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Premier Doug Ford's Ontario

Axing the Environmental Commissioner shows the vacuity of the Ford Government. The office of the independent Commissioner is the one resource, mainly through the Environmental Registry, for every Ontarion who seeks some clarity on why some nasty things do happen in this province. The Office quite simply directs questions to the relevant Ministry and has the power to exact some degree of accountability from it. The Office is apparently seen by this government as a waste and impediment to jobs, jobs, jobs. I attended a discussion last night in Peterborough to hear Dr. Saxe , the Environmental Commisioner of Ontario, speak on Ontario's deficit in Protected Lands. Dr. Saxe might have had other things on her mind given the announcement earlier in the day of the Governments intentions, of which she wasn't given even the courtesy of a call.
 
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old boy said:
Axing the Environmental Commissioner shows the vacuity of the Ford Government. The office of the independent Commissioner is the one resource, mainly through the Environmental Registry, for every Ontarion who seeks some clarity on why some nasty things do happen in this province. The Office quite simply directs questions to the relevant Ministry and has the power to exact some degree of accountability from it. The Office is apparently seen by this government as a waste and impediment to jobs, jobs, jobs. I attended a discussion last night in Peterborough to hear Dr. Saxe , the Environmental Commisioner of Ontario, speak on Ontario's deficit in Protected Lands. Dr. Saxe might have had other things on her mind given the announcement earlier in the day of the Governments intentions, of which she wasn't given even the courtesy of a call.
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We are well behind in protecting wild areas in Ontario, far less than where we should be. Currently, counting every form of Provincial or Federal protection, we're at roughly 11% To put this in perspective, our national goal, by 2020, as per international guidelines is a minimum of 17%.

Its a curious fact that the last major expansion of the park system in Ontario dates back to Mike Harris.

Dalton McGuintly publicly committed to protecting 50% of our Boreal region, but never followed through.

I disagree with cutting the Commissioner's office.

But I also have to regrettably say, it has had far too little effect for far too long. (not for lack of trying)
 
Northern Light said:
We are well behind in protecting wild areas in Ontario, far less than where we should be. Currently, counting every form of Provincial or Federal protection, we're at roughly 11% To put this in perspective, our national goal, by 2020, as per international guidelines is a minimum of 17%.

Its a curious fact that the last major expansion of the park system in Ontario dates back to Mike Harris.

Dalton McGuintly publicly committed to protecting 50% of our Boreal region, but never followed through.

I disagree with cutting the Commissioner's office.

But I also have to regrettably say, it has had far too little effect for far too long. (not for lack of trying)
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To put it into context, we would need the equivalent of nine Algonquin Parks to meet the 17% goal of Protected Areas.
 
MTown said:
Is there a similar regulation in regards to alcohol shops?

Nope. Why not? The social dangers of alcohol make ganja look like a cup of Earl Grey tea.

If alcohol can be sold within 150m of schools, why shouldn't ganja be allowed in similar proximity?

Get this: one can buy weed at school.

The proximity regulation was always hypocritical and irrational pandering to the ignorant War on Drugs busybody morality goon squad..
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Despite the purse-clutching going on, don't forget this is new ground we're covering here. We're only the second country to fully legalize cannibis and certainly the first to have so many high-density areas (the entire population of 1st place Uruguay is half that of just the GTA). Uruguay is far stricter as users must be registered with the government, are limited to 40g/month and identified at sellers by biometric scans.

We're treading on new territory here; measured steps are generally a good idea.
 
WislaHD said:
I am 100% for the extended LCBO hours, but it hasn't ceased to amaze me this year how much success our Premier has had with distracting the population with alcohol. Even more disturbing as Druggie is a teetotaller. My uncle used to tell me as a kid, "never trust a man who doesn't drink" and I think that is fine advice here. (and no, Winston Churchill is not my uncle, my uncle just happens to be Polish.)
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I never trusted Doug's claim. He may have the political wisdom to not drink in public, but there his denials about the depth of Rob's addictions ("a couple of pops') and things like this:

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/11/15/doug-ford-vodka-cnn_n_4282397.html
 
Ontario Tories pile on against Justin Trudeau at party convention

See link.

In the eyes of federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s carbon-pricing plan makes him the “enemy” of commuters and families.

To Doug Ford, Trudeau’s greenhouse-gas reduction initiative places him “next” on the premier’s political hit list.
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The shadow of the Liberal prime minister, who is up for re-election next year, loomed large over this weekend’s Progressive Conservative convention at the Toronto Congress Centre.

During a rousing speech to 1,000 Tory partisans on Saturday, Scheer received a standing ovation when he attacked the federal Liberals’ measures to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change.

“What about all those people who have to drive to work, have to commute, to take their kids to activities? What about the small- and medium-sized businesses who have to make payroll with higher regulatory costs? There’s no special breaks for them in Trudeau’s carbon scheme,” the Tory leader thundered.

