations have confirmed that
#Bill124
is a serious problem with health care worker retention. Why won't Ford listen?
"Critics blast Ford government's continued defence of Bill 124 after new revelations"
#onpoli
Farmers understand Ford:
"For this government, it is developers first and farmers, eaters, and the house poor last."
“Let them eat concrete”: Ontario’s farmers are fed up with the Greenbelt giveaways
#onpoli
@NFUOntario
#GreenbeltGrab
via
@torontostar
From
@ChiefsofOntario
1. The immediate resignation of the MMAH Chief of Staff, Ryan Amato & that Minister Clark either resign or be removed as the Minister of MMAH
2. Ford to commit to the 15th recommendation AG return the removed land parcels to Greenbelt immediately
#onpoli
Did you know that Service Ontario is no longer mailing out reminders when it's time to renew health cards, driver's licenses, Photo Cards, or license plates?
Learn more about this here:
Sign up for renewal reminders here:
#OnPoli
So proud of our KW Community for showing up to welcome the
#GreenbeltScandal
Premier today 🙌
Proud to stand with
@dchapmanNDP
in our fight against this corrupt Ford Govt
Recall the Legislature.
Return the
#GreenbeltGrab
Land
RCMP 🚨
#onpoli
"The slow suffocation of public services has gone on for too long."
Real per-capita Ontario spending (from 2018):
Down 11% Post-Secondary Education
Down 12% in Children & Social Services
Down 11% in Education
Justice -2%
Excellent mini-budget analysis from
@CCPA_Ont
#onpoli
"Ontario's projected deficit is an accounting fiction." New
#onpoli
budget analysis from
@SheilaBlockTO
and
@Randyfrobinson
at
@CCPA_Ont
, out now: "In health and in all sectors, the slow suffocation of public services has gone on for too long."
How Doug Ford does business:
In exchange for $5000 in PC party donations from casino developers, his government retroactively changed legislation that aims to destroy any chance of legal challenge to the paving over of Duffins Creek.
#SaveDuffinsCreek
#Bill257
#onpoli
Mike this "food for thought" tweet is dismissive of the lives, and tragic deaths, of more than 10,000 Ontarians. Apologize & stop amplifying the disrespect that
@FordNation
has for Ontario citizens & health care workers
#onpoli
It's pretty obvious in this exchange who knows about and cares about the people of Waterloo Region.
Tips for the Minister:
1. Never insult the people of Waterloo Region.
2. Don't tell us to thank you for infrastructure you've kept stalled for years.
#onpoli
I was devastated to learn that a Gender Studies class was violently attacked this afternoon at
@UWaterloo
.
My thoughts are with the professor, the victims, all students & staff.
Thank you to the first responders who attended the scene.
Waterloo regional police say one person has been arrested and three people have been transported to hospital after being stabbed inside Hagey Hall at the University of Waterloo.
NEW - PM Trudeau: “Now this is a nice irony, Ontario actually started a cap and trade program. It was scrapped by Doug Ford when he first got elected which means the federal price on pollution that he is now complaining about is in because he got rid of the cap and trade program”
ANOTHER court battle lost for the Ford government.
Grateful to the courts for upholding Ontario laws.
15 Cases:
#Bill124
, Midwives Pay Equity, Wind Farm Cancellation, Heritage Bld, Failing to Consult w FNMI, Carbon Pricing, MZOs, Gas Pump Stickers, Cabinet Mandate Ltrs!
#onpoli
Ontario Court of Appeal throws out the Ford government's limits on what interest groups (i.e. unions) can spend on election advertising.
Ruling says the law violates a section of the Charter that's not subject to the notwithstanding clause.
#onpoli
How is it possible that the Ontario Govt is contemplating opening schools this fall without firm guidelines on class size with adequate funding?
If they considered the negative economic impact of another lock-down they would see safe-school funding as an investment?
#onpoli
Hearing about the collapse of the not-for-profit sector at pre-budget consultations…health & home care, supportive housing & even child care. But Ford & Co have no problem flowing your money to Walmart & Staples?
Budgets are about priorities. Epic Ford Fail.
#onpoli
#EXCLUSIVE
- The Ford government will use taxpayer dollars to retrofit two Walmart stores that will also host ServiceOntario outlets, CityNews has learned. This is in addition to the sole-sourced deal handed to Staples that will also see taxpayer $ used.
What a concept! Libraries in Ontario have not seen an increase in base funding for 25 years. Walmart is doing “okay” - they don’t need Ontario taxpayers to fund the retrofits!
#onpoli
The internal document says the publicly-funded Therme parking garage is needed "to meet landlord lease obligations." This conflicts with conditions in the Call For Development, which told bidders the government would NOT fund additional facilities
#onpoli
Ford's next big mistake.
Privatizing social asistance.
"The British Conservatives cancelled the experiment after six years. The Australians have been walking back significant aspects of their system."
#onpoli
via
@CatholicRegistr
Doug Ford keeps saying that the judge & jury will decide in 4 years re: his use of the
#notwithstanding
clause.
In fact, 3 years, 8 months, 22 days.
Next election.
Let's remember the day when a Premier chose to over-ride the Charter Rights of Ontario citizens.
