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2018 Ontario Provincial Election Discussion

I normally support the NDP but I'm disappointed in them for blocking back-to-work legislation so as to make a statement. Now's not the time for that
 
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.@Kathleen_Wynne to introduce back to work legislation Friday at 3pm. want it passed quickly will sit weekend to see it through #COLLEGESTRIKE @ctvottawa #ottnews
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https://twitter.com/grahamctv/status/931316338966089728
.@Kathleen_Wynne gov't suspects @AndreaHorwath will try to slow down back to work legislation for #COLLEGESTRIKE but that can't last. Strike is essentially over @ctvottawa #ottnews
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Bad for the students, bad for the teachers. Remember that back-to-work legislation is essentially a conservative move- one that removes the main bargaining chip that teachers have.
I am now an absolute believer in that theory the CEC/government colluded. Look how calculated this was. OPSEU voted "No" with an 86% vote, Wynne goes back on the government's stance not to table B2W legislation, by the afternoon, has it tabled and is declaring its "for the students"

Dont be fooled, weve just been bamboozled for votes. This is so calculated its unbelievable. How do we get to a standstill for 5 fucking weeks and suddenly everything starts moving. She has a 30 minute conversation with the Union/CEC and everythings suddenly working out.

The only good thing to come from this is were going back to school Monday hopefully.
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https://www.reddit.com/r/ontario/comments/7dg8nt/wynnes_office_says_back_to_work_legislation_will/
As much as everyone is screaming at the NDP for pushing it off the table, if you think about it Wynne is pushing back to work at a time when there's nobody there - when there's nobody to talk about it. NDP are blocking it so it can be debated and talked about at the proper time. When everyone is there. I say it's good on the NDP for them to push it off. Means Wynne is doing something incredibly dirty something shifty.
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https://www.reddit.com/r/ontario/comments/7ddwa9/ontario_college_strike_megathread_ii/dpxlw43/
The Ontario Liberals cannot be allowed to have it both ways. If you want worker-Labour support in the 2018 election you don't order striking workers back to work. You allow free collective bargaining. The college management just blew an entire week on a forced vote stunt.
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https://twitter.com/jdouglaslittle/status/931311873252872192



And regarding the recent WOW ads (stripping out the rest of the argument).
Most recently, a new well-funded organization called Working Ontario Women (WOW) has sprung to life with vicious anti-Brown ads. Turns out WOW is bankrolled by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) with a two-million North America membership. WOW’s website suggests they fight for protecting women’s rights, including marriage equality and the right to choose, improving women’s health and expanding access to women’s health care and fighting for fair wages and equal pay. All noble objectives.

But once you dig deeper through this pop-up organization which has less than 150 followers on Twitter, you get a big clue on who really runs it. WOW’s puppeteer is a big L Liberal guy pulling the strings from SEIU. This sheds light on why WOW is pro-Wynne and anti-Brown.

Meet Michael Spitale, SEIU Healthcare’s director of government relations and very much a man. Spitale’s worked on Wynne’s Leadership campaign and was Director of Political Affairs for the Liberal Caucus, not to mention he’s a former President of the Ontario Liberal Party.
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This explains not only SEIU’s coziness with the Liberals, but also the extent to which it actively works to get Liberals elected time and time again. SEIU has openly campaigned for Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault and others. SEIU’s also donated thousands of dollars to the Liberal Party.

SEIU is so tight with the Liberals that they are the only union to have been invited to a partnership with the government for a new training program for personal support workers. This incestuous relationship even led to the Ontario Public Service Employees Union President Warren (Smokey) Thomas to denounce the sweetheart deal as a “shady inside relationship” that “dangerously” erodes democracy.
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http://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/marin-ontario-liberals-trump-trump

Likewise, similar to how marijuana legalization was put into the hands of the LCBO due to OPSEU campaigning, a bit troubling that the Liberals are working hand-in-hand with the vested interests of these groups. Again, all of this, including the back-to-work legistlation shows that the Liberals are more interested in getting elected, and not in necessarily what's right.
 
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Another rate increase:

Hydro One CEO says rate increase is needed to keep the system stable
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TORONTO -- Hydro One has applied for a rate increase in order to keep the power system stable, its president and CEO said Thursday.

Speaking after delivering remarks to the Empire Club, Mayo Schmidt spoke about the application that's currently before the Ontario Energy Board, which seeks to increase rates by 0.5 per cent this year and 4.8 per cent next year.
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As it considers the application, the OEB recently ordered Hydro One to cut its administrative budget by $30 million over two years. Customers shouldn't foot the bill for "unreasonably high" compensation for Hydro One's senior staff, the regulator said.

