development

Friday February 8, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday February 8, 2019

Ford government autism program overhaul met with outrage by some parents who fear kids will lose out

The Ford government’s plan to overhaul Ontario’s autism program has sparked anger among parents — including a PC political staffer and father of two autistic teens who quit in disgust over the changes Wednesday.

January 25, 2019

Under the revamp, aimed at clearing a therapy wait list of 23,000 kids, parents will be given funding and the power to choose the services they want. But families will face a lifetime limit of $140,000 per child and high-earners will no longer be eligible.

Parents, who say funding should be based on need and not on age or arbitrary cut-offs, were devastated by the move.

“In light of today’s announcement, I told my minister I did not feel I could continue in my role as legislative assistant,” said Bruce McIntosh, who joined Progressive Conservative MPP Amy Fee’s political staff when the Ford government was elected last spring.

McIntosh is the former president of the Ontario Autism Coalition, a parent advocacy group that has pushed for more government support but has been critical of age-based funding.

November 17, 2018

Fee (Kitchener South—Hespeler) is parliamentary assistant for Lisa MacLeod, minister of children, community and social services, who announced the autism overhaul at Toronto’s Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital.

Fee, the mother of two children with autism, spoke about her own family’s experiences during the news conference.

An estimated 40,000 children in Ontario have autism, a developmental disorder characterized by difficulties with social interaction and communication. About 2,400 of them are waiting for a diagnosis, 23,000 are on a wait list for behavioural therapies and just 8,400 are receiving services.

MacLeod said the government will double funding for diagnostic hubs to $5.5 million a year for the next two years, clear the therapy wait lists and ensure families get their funding within the next 18 months.

The program under the previous Liberal government was inefficient and did not address children’s needs, she said. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

Letter to the Editor, The Hamilton Spectator, February 19, 2019 – A cartoon worth a thousand words

RE: MacKay cartoon (Feb. 8)

I want to commend Graeme MacKay for his Feb. 8, 2019, cartoon. His depiction of Premier Ford providing a mere drop of assistance to the families of those on the autism spectrum is proof once again that a picture is worth a thousand words. As the accompanying piece explained, cutting the same-sized pie into smaller pieces will not address the needs of the families who have been waiting for the services their children require. I thought Premier Ford’s platform promised that he would not be cutting services for Ontario’s citizens. It seems the Conservative politicians have forgotten this. Higher education support, elementary school class sizes, workers’ rights, services to children with autism, who will be next? Health care recipients?

Theresa Flynn-Purchase, Hamilton

Tuesday December 11, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday December 11, 2018

Environmentalists fear provincial changes mean Greenbelt is open for development

Environmentalists and critics are accusing Premier Doug Ford of breaking a promise to protect the two-million-acre Greenbelt from development with changes they say endanger wildlife and drinking water, setting Ontario’s environmental protections back 40 years.

May 3, 2018

The Progressive Conservative government’s proposed changes to the planning act will undermine the province’s anti-sprawl smart growth plan, the Greenbelt Act, the Great Lakes and Lake Simcoe Protection acts and the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, said Environmental Defence executive director Tim Gray.

The changes were announced Thursday as part of Bill 66, the Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act.

It would allow municipalities to obtain provincial approval to use a new open-for-business zoning bylaw that would bypass some of the existing development requirements. The bylaw would only be available if the municipality could prove a development would create 50 jobs for places with populations under 250,000 or 100 jobs in larger municipalities. Of eight Ontario municipalities with more than 250,000 people, five are in the Toronto region.

“The aim is to have all provincial approvals in place within one year so qualifying businesses can begin construction,” said an emailed statement from a spokesperson of Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark.

March 9, 2005

Conditions would remain on the building, material and other design elements of the employment projects but municipalities would not be required to provide advance notice of the bylaw’s adoption.

The new tool is the kind of opening environmentalists have feared since Doug Ford was caught on video during the election campaign telling developers he would open up the Greenbelt if he became premier. He walked back the remarks after the video was released.

“There is no longer any rational approach to land designation so all areas that we’ve carefully considered being worthy of protection no longer have that protection. Anyone with a property just has to convince Queen’s Park to give them an exemption and (that’s) all it (needs) to go forward for development,” Gray said.

While the bill is driven by job creation, retail and residential components can be part of the projects which qualify for the bylaw’s use, he said. (Source: Toronto Star) 

 

Thursday May 3, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 3, 2018

Ford reverses course on Greenbelt development, says he’ll maintain protected area

Public backlash prompted Doug Ford to backtrack Tuesday on an election promise to allow housing development in a protected green space around the Toronto region, with the Progressive Conservative leader saying he’s going to listen to those who want the area preserved.

A Tory government would maintain the Greenbelt in its entirety and enshrine that pledge in the party’s soon-to-be-released platform, Ford announced in a statement issued a day after saying he’d open the region to some construction to ease the housing crisis in the Greater Toronto Area.

“I looked at it as making sure we have more affordable housing,” Ford said of his initial position. “The people have spoken. I’m going to listen to them, they don’t want me to touch the Greenbelt, we won’t touch the Greenbelt.”

