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Premier Doug Ford's Ontario

Hopkins123 said:
With Del Duca and Horwath as the alternatives though? Ford More Years is looking ever more than likely by the day.

No one wants political uncertainty during a time of crisis and it may take years for things to get back to normal yet.
Click to expand...

I am not sure if I will let a politician who wanted to (wait, make that did) cut public health off the hook on this one.

AoD
 
The change is good to see, but it is telling that Ford quickly abandoned every single fiscal conservative policy he campaigned on...

How fast could you shed your life-long political ideology... and maintain your self-respect?
 
Here's your daily dose of Covid-19 conspiracy fodder:

Is Doug Ford in self-isolation? He looks pretty pasty, and it looks an awful lot like he's in front of a blue screen due to the lighting mismatch and .
tiffer24 said:
The change is good to see, but it is telling that Ford quickly abandoned every single fiscal conservative policy he campaigned on...

How fast could you shed your life-long political ideology... and maintain your self-respect?
Click to expand...
I’m pretty sure the only ideology he’s held is one of opportunism.
 
mjl08 said:
With a looming recession, what are the odds of Rae Days 2.0, ahem, Ford Days?

Except these Ford Days won’t come with a free hot dog and orange drink.
Click to expand...

Rae Days are unfairly maligned - getting a paycut equivalent to a few days is far, far more desirable than mass layoffs - which will inevitably affect the most junior members.

AoD
 
tiffer24 said:
The change is good to see, but it is telling that Ford quickly abandoned every single fiscal conservative policy he campaigned on...

How fast could you shed your life-long political ideology... and maintain your self-respect?
Click to expand...

You are presuming he had self-respect in the first place.............that's a big presumption!
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
Rae Days are unfairly maligned - getting a paycut equivalent to a few days is far, far more desirable than mass layoffs - which will inevitably affect the most junior members.

AoD
Click to expand...

Indeed. Only in a religiously capitalist society would saving people's jobs during economic hardships be considered a joke.

My wife works in HR, and has had the terribly emotional duty of laying people off today. She only wishes it were a problem that could be solved with a forced unpaid day off a month.
 
The full details for the mini-budget/economic statement are here:

Ontario Newsroom

news.ontario.ca news.ontario.ca

Health
  • Committing to a dedicated $1.0 billion COVID-19 contingency fund for emerging needs related to the COVID-19 outbreak.
  • Investing $935 million for the hospital sector, including $594 million to accelerate progress on the government's commitment to address capacity issues, as well as $341 million for an additional 1,000 acute care and 500 critical care beds and additional assessment centres.
  • Increasing public health funding by $160 million to support COVID-19 monitoring, surveillance, and laboratory and home testing, while also investing in virtual care and Telehealth Ontario.
  • Investing $243 million for surge capacity in the long-term care sector, as well as funding for 24/7 screening, more staffing to support infection control, and supplies and equipment to help tackle the COVID-19 outbreak.
  • Investing $75 million to supply personal protective equipment and critical medical supplies to front-line staff to tackle COVID-19.
People and Jobs
  • Helping families pay for the extra costs associated with school and daycare closures during the COVID-19 outbreak by providing a one-time payment of $200 per child up to 12 years of age, and $250 for those with special needs, including children enrolled in private schools.
  • Proposing to double the Guaranteed Annual Income System (GAINS) payment for low-income seniors for six months.
  • Supporting more affordable electricity bills for eligible residential, farm and small business consumers, by providing approximately $5.6 billion for electricity cost relief programs in 2020-21, which is an increase of approximately $1.5 billion compared to the 2019 Budget plan.
  • Further supporting more affordable electricity bills by setting electricity prices for residential, farm and small business time-of-use customers at the lowest rate, known as the off-peak price, 24 hours a day for 45 days to support ratepayers in their increased daytime electricity usage as they respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, addressing concerns about time-of-use metering.
  • Cutting taxes by $355 million for about 57,000 employers through a proposed temporary increase to the Employer Health Tax (EHT) exemption.
  • Providing $9 million in direct support to families for their energy bills by expanding eligibility for the Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP) and ensuring that their electricity and natural gas services are not disconnected for nonpayment during the COVID-19 outbreak.
  • Providing emergency child care options to support parents working on the front lines, such as health care workers, police officers, firefighters and correctional officers.
  • Expanding access to the emergency assistance program administered by Ontario Works to provide financial support to people facing economic hardship and help more people meet basic needs such as food and rent during this public health emergency.
  • Enhancing funding by $148 million for charitable and non-profit social services organizations such as food banks, homeless shelters, churches and emergency services to improve their ability to respond to COVID-19, by providing funding directly to Consolidated Municipal Service Managers and District Social Service Administration Boards who would allocate this funding based on local needs.
  • Providing six months of Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) loan and interest accrual relief for students, leaving more money in people's pockets.
  • Helping to support regions lagging in employment growth with a proposed new Corporate Income Tax Credit, the Regional Opportunities Investment Tax Credit.
  • Providing additional supports of $26 million to Indigenous peoples and communities, including emergency assistance for urban Indigenous people in financial need, and costs for health care professionals and critical supplies to reach remote First Nations.
*****
  • The Province is projecting a deficit of $9.2 billion in 2019–20, an improvement of $1.1 billion relative to the 2019 Budget. As a result of the response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the government is planning for a deficit of $20.5 billion in 2020–21.
  • Ontario’s $2.5 billion reserve in 2020–21 is the highest ever in history.


Additional Detail Can be Found Here:

Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19

Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19
budget.ontario.ca budget.ontario.ca

Details on the province's economic outlook and detailed number on debt, deficit, interest rates and more, here:

Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19, March 2020 Economic and Fiscal Update

Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19, March 2020 Economic and Fiscal Update
budget.ontario.ca budget.ontario.ca
 
I am hearing rumours that Doug may be thinking of using his MZO powers to keep the development pipeline flowing despite City Planning and City Council being effectively shut down due to the pandemic.

Which would be pretty effed up. Don't understand what that would mean in practice, full carte blanche for developer applications with Council only being able to appeal to the LPAT afterwards? And how would CBCs be calculated for those applications?

Hopefully this doesn't come to pass, it would be a pretty brutal overreach of provincial powers on municipalities.
 
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