“Of course there isn’t — to Justin Trudeau, you are the enemy,” said Scheer...
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Resolution to do away with gender identity moves forward at Tory convention

See link.

gender-identity-policy.jpg


A resolution calling for the removal of gender identity from Ontario schools was approved for further discussion at the Ontario PC Convention on Saturday.
Policy Resolution R4, which was proposed by failed leadership candidate Tanya Granic Allen, says “gender identity theory” is a “highly controversial, unscientific ‘liberal ideology'” and calls on the Ford government to remove the teaching and promotion of it in schools.
Several other resolutions that were approved on day two of the weekend convention included one to support legislation which would give parents ample notice as to when sex-ed lessons would be taught in schools and offer them the choice to “opt-out.”
Party officials were quick to point out that the resolutions were not binding and will not form any part of party policy until they are formally voted on at the next policy convention.
The move drew swift rebuke from the opposition NDP with Toronto-Centre MPP and Housing and Women’s Issues critic Suze Morrison calling it “an affront to the Human Rights Code.”
“Days away from the Trans Day of Remembrance & Ontario PCs have shown us where they really stand on human rights, once again,” she tweeted. “Trans rights are human rights. Gender is no binary.”
The convention delegates also voted to reject auto insurance reforms which would have made it more affordable while maintaining the level of benefits.
Heading into the convention, prominent social conservatives expressed concerns that their voices were being ignored, once again exposing cracks in a coalition that helped propel the party to a massive election win earlier this year.
Jack Fonseca of the social conservative group Campaign Life Coalition and Granic Allen, a parental rights advocate and former Tory leadership candidate, have both expressed frustration that dozens of policy resolutions with a social conservative bent were blocked from being debated by party members at the event in Etobicoke, Ont.
The exclusion of the proposals has rekindled fears amongst some social conservatives that their voices will once again be marginalized, as they said the party had done under former Tory leader Patrick Brown.
“Our take on this is that liberal-progressive elements within the party establishment that are corrupt and against democratic rights of party members have filtered out policy resolutions that were submitted by grassroots members,” Fonseca said, alleging party officials have “rigged” the debate.
Fonseca said the rejected proposals, which run the gamut from denouncing the Liberal sex-education curriculum to protecting so-called conscience rights for physicians, are in some cases actual policies that Premier Doug Ford’s government is currently taking action on.
Fonseca points to one resolution that would affirm support for requiring parental consent in order to grant a minor an abortion. Ford made headlines during his run for the Tory leadership by supporting the idea, at the time expressing his incredulity over other politicians’ fear of addressing the issue.
Fonseca said that resolution won’t be debated this weekend.
“Doug Ford said during the (leadership) campaign that he supported that kind of legislation,” he said. “He ran on that. It helped him.”
Fonesca said Ford himself should intervene and ensure social conservatives have a voice during the policy debate. If the premier doesn’t, he risks damaging the coalition that helped him win the spring vote, Fonseca said.
“It will be seen by social conservatives as a betrayal by the party,” he said. “I seriously believe it would put at risk a second-term majority government for the Ford PCs.”
Granic Allen said a number of policy resolutions she submitted for debate were also rejected by the party.
“The majority of what one would describe as social conservative (policies) … just simply didn’t make it,” she said. “You’ll have to quiz the party as to why. But of course, we’re very sensitive because we’ve seen something similar a year ago when we saw these policies shuffled away at the Patrick Brown convention.”
Granic Allen has had a tumultuous year within the party. After her bid to lead the Tories fell short, she was the only contestant who stood beside Doug Ford the night results of the vote were revealed.
Months later, Ford removed her as a candidate for the party in the spring election after controversial social media messages she posted were made public. Granic Allen said she hasn’t spoken to Ford since then.
But she said many in the party hoped it had turned the page on the internal tensions that existed during Brown’s tenure as leader.
Ontario Infrastructure Minister Monte McNaughton, who has been a voice for social conservatives in the past, said Ford has worked hard to unite the party.
“I think when you look back in history, whether it was Mike Harris, Stephen Harper, Doug Ford, the most successful conservative leaders in our time have been successful in bringing that coalition together,” he said. “Premier Ford, I think, has done a great job as someone who is a fiscal conservative who stands up for families.”
Ford’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Western University political science professor Cristine de Clercy said every political party is a coalition of different factions, so the Tories’ internal struggles are no surprise. But this weekend’s policy convention will be Ford’s first challenge when it comes to reinforcing unity.
“It’s time to pay the piper,” said de Clercy. “Mr. Ford has the difficult task of allocating a still relatively small basket of resources to quite a large demand for reward.”
Wilfrid Laurier political science professor Barry Kay said the divide between social conservatives and progressives in Ontario’s Tories is a “natural cleavage point.” Many previous Tory leaders, including former prime minister Stephen Harper, have pushed social conservatives to the side in a bid to win more mainstream supporters.
“Those are losing positions,” he said of many social conservative core issues. “Harper made a calculation in federal politics that winning was more important than being a purist on social conservative issues.”
Kay said every conservative leader, including Ford, has the advantage of knowing social conservatives won’t park their votes with other parties, even if they are ignored.
“My hunch is that the central PC party people…are just telling him (Ford) to smile at them and try to cajole them a bit _ but don’t take them too seriously.”
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zang said:
Despite the purse-clutching going on, don't forget this is new ground we're covering here. We're only the second country to fully legalize cannibis and certainly the first to have so many high-density areas (the entire population of 1st place Uruguay is half that of just the GTA). Uruguay is far stricter as users must be registered with the government, are limited to 40g/month and identified at sellers by biometric scans.

We're treading on new territory here; measured steps are generally a good idea.
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What new territory is that? People continue to use weed like they did before it became quasi-legal.

There is no rational basis for these regulations.

It's really not a big deal to see drugs policy for what it is: a moralising hypocrisy based in ignorance.

I didn't see any of these prohibitionist fools crying "think of the children" when they were ruining their lives with criminal records and imprisonment.

"This is new territory" is a very poor argument for "legalising" something that is less dangerous than alcohol and nicotine whilst imposing regulations on its sale, use, and possession that is stricter.

New territory would be society realising that the whole War on Drugs thing is a very costly and destructive exercise in hypocrisy, duplicity, ignorance, and irrational thinking.

PS: I'm aware of the Uruguayan statist "legalisation". It's a joke and not much of a benchmark.
 
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