The total corporate management costs for Hydro One in 2014 of about $5.5 million are set to increase to $22.1 million in 2018, the OEB said.
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http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/hydro-one...is-needed-to-keep-the-system-stable-1.3681357
 
Wynne's Liberals fail in bid to get quick end to Ontario college strike

Ontario Legislature will meet again Saturday

Amara McLaughlin · CBC News

The Ontario Liberal government's second attempt to table legislation to end the province's college strike on Friday did not get unanimous consent. Ontario's Legislature will meet for a special sitting at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Premier Kathleen Wynne says she will introduce the back-to-work legislation again on Saturday.

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/...ike-back-to-work-legislation-friday-1.4407004
 
Time really flies. People can accuse The Star of being biased, but they make a very valid point - it's time for the Conservatives to start outlining their plan.
 
That's what I keep on saying- the Conservatives need to start outlining their positions by the end of the year or else people will continue to vote for the devil they know over the unknown parties.

Anyways, I think if the NDP comes up with a campaign plank for more college funding, it might help them a bit.
 
jje1000 said:
Anyways, I think if the NDP comes up with a campaign plank for more college funding, it might help them a bit.
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How much more is needed?

Speaking as a student, the changes Wynne already has done means I am swimming in OSAP money. I already considered asking to cancel the loan and only take the grant this semester before deciding that i may as well take it.

Any further increases to OSAP just means that Universities are going to jack up tuition rates even higher.
 
Not to OSAP, but to colleges and staffing:

He said the education sector is particularly affected by this trend, mainly because budgets are being squeezed and part-time teaching is seen as a cost-effective measure.

College staff are asking for at least a 50-50 ratio between full-time and part-time employment, but colleges say it would be too costly. Negotiations are currently on hold.
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https://www.thestar.com/amp/news/gt...tip-of-the-temp-work-iceberg-expert-says.html

Any sort of preposition towards resolving this issue will be popular, I bet.
 
I support the job-related measures that should help improve job stability (and I think protection for temp workers should be strengthened even further), but $15 minimum wage needs to be delayed- and to be made variable depending on the municipality and region.

Ontario passes $15 minimum wage

Ontario will move ahead with implementing $15 minimum wage by 2019, and enact other new worker-focused rules even sooner, as lawmakers passed a series of revised employment laws at Queen's Park Wednesday after years of research and debate.

The labour reforms include requirements that employers pay part-time, casual and temporary employees the same rate as full-time employees for the same job; that employers must pay workers three hours' wages for shifts cancelled with less than 48 hours notice; and extending personal emergency leave, including two paid days, to all workers. Minimum wage will reach $14 next Jan. 1 before hitting $15 a year later.

The province's business community have continually chimed in with consternation since the process reached the legislature last Spring, arguing that the measures will raise costs so much that they'll have to hire less and raise prices for consumers to make up for the difference. Toronto-Dominion Bank researchers said in September that the minimum-wage increase alone could cost the province as many as 90,000 jobs as the rise through reduced hiring and greater automation.

Ontario faces an election in 2018. The Opposition Progressive Conservatives have said that they support $15 minimum wage but would delay its implementation.
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https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/ontario-passes-15-minimum-wage/article37049976/
 
Until recently I really thought the Brown PCs were doing a good job attempting to 'moderate' their stances and playing it safe, including distancing themselves from the far-right and social conservatives.

However, I think their opposition to the $15 minimum wage could come back to haunt them much like "firing 100,000 civil servants" last election or the religious school funding debacle a decade ago.

As short term and precarious work is becoming more common, a commitment to an increased minimum wage will attract a wide section of the electorate who feel that it will give them a small 'boost' in an unpredictable job market. Meanwhile, the PCs will be painted, rightly or wrongly, as a party of Bay Street and chambers of commerce.

And as usual, a key NDP plank has been appropriated by the Liberals who will run a much more effective and louder campaign.
 
yrt+viva=1system said:
https://www.thestar.com/news/queens...nd-expand-torontos-subways-and-cut-taxes.html
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At first blush, I find the hints of the platform interesting. But I question some choices.

Taking over the subways necessitates paying the operating bill; creates a political issue of huge proportions if you charge a separate subway fare; and an equally huge one if you don't (sop to Toronto, in the minds of many in Ontario).

While the tax cut proposal to me is optically challenged by a larger percentage tax cut for those in the 'middle bracket' than those in the 'bottom bracket'.

Whatever one has to say about the Harris era, even they ran on tax cuts being equal or greater in the low bracket than those above.

Policy aside, questionable.

Most interesting suggestion is a move to provide some sort of subsidized dental care for seniors. I think this will be popular and with a core Tory constituency too.

Personally, I favour universal dental care; though I'd like to see the pharmacare thought finished first.

But progress is progress.

I think this puts the Wynne Liberals in a fascinating place. They have been trying hard to run as far left as the NDP or very close (at least superficially).

Now you have a Conservative party that outside of a 'slowing' of the minimum wage increase, is arguing for a modest expansion of the welfare state, while also promising to cut taxes.

I hesitate to add, that the details are important here, and my perception is that they have a mathematical challenge to pay for their promises w/o deep cuts somewhere else.

Nonetheless, an intriguing opening shot.
 
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