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Premier Doug Ford's Ontario

lenaitch said:
How they are operated is primarily a police responsibility; how they are regulated, in terms of things like safety inspections, equipment, weight, licencing, etc. should be primarily a MTO responsibility, but they have largely dropped the ball. There are obviously shared grounds in terms of public safety (police) and regulatory compliance (MTO) because of the potential devastating potential for an overweight truck, worn components, fatigued driver, etc. The media often reports on a police-led 'truck safety inspection' but they are only filling a void that the MTO has left. Some inspection stations on major freeways are almost never open. I uaed to live in gravel country up on the Oak Ridges Morraine and don't think I ever saw a MTO carrier enforcement cruiser on the major haul routes. I would support the OPP absorbing the MTO carrier enforcement responsibility similar to the State Police in most US states.
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" Northumberland OPP officers are being trained in the use of commercial motor vehicle scales....This will help ensure commercial vehicles are operating safely within their weight regulations. " Ontario Provincial Police-Central Region. Special thanks goes to Cramahe Township ( at Colborne ) for the funding for mass load scales for the approximately 78 kms. of the 401 that falls within this area of responsibility. It's said that the 401 is the busiest highway in North America and this initiative will begin to address an important deficiency.
 
old boy said:
" Northumberland OPP officers are being trained in the use of commercial motor vehicle scales....This will help ensure commercial vehicles are operating safely within their weight regulations. " Ontario Provincial Police-Central Region. Special thanks goes to Cramahe Township ( at Colborne ) for the funding for mass load scales for the approximately 78 kms. of the 401 that falls within this area of responsibility. It's said that the 401 is the busiest highway in North America and this initiative will begin to address an important deficiency.
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Interesting news, but sad that the taxpayers of a township the highway happens to pass through has to pony up the money for what is a provincial responsibility..
 
Report from the Financial Accountability Office......

If the Ford gov't met its spending targets and didn't cut taxes further, it could balance the budget by 2022-2023 and have a large surplus the year after........

However, the FAO is forecasting a larger deficit and a delay in getting back to balance, due as yet unannounced tax cuts.

This appears to be a reduction in the 2nd bracket of income tax from 9% to something in range of 7 to 7.5%; as well as a reduction in corporate tax.

Sigh, not what Ontario needs right now; at all.

toronto.ctvnews.ca

Ford government needs to 'significantly limit' spending to deliver tax break: FAO

Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government will need to “significantly limit” how much money it spends if it intends to deliver a promised tax break – a move that could leave public programs underfunded by $5 billion over the next three years.
toronto.ctvnews.ca
 
Doug Ford working for the people... not.

After December 31, 2019, zero for anyone getting "sick" while travelling outside of Canada.

Canadian diagnosed with brain tumour in Thailand has travel insurance declined because he had the flu a month ago

From link.

A Canadian man diagnosed with a massive brain tumour while travelling in Thailand is fighting to get home after his travel insurance was declined because he told doctors he had a headache while suffering from the flu over a month ago.

Kitchener resident Alex Witmer and his wife Jennifer Witmer, who had been living in Moncton for the last five years, quit their jobs earlier this year and went on a six-week trip to Thailand before planning to relocate to Toronto.

The couple was about a month into their trip when the 30-year-old began suffering from a severe migraine.
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"He got a migraine that didn’t go away," Jennifer Witmer told CTV News Toronto from a hospital in the southern Thailand island of Koh Samui on Monday. "It just got bad."

Jennifer Witmer said they went to the hospital and were expecting to be given pain medication for the migraine. But after doctors completed scans they were told he had “massive tumour deep inside his brain” that was cancerous.

"My husband was extremely healthy, he was an international athlete. He has never had any issues."

Alex Witmer was immediately given medication to reduce the pressure inside his brain that was causing the severe headache, but was told he needs to have brain surgery, chemotherapy and radiation as soon as possible.

The couple was then told the medication to reduce the pressure inside Alex’s head will only work for a few days and it would only be safe for him to fly home during that time.
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"We have travel insurance, so we opened a claim and there was no issue we just got the go ahead yesterday. They were sending an air ambulance,” she said.

"A few hours later they called back and said they received his medical records and it showed he checked into an emergency room in Moncton a month ago and had symptoms of the flu. He reported a mild headache and because he said that they cancelled our claim based off having a pre-existing condition.”

"I don’t even remember him reporting a headache. I thought he just said he was vomiting, it didn’t even register to me. When the insurance company told me about the emergency room visit I said ‘Oh, well that was for the flu’ but they said ‘he reported a headache.'"

"They offered to still send an air ambulance service and quoted me $265,000 but that’s obviously not an option."
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"We are right now waiting for them to call and give the final word on our claim but they have been telling me it doesn’t look good."

"The longer we wait, the higher the risk becomes."

The couple is now searching for other safe options to get Alex home, including flying on a commercial flight accompanied by a medical team. If they can’t find a better option before the pressure in his head returns, he’ll be forced to have the surgery in Bangkok.