#onpoli
#TOpoli
Today I watched the Premier of Ontario make an off the cuff comment to the Minister of Education about maybe buying some thermometers for our schools...
Meanwhile NYC is inspecting every classroom for appropriate ventilation.
#onpoli
@maritstiles
@BobBrentTO
@tdsb
@tdcsb
@jkwan_md
@DFisman
@KashPrime
@SharkawyMD
NYC having independent experts inspect ventilation in all schools.
“If inspections find that an entire school, or particular room, do not have adequate ventilation, then we will not allow anyone to use those spaces until they are made safe”
Wilmot Landbank Scandal.
- Expropriating 770 Acres of Class 1 Farmland
- No Transparency or Consultation
- We lose 319 acres a day in Ontario
Why is the Ford Govt undermining the farming sector and encouraging back-room dealings with developers?
#FarmersFeedCities
#onpoli
NEW: Ontario’s auditor general is conducting a value-for-money audit into the controversial re-development of Ontario Place, Global News has learned.
#Onpoli
#topoli
Now Ford is handing out university status regardless of qualifications...you can't make it up.
“It looks like the government was going to do everything they could to give McVety preferential treatment here, to make sure that everything was fixed for him,”
@MaritStiles
#onpoli
Ford minister assured evangelical school it could get university status regardless of board review, according to transcripts of recorded phone call
#onpoli
When people call 911, it’s b/c they need an ambulance urgently. Waiting up to 15 hours is dangerous and unsustainable. When will the Ford government address the core issues of off-load delays, including severe staffing shortage among paramedics?
#onpoli
@CUPE5191EMS
@OntParamedic
Reminder: that the Ford government has so far failed to implement most of the recommendations of its own Housing Affordability Task Force, including the top recommendation to end exclusionary zoning
Instead we have unregistered lobbying?
Please ask Richard…
#onpoli
NEW - Premier Ford and Housing Minister Steve Clark are scheduled to make an announcement and take questions from reporters in Mississauga at 10AM Friday morning. Clark is facing pressure from the opposition to resign over the damning auditor-general Greenbelt report.
Ford’s Conservatives have lost Ontario’s trust and now Ford wants Ontarians to trust him with this infrastructure bank? You deserve a government that you can trust and a government that works for you.
#onpoli
My office continues to hear from constituents who are being charged hundreds for eye surgery at private clinics. Join
@OntarioHealthC
on Zoom tomorrow at 6 pm to plan next steps in the fight to stop hospital privatization. Register:
#onpoli
@health_region
Rolling sexual health curriculum back 20 years endangers Ontario’s youth.
The Ford gov't has effectively removed consent, online safety, and LGBTQ+ families from the curriculum, including healthy relationships.
2018 is not 1998.
#onpoli
“An investigation of Ford’s cellphone use is appropriate and necessary. The Ford government has a history of dodgy behaviour. To rebuild public trust, the premier should not be given the benefit of the doubt; instead, he should face maximum scrutiny”
#onpoli
👇
#GreenbeltScandal
Given the premier’s history of mixing government business with his personal phone, the people of Ontario deserve to know how he’s been using it, writes
@David_Moscrop
#onpoli
“We’re not just being mistreated as farmers and landowners, but the whole community is being left in the dark about what’s going on,” says Wilmot farmer, Stewart Snyder. This is very clearly Greenbelt 2.0 - and once again, the NDP will get to the bottom of it.
#onpoli
This gov refuses to provide info on the 95-year-lease agreement with Therme for Ontario Place. Why won't this gov be transparent with Ontarians? Watch my full exchange with the Minister of Finance this morning here:
#OnPoli
#ToPoli
@ONPlace4All
"Reports of farmers being threatened with expropriation if they do not accept the offers presented to them is nothing short of intimidation tactics used by the consultants, Canacre Ltd."
Excellent Letter!
@ONFarmlandTrust
@NFUOntario
@CFFOnt
#onpoli
“Ford appears to be creating a regime of arbitrary personal favour, in which conduct doesn’t matter, norms, policies and standards do not matter, the judgment of institutions does not matter. Only loyalty to the leader does” …
#onpoli
“Shoppers Drug Mart was awarded the contract through "a competitive procurement process," according to the Ministry of Health.
"As recently as yesterday, the Ministry of Health met with Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmasave…” ??
Who thought this was a good idea?
#onpoli
One year ago today, Bill 21
#TillDeathDoUsPart
passed 2nd reading. Today is also Jim & Joan McLeod’s 65th Anniversary. They have been separated for 6 yrs! Help me get Ford to call the bill. Senior couples should not be cruelly separated as they age.
#ONpoli
Hospital foundation: Okay, so we have to raise the $5M to buy the new MRI machine and build the lab and you make the announcement about how you're investing in hospitals?
Sylvia and Doug: Yes. That's correct.
Ontario Seniors are literally crying out for better home care. The Ford govt clawed back $78 million of home care funding from at least 7 provincial Home & Community Care Support Services. Thank you to
#SeniorsforSocialActionOntario
for raising this failure of leadership
#onpoli
INVESTIGATION: Just 1/5th of rapid tests distributed by the province's screening program went to hot spots.
Private schools got more taxpayer funded tests than paramedics, daycares, shelters and jails combined.
from
@rachelmendleson
@primarydata
+ me: