Author: Rick Barnes

Toronto Politics can get pretty messy. That is the case today with Rob Ford and his right wing gang attempting to remake the city. Remake maybe too generous, he is destroying much of what has taken decades to achieve, one of the world’s most livable c…

The Ontario Election is getting tighter.  A new poll shows Hudak’s party at 36%, McGuinty’s group at 33% and the Horwath NDP at surprising 29%.  These numbers indicate the election is up for grabs.  At 29% provincially I suggest the NDP have strong …

Romeo Saganash, the MP for Abitibi-Baie-James-Nunavik-Eeyou is expected to announce on Friday, He will not run for the leadership of the NDP. The big news is that he will be endorsing Brian Topp for leader. That according to the lactualite.com  toda…

The media frenzy over the Federal NDP leadership is getting a little silly.  First it would be good if they actually understood the NDP.  They have experience covering the Conservatives and Liberals leaderships and somehow expect that our leadershi…

The role of the Official Opposition in the House of Commons seems to be misunderstood by some media and others.

From the House of Commons website has the following definition of the Official Opposition…

Leader of the Opposition and Critics 

The …

Good news for Ontario NDP. Its safe to vote NDP in Toronto!  In fact you are likely to better than you have in years if current trend continues.  Read new poll results below.

The Ontario Election is getting very interesting.  The Hudak team has see…

For some time now we have been waiting for the Ontario Government to enforce the law in Ontario schools.  The law in question is with respect to Gay Straight Alliances or GSAs.  The Ministry of Education requires that all schools adhere to Policy/Pro…

Brian Topp makes it official, He’s in the race along with some heavy weight endorsements..

Ed Broadbent, Francoise Boivin and former MP Dawn Black have joined together to support Topp for leader.

See Globe and Mail story here.

A list of potential NDP leadership candidates could include the following…

in no particular order;

Roméo Saganash
Françoise Boivin
Thomas Mulcair
Robert Chisholm
Libby Davies
Peter Julian
Paul Dewar
Megan Leslie
Peggy Nash
Niki Ashton
Pat Martin
…

Charlie Angus released this statement on Facebook yesterday.  Another reason I have so much respect for him as an MP and a New Democrat!
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It has only been a few short weeks since the tragic death of Jac…

Hudak has gone off the deep end attacking the Ontario Liberal party proposal to help new Canadians.  Calling it help for Foreign Workers, he is hoping to play to those Ontarians who are out of work and "real Canadians". It is disgusting wedge politics and morally reprehensible.

The other unfortunate aspect to this issue is the lack of real discussion around efforts to assist people in getting a

An American hero – ignored by many, but then he was gay right? 

On this day in 2001 MARK BINGHAM, passenger on United Airlines Flight 93, died (b. 1970).

Bingham is believed to have been among the passengers who attempted to storm the cock…

something to think about…

Today, the richest 400 American families own more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans. – Bernie Sanders, US Senator 

(Senator Bernie Sanders is the longest serving independent in congressional history.) 

Member of Parliament for Brossard—La Prairie

Have you met Hoang Mai yet? This is a bright spark from Montreal.  He was born in Montreal in 1973 of Vietnamese parents, and grew up in Brossard, Quebec.

In 1998 he joined an international law offi…

The NDP are off and running now.  I am very pleased with the speed the party has taken to elect a new leader.   The Leadership vote will be on March 24, 2012 here in Toronto.  Its vital that the NDP have a new leader as soon as possible.  It helps …

This is one of those stories that tells you what the election is really about…

What the Ontario government has done to Brandon Mc-Carthy is thoughtless, shameful and cruel.  The 21-year-old Ottawa man has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a degenerati…

There is a lot of talk these days about a merger between the Liberals and New Democrats. I for one am not enthused with the idea. I am not a Liberal. I joined the NDP because they best expressed my values. I suspect many people joined the Liberals fo…

Thankfully Montreal Simon wiped them up for me here .

And I absolutely love the idea of planting a little tree to remember him.

Like this one near the ferry dock…

So on an icy cold day I can wrap it in a blanket, or hurry over with a wateri…

Never in our collective lifetime have we seen such an outpouring, so much emotional intensity, from every corner of this country. There have been occasions, historically, when we’ve seen respect and admiration but never so much love, never such a sh…