Do you really want to trust a politician who insists on telling you how great it is going to be? When the Ontario government announced its health care reforms this week, everyone was left wondering just how they were going to accomplish these great results. That was all we got,
Continue readingTag: Ontario
Babel-on-the-Bay: When compromise is the problem.
Nobody should celebrate too soon about the compromise solution to paying Ontario’s doctors. After more than four years of arguments, back-stabbing and threats, nobody is particularly happy. The three-member arbitration board did not have to find the money, so they could be generous. And they were. The doctors got what
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Ford Follies.
This entertainment is settling in for a long run. Ontario premier Doug Ford and his ensemble are enjoying their reviews. You cannot help but compare the show to the old 19th Century minstrel shows—without blackened faces, though Doug Ford does seem pleased in playing the role of Mr. Interlocutor. In
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: ‘Super-agencies,’ been there; done that.
Health care in Ontario is a machine of many parts. It seems the Ford government wants to start collecting those parts into one super agency. The only problem with this is that there once was a super agency responsible for health care in the province. It was called the Ministry
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: ‘Dirty Thirties’ solutions for Ford.
Ontario premier Doug Ford must admire the past. His government keeps reaching back in time to the solutions of the 1930s. The latest is to return to those times when a landlord could hire thugs as bailiffs and physically remove a tenant. They would toss impoverished tenants and their pitiful
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A Feisty Fedeli files on Brown.
If I had ever written a proper review of Patrick Brown’s tell-all book on his political take down, I would have paid far more attention to his relationships with the Tory caucus at Queen’s Park and particularly Vic Fedeli the MPP from North Bay. Fedeli, now Doug Ford’s finance minister,
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: First pick a direction.
It is ridiculous that people are speculating about the possible leaders of the Ontario liberal party so soon. We do have a choice. And the old adage says, we can decide now and repent at leisure. As we have mentioned before, we first want to figure out where the party
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Jason Kenney would rather fight.
The last thing Canada needs is another provincial leader spoiling for a fight. Alberta opposition leader Jason Kenney was on Global Television’s West Block last Sunday laying out his battle plan and various lies for his anti-Trudeau, Anti-Quebec and anti-British Columbia campaign. This is, of course, provided his reconstructed conservatives
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Wynne can stay put for a while.
All commentators do it. They give advice. The quality of that advice is something for you to decide. This thought came up recently when Bob Hepburn of the Toronto Star suggested that former liberal premier Kathleen Wynne “will have to go.” His reasoning is interesting but believe me, her position
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: To Brampton Town with Brown.
Barrie’s sorry excuse for a newspaper, the weekly Advance, has announced that Brampton mayor Patrick Brown is its newsmaker of the year. Coincidently the Barrie library had a copy of Brown’s tell-all book Take Down: The attempted political assassination of Patrick Brown—by none other than Patrick Brown himself. It was
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A Christmas Tale for Doug Ford.
Doug Ford tells us he is something of a Christian and that might mean he has been looking forward to this Christmas. He has been on a roll since January this year when the gates to the premier’s job opened up to him. He was even anointed by the controversial
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Dougie’s second stupidest stunt.
In many years of running major political events, one of the automatic considerations is always security. There is no question that well publicized events of that nature can attract the less mentally stable of society with their real or imagined complaints. And because you never know what can happen, you
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: It is the door on the left that is open wide.
We keep waiting for signs that there is some life left in the Ontario liberals. It has been a while now and we can hardly wait for Doug Ford to stumble more than he already has. It is already obvious that the Ford government is going nowhere at his usual
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Our 400 MPP.
There is no point in complaining that our Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte member of the legislature is never in the electoral district. He obviously drives through it every time he goes to or from the legislature in Toronto and his home. When you live where MPP Doug Downey lives you still have a
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Ford fast-tracks the slippery slope.
One of the problems with being a bit older is that you have seen it all before. Premier Doug Ford, for example, might be just a reprise of Mike Harris, conservative premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002. One of the reasons for the longevity of the McGuinty-Wynne liberals after
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Rent Control in Ontario
I’ve just published my new analysis of Ontario’s proposed rent controls and develop an evidence-based comprehensive alternative proposal at the CCPA’s “Behind the Numbers” blog.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Persons who help themselves get most.
The headline was supposed to be ‘God helps those who help themselves.’ It did not seem right though to invoke a Deity. Considering how many Deities are promoted around Toronto these days, it could have ended up a three-line headline. This started out to be about Ontario premier Doug Ford.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: When the Kingfish rules.
While many see him as a Trump-lite, Ontario’s premier Doug Ford is more of a politician in the tradition of Louisiana’s governor Huey P. Long (Born 1893 – Assassinated 1935). Long liked being called “The Kingfish.” This is unlike American president Donald Trump’s evident nihilism which is mainly a rejection
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Doug Ford for the People? More Like For Big Business (Bill 66 discussion)
So, the Ontario government released or introduced Bill 66 today in the Legislature. It does many appalling things under the guise of “opening Ontario for business”. It may open Ontario for business but it strips the public of protections for clean water, health and safety regulations for wastewater and food
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: If you cannot confront, confuse.
It is a desperation strategy. As one of the three programs fighting greenhouse gases in Canada, Ontario’s ‘Carbon Trust’ is certainly the zaniest. Where ‘Cap and Trade’ lets industries buy extra carbon emissions from each other and a ‘Carbon Tax’ lets the polluters pay (with a rebate to consumers), this
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