It seems that Ontario’s ruling Whigs are going to sell off a portion of Hydro One come hell or high water. Ontario voters are hearing of this continued determination after the newly appointed financial accountability officer for the province has warned that the province will be in even worse financial
Continue readingTag: Provincial Politics
Babel-on-the-Bay: What Wynne machine?
Giving Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne any credit for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s win in Ontario the other day is like suggesting that a windmill helped create the wind. There is little question but that politically Ontario’s premier needs Justin Trudeau far more than he needs her. In the appearances the
Continue readingScripturient: The high cost of affordability
Affordable housing is crucial to the economic and social vitality of every municipality. Without it, people cannot afford to live here, which means they will look for jobs in places they can afford. Young people, especially, will move to places they can afford better. Collingwood is especially vulnerable to housing
Continue readingScripturient: Apps are making us criminals
Almost every week you read in the news about another taxi driver protest against Uber and its drivers. Taxi drivers go on strike, some rage against Uber and attack the drivers or damage their cars. Similar protests – albeit not yet as violent or large – have been made against
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Premier Wynne’s toughest sale: Liberals.
The Ontario Legislature is back in session and Premier Kathleen Wynne seems to be having little trouble with the whiny little boy from Barrie now heading the provincial Conservatives or his provincial NDP counterpart Andrea Horwath. Where Wynne is getting the hard shots is from Liberals across Ontario who cannot
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Time for a new navigator at Queen’s Park.
The other day Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa was quoted as saying “We are trying to navigate through this thing.” He was talking about selling beer in grocery stores. Frankly if he is still trying to navigate this seemingly thorny issue, the Ontario Liberals need a new navigator. It might
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Building better bigotry.
Growing up in Toronto after the Second World War, we always had ready lessons in the problems faced by the children of refugees and immigrants. The children were the rapid adapters of the language and culture they found. They sought acceptance by their peer groups among native-born children. And, in
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Lessons from Simcoe North.
The Ontario Liberals did it to themselves last night. Premier Kathleen Wynne’s minions ran a pathetic campaign to let Ontario’s embarrassment have a seat in the legislature. Last we heard, Conservative Leader Patrick Brown had over 50 per cent of the votes cast in the Simcoe North by-election. It was
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Christine Elliott: Thank you for your service.
The Member of the Ontario Legislature for Whitby-Oshawa has resigned. Christine Elliott has served the riding well for the past nine years. She was a progressive in Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Party. For the second time, she had lost the contest for the leadership of the party to an extremist. She
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: In the heat of an August by-election.
The wife is usually the reasoning member of this household. She is the peacemaker but not when it comes to Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown. She is no fan of his. When driving up to Rama Casino the other day for dinner, she saw the elections signs in Simcoe
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: When is selling a dozen beers news?
On a hot day in the summer, a good publicist can sell editors on some very thin stories. Take the other day when the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) introduced 12-packs of beer in some test stores. No longer does the veteran beer drinker in those neighbourhoods have to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Discovering Ontario.
When Babel-on-the-Bay publishes its Morning Line on the federal election in early September, much will hinge on Ontario. With more than a third of the seats in parliament at play in this one province, national parties worry most about their position here. And watching from Barrie, Ontario, we have the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Barrie’s bashful bachelor wins over Wynne.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne must make her daily decisions with her Ouija Board. You would think she could make decisions and stick to them but no such luck. She has now decided that it is no skin off her nose if Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown has a by-election
Continue readingScripturient: Time of Use Billing
Until I sold my business, a few years ago, and started working from home again, I didn’t realize how much of an aggressive assault on many Ontarians – especially seniors and stay-at-home parents – our hydro time-of-use (TOU) billing is. I had a naïve belief that it was fair. A user-pay
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Ontario’s grannies mud wrestle with Brown.
If you are going to mud wrestle with a political opponent, you had better like the taste of mud. Yet even we are surprised that Ontario’s two political grannies—Premier Kathleen Wynne and her deputy MPP Deb Matthews—are wasting their time in the mud with new Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Dunlop does it up Brown.
When a respected member of the Ontario Legislature resigns his seat so the new party leader can contest the by-election there, the party owes him something in return. But Simcoe North MPP Garfield Dunlop is the real winner as he will not have to serve under Ontario Progressive Conservative Party
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Why the enthusiasm for cap ‘n trade?
Learning about cap-and-trade carbon pricing is not as easy as you might think. If you ever get serious about our world condition, you need to look into schemes such as those proposed by our politicians. Babel-on-the-Bay went on the quest recently when California Governor Jerry Brown, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The problem with problem gambling.
Usually in diatribes against the sin of gambling, you get disjointed, uninformed and confused information based on bible studies, imagination and urban legends. It was interesting the other day to read an objection from someone with a surfeit of supposedly scientific information. A gentleman named Rob Simpson signed the article.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Outsiders need not apply.
If there was ever a closed shop in Ontario, it is that bunch of bozos ruling the roost down at the Ontario Legislature today. As an insider in all of this, you have to be embarrassed by it. While we might have fallen a bit out of favour over the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Quebec’s edge of the wedge.
You have got to watch those guys! There is nobody slipperier than a Quebec provincial politician. If they cannot get you coming, they get you going. They have the God complex. They are so sure of themselves. They even think they can control the Internet. They already know they can
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