The Greenbelt — the world’s largest permanently protected green space –is a 7,200-square-kilometre area that borders the Greater Golden Horseshoe region around Lake Ontario. It was protected from urban development by legislation in 2005.

Ford’s flip-flop came less than a week before the official start of the provincial election campaign and hours after Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne called his Greenbelt-development pledge “wrongheaded”.

“If you open up the Greenbelt and make it into a Swiss cheese map you never get that back,” Wynne said earlier on Tuesday. “You never get that water protection back. You never get that agricultural land protection back.”

Wynne had acknowledged that some areas around the border of the Greenbelt have changed since it was established over a decade ago, but that was part of the original plan for the region, she said. (Source: CTV) 

 

Friday, December 16, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Friday, December 16, 2016 Trudeau Comfortable With Minimum Age Of 18 To Buy Legal Pot Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thinks Canadians old enough to drink alcohol are old enough to smoke marijuana legally. Trudeau made the comment a press conference in Ottawa Thursday, days after aÊfederal task force on marijuana legalizationÊrecommended the national minimum age to buyÊrecreational marijuana beÊset at 18. The report also suggested provinces and territories be permitted to raise the age to harmonize with alcohol consumption laws. In most provinces, the legal drinking age is 19. In Quebec, Manitoba, and Alberta, the age limit is 18. The Canadian Medical Association had urged the task force to recommend aÊminimum age of 21, pointing to evidence that brains are stillÊdeveloping until the age of 25. The prime minister, who has long said pot legalization is about keeping the drug away from children and profits away from criminals, told reporters the task forceÕsÊrecommendation felt like a ÒreasonableÓ compromise. ÒWe know the largest misdeeds of marijuana use happens at a lower age than 18, 19 years of age, and I think this is a responsible approach that we have found in terms ofÊbalance that is both practical and useful,Ó he said in French. The task force, chaired by former Liberal justice minister Anne McLellan, acknowledged in its report that there are aÊrange of viewsÊon the right age to be able to buy legal pot. Setting the age too high risks Òpreserving the illicit market,Ó the report reads, and raising the possibility young Canadians will face criminal records since Òthe highest rates ofÊuse are in the 18 to 24 age range.Ó The report also said a minimum age of 25, as recommended by the CMA, was ÒunrealisticÓ and would force many young Canadians to turn to the black market. (Source: Huffington Post)Êhttp://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/12/15/trudeau-pot-age-18-task-force_n_13656050.html Canada, marij

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday, December 16, 2016

Trudeau Comfortable With Minimum Age Of 18 To Buy Legal Pot

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thinks Canadians old enough to drink alcohol are old enough to smoke marijuana legally.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Friday September 16, 2016 Health Canada plans to restrict fentanyl chemicals Health Canada plans to restrict six chemicals used to make fentanylÊas part of OttawaÕs attempt to address what it calls the national opioid crisis. Health Minister Jane Philpott says a bill brought in by Sen. Vern White means the federal government can act quickly to make the unauthorized import and export of the chemicals illegal. In a news release, Health Canada says its regulatory proposal expeditiously achieves the intent of WhiteÕs bill. Philpott says she is also planning a summit to take place this fall to address the opioid crisis. In British Columbia, a joint task force examining the drug overdose crisis used International Overdose Awareness Day to highlight steps the province is taking on opioid overdoses. Leaders of the task force, the provincial health officer, Dr. Perry Kendall, and the director of police services, Clayton Pecknold, say long-term and first-time users are affected equally, and no one who tries illicit drugs is safe. Kendall and Pecknold say certain steps can reduce the chance of an overdose, and they are using the international awareness day as a platform to launch the first phase of B.C.Õs fight against drug deaths. They point to a new testing service to help users determine if their drugs contain potentially deadly contaminants such as fentanyl.(Source: Toronto Star)Êhttps://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2016/08/31/health-canada-plans-to-restrict-fentanyl-chemicals.html Canada, Justin Trudeau, marijuana, drug, legalization, fentanyl, Ottawa, criminal, opiate

September 16, 2016

Trudeau made the comment a press conference in Ottawa Thursday, days after a federal task force on marijuana legalization recommended the national minimum age to buy recreational marijuana be set at 18. The report also suggested provinces and territories be permitted to raise the age to harmonize with alcohol consumption laws.

In most provinces, the legal drinking age is 19. In Quebec, Manitoba, and Alberta, the age limit is 18.