"It's just cruel. Our neurosurgeon here said his flu symptoms are not pre-existing conditions. It’s insane they are flagging this."

"Right now we are trying to find private companies that can transfer him home for less money,” she said . “We have amazing friends and family that are doing everything they can to get us home."
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She said her husband is awake but has been mostly sleeping because of the medication he is taking.

CTV News Toronto has reached out to the insurance company, Allianz, and is awaiting their response.

On their website, Allianz defines a pre-existing condition as "an injury, illness or medical condition that caused someone to seek treatment, presented symptoms, or required medication."

"This may have taken place anytime within 120 days prior to and including the plan’s purchase date."

"Note that you don’t even need an official medical diagnosis from a physician for something to be considered a pre-existing condition."

A GoFundMe page has been organized to help raise funds for Alex Witmer's care and has recieved more than $10,000 in six hours.
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Thanks Doug Ford for telling us to get travel health insurance. Not if you have a "pre-existing conditions", just like how the Americans get rejected for their health insurance.

The government should ban the "pre-existing condition" exception for travel and supplemental health insurance.
 
Northern Light said:
This appears to be a reduction in the 2nd bracket of income tax from 9% to something in range of 7 to 7.5%; as well as a reduction in corporate tax.
Click to expand...

I don't even know what tax bracket I am in. 2nd? 3rd? Am I middle class or not? I'm not really a yuppie. I'm not really working class. I'm having an identity crisis, maybe this tax cut will help me afford a psychologist.
 
W. K. Lis said:
Doug Ford working for the people... not.

After December 31, 2019, zero for anyone getting "sick" while travelling outside of Canada.

Canadian diagnosed with brain tumour in Thailand has travel insurance declined because he had the flu a month ago

From link.











Thanks Doug Ford for telling us to get travel health insurance. Not if you have a "pre-existing conditions", just like how the Americans get rejected for their health insurance.

The government should ban the "pre-existing condition" exception for travel and supplemental health insurance.
Click to expand...

How is the flu a pre-existing condition? It's not a chronic condition or disease.

These insurance companies are special.
 
Travel insurance has always had pre-existing condition clauses. How the flu is pre-existing for a brain tumour escapes me, however. Based on the article, their coverage had a very broad clause that seems to have covered any doctor visit in the four months prior to travel. That seems odd.

And as for no OHIP coverage, it didn't provide a whole lot anyway
 
SunriseChampion said:
I don't even know what tax bracket I am in. 2nd? 3rd? Am I middle class or not? I'm not really a yuppie. I'm not really working class. I'm having an identity crisis, maybe this tax cut will help me afford a psychologist.
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You seem mostly balanced to me. LOL

That said, universal mental healthcare might make intervention more affordable, rather than a modest, to you, tax cut.

The way tax brackets work is not that you're in one or the other, your in each bracket up to your income level on that portion of your income.

So no one pays any Ontario Tax Rate on the first $10,582 of income

You then pay the following rates

5.05% on the first $43,906 of taxable income, +

9.15% on the next $43,907, +

So, if you made, roughly $54,000, this proposed cut would affect you not one whit.

IF you made $96,000; you would get a reduction of roughly $600 and change for a full year.
 
Northern Light said:
You seem mostly balanced to me. LOL
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Perpendicular to most people, but balanced nonetheless, aye! ?

That said, universal mental healthcare might make intervention more affordable, rather than a modest, to you, tax cut.
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Yeah, like maybe helping people by way of a professional medical setting instead of self-prescribing. Though, to be honest, for me at least.....I think my desperation move was a clear winner.

The way tax brackets work is not that you're in one or the other, your in each bracket up to your income level on that portion of your income.

So no one pays any Ontario Tax Rate on the first $10,582 of income

You then pay the following rates

5.05% on the first $43,906 of taxable income, +

9.15% on the next $43,907, +

So, if you made, roughly $54,000, this proposed cut would affect you not one whit.

IF you made $96,000; you would get a reduction of roughly $600 and change for a full year.
Click to expand...

Right on, now I know where I'm at and no longer need a psychologist....I'll just be myself and leave the sociological labels to others.

Looks like I'm getting a tax cut! Great, I'll finally be able to get.............I don't need anything. ?
 
News that's not entirely bad news from Ford? And from the Star? A shocker! Of course, this is a wait-and-see for me, but I do hope he 's able to make changes.

Jamil Jivani went to meet with Premier Doug Ford to talk about what the government could do to better help those in disadvantaged communities.

He left with a new job.

Jivani, Ford’s new “advocate for community opportunities,” is the province’s first special adviser on “building bridges between vulnerable communities and the government to make sure the funding is in the right place” and to make recommendations for improvements.
Click to expand...
www.thestar.com

Jamil Jivani went to talk to Doug Ford about disadvantaged communities. He left with a new job to make things better

Author and community worker had a troubled youth, but turned his life around. He hopes his experiences will help him in his new position as advocate for community opportunities
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com
 
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