OPINION Travel with me to a time not long ago when the government in Ontario was of the red variety. The former premier, at one point, went so far as to also serve as agriculture minister, in an effort, one can only imagine, to show her commitment and respect for the portfolio. Kathleen Wynne’s government… Read More
Tag: Kathleen Wynne
It’s been a wild few months for Ontario’s provincial leaders. From the sudden resignation of the PC’s Patrick Brown in late January, to the nail-biter of a leadership race between Christine Elliott and the eventual victor Doug Ford, and on to an election that saw Andrea Horwath’s fortunes rise even as Premier Kathleen Wynne conceded… Read More
Perhaps you saw it differently if you took in the televised Ontario leaders’ debate earlier this week, but from what I saw, Kathleen Wynne is done, Doug Ford did not impress, and — and I can’t believe I’m saying this — the NDP’s Andrea Horwath knocked it out of the park. It’s most certainly Doug… Read More
Last week, the Ontario government formally announced the blueprint for bringing high speed rail (HSR) to southern Ontario. The $11 billion line item in last month’s election-ready budget would see Phase One connect London and Toronto by 2025, according to the province. The proposed HSR line would eventually run all the way to Windsor for… Read More
While the deficit amount as a percentage of GDP is small, the real number is large. Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government unveiled its 2018 budget which includes a $6.7 billion deficit, with planned deficits for the next six years. Rolling out $20.3 billion in new spending over three years, this pre-election budget is focused on health… Read More
The Ontario Progressive Conservative Party is without a leader less than five months before a provincial election. Yesterday, January 24, allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced against PC leader Patrick Brown. The allegations stem from his time as a federal Member of Parliament. Brown immediately denied the claims and initially refused to resign, though calls for… Read More
The potential loss of 23,000 jobs — mainly in rural Ontario — and demise of 20,000 racehorses was not enough to stop the Ontario Liberal government from ending the Slots at Racetracks program. This revelation emerged last week from court documents released as part of a civil suit brought by Ontario standardbred racehorse breeders against… Read More
The Ontario Liberals are spending big, but there’s not a whole lot in the 2017-18 provincial budget for agri-food and rural Ontario. The Liberals are going to balance the budget but they are going to spend more than $140 billion in this fiscal year and push the provincial debt over $300 billion. There’s big money… Read More
Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government released its 2017-18 budget on April 27. The budget is the first balanced Liberal budget in a decade. However, the provincial debt now sits north of $300 billion with interest charges estimated at $12 billion annually. The $141 billion budget includes huge dollars for health care, some education tweaks, and 2,000… Read More
In what may be called trying to clean up the mess she made, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne announced yesterday the “Fair Hydro Plan” which is designed to decrease the average residential hydro bill by 25% and cap bill increases for the next four years. As part of the announcement, Wynne says “Starting this summer, Ontario’s Fair… Read More
Ontario minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs, Jeff Leal, has kept his post in Premier Kathleen Wynne’s cabinet mini-shuffle announced today. In addition to remaining the agriculture minister, Leal was also named the minister “responsible for small business.” Today I was pleased to be named Minister Responsible for Small Business, in addition to serving… Read More
Don’t be surprised to see more hydro bill relief in sight in 2017 for rural Ontarians, says the province’s minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs. In a year-end interview, Minister Jeff Leal said that although the province has started finding ways to reduce energy bills, “there’s more to do.” He said he “wouldn’t be… Read More
Dairy Quality Inc. and its mobile milk testing device was the big winner at Ontario’s 10th annual Premier’s Awards for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence. Premier Kathleen Wynne presented the Premier’s award – the province’s highest honour for outstanding contributions in innovation to the agri-food sector – to the Newmarket-based company. Its mobile testing device helps dairy farmers… Read More
Ontario’s focus on the environmental side of farming has just been underlined and intensified, even more. With the midpoint mandate of her provincial government having been reached, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne put pen to paper last week to help guide both new and established ministers on the next part of their journey. Her mission was… Read More
Farmers and rural residents are fed up with sky-rocketing hydro electricity costs, and they’re done being polite about it. This week at the International Plowing Match, the agriculture and rural community let Kathleen Wynne and her Liberal government know — very vocally — just what they thought of a proposed HST cut to ease hydro… Read More