The Canadian Medical Association had urged the task force to recommend a minimum age of 21, pointing to evidence that brains are still developing until the age of 25.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Thursday April 21, 2016 Marijuana legislation coming to Canada next spring CanadaÕs legislation to begin the process of legalizing and regulating marijuana will be introduced next spring, Health Minister Jane Philpott announced Wednesday at the United Nations. During her impassioned speech at a special UN session on drugs, Philpott acknowledged the pot plan Òchallenges the status quo in many countries,Ó but she said the Liberal government is convinced itÕs the best way to protect youth, while enhancing public safety. Canada must do better when it comes to drug policy, she added, saying the governmentÕs approach will be rooted in science and will address the devastating consequences of drugs and drug-related crimes. ÒI am proud to stand up for our drug policy that is informed by solid scientific evidence and uses a lens of public health to maximize education and minimize harm,Ó she said. ÒAs a doctor, who has worked both in Canada and sub-Saharan Africa, I have seen too many people suffer the devastating consequences of drugs, drug-related crime and ill-conceived drug policy. Fortunately, solutions are within our grasp.Ó Philpott began her speech with an emotional recounting of a story she recently heard from a mother who lost her daughter to substance abuse. The woman described watching her daughter die as she sought help that should have been available to save her life, Philpott said. ÒShe described watching her daughter slip away as she struggled to access the treatment and services that should have been available to save a beautiful, fragile life,Ó she said. ÒStories like this are far too commonplace. Countless lives are cut short due to overdoses of licit and illicit substances. Today, I stand before you as CanadaÕs minister of health to acknowledge that we must do better for our citizens.Ó PhilpottÕs address happened to coincide with 4/20 the annual day of celebration for cannabis culture l

April 21, 2016

The prime minister, who has long said pot legalization is about keeping the drug away from children and profits away from criminals, told reporters the task force’s recommendation felt like a “reasonable” compromise.

“We know the largest misdeeds of marijuana use happens at a lower age than 18, 19 years of age, and I think this is a responsible approach that we have found in terms of balance that is both practical and useful,” he said in French.

The task force, chaired by former Liberal justice minister Anne McLellan, acknowledged in its report that there are a range of views on the right age to be able to buy legal pot.

Monday, July 29, 2013

July 29, 2013

Setting the age too high risks “preserving the illicit market,” the report reads, and raising the possibility young Canadians will face criminal records since “the highest rates of use are in the 18 to 24 age range.”

The report also said a minimum age of 25, as recommended by the CMA, was “unrealistic” and would force many young Canadians to turn to the black market. (Source: Huffington Post)

 

Saturday March 5, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Saturday March 5, 2016 Hamilton councillors swing for the greens to provide lower fees to play Hamilton politicians got into the swing of things by reducing the green fees at the cityÕs two Chedoke golf courses. Since the economic recession of 2008, area golf courses have suffered with reduced rounds due to high prices and a saturated market. HamiltonÕs golf courses, KingÕs Forest, which has been ranked as the number one municipal golf course in Canada, and ChedokeÕs two courses the Beddoe and Martin have not escaped the economic slump. A market analysis by Global Golf Advisors, commissioned by the city, found HamiltonÕs courses have Òexperienced declining demandÓ since 2010. The consultants urged the city to increase the rounds, while instituting a Òflexible fee structureÓ program. By adopting the new structure, the city could increase the number of rounds by 37 per cent, or 24,000 rounds per season at all three golf courses, while also boosting revenue to about $600,000. City staff agreed Hamilton is taking a unique approach reducing prices in the hope it will increase the number of rounds golfers play each year. The proposed green fees for the Beddoe course would be reduced from $44.25 per round from Monday to Thursday to $33.06, while on weekends and holidays, a round would cost $44.26 rather than $48.67. The Martin course would see green fees dip from $30.09 from Monday to Thursday to $28.20, and $35.40 to $33.83 on weekends and holidays. Twilight rounds would also see a reduction in green fees. Seniors would get a break for both 18 and nine hole rounds. The city will be cutting golf memberships for the Beddoe and Martin courses, and slight reductions in advantage packs prices. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) http://www.thespec.com/news-story/6370123-hamilton-councillors-swing-for-the-greens-to-provide-lower-fees-to-play/ Hamilton, chedoke, golf, course, budget, public, private, ownership, stak

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday March 5, 2016

Hamilton councillors swing for the greens to provide lower fees to play

Hamilton politicians got into the swing of things by reducing the green fees at the city’s two Chedoke golf courses.

Since the economic recession of 2008, area golf courses have suffered with reduced rounds due to high prices and a saturated market.

Hamilton’s golf courses, King’s Forest, which has been ranked as the number one municipal golf course in Canada, and Chedoke’s two courses the Beddoe and Martin have not escaped the economic slump. A market analysis by Global Golf Advisors, commissioned by the city, found Hamilton’s courses have “experienced declining demand” since 2010.

The consultants urged the city to increase the rounds, while instituting a “flexible fee structure” program. By adopting the new structure, the city could increase the number of rounds by 37 per cent, or 24,000 rounds per season at all three golf courses, while also boosting revenue to about $600,000.

City staff agreed Hamilton is taking a unique approach reducing prices in the hope it will increase the number of rounds golfers play each year.

The proposed green fees for the Beddoe course would be reduced from $44.25 per round from Monday to Thursday to $33.06, while on weekends and holidays, a round would cost $44.26 rather than $48.67. The Martin course would see green fees dip from $30.09 from Monday to Thursday to $28.20, and $35.40 to $33.83 on weekends and holidays. Twilight rounds would also see a reduction in green fees. Seniors would get a break for both 18 and nine hole rounds.

The city will be cutting golf memberships for the Beddoe and Martin courses, and slight reductions  in advantage packs prices. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)