Ontario

Thursday August 29, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday August 29, 2019

Ontario students deserve better than the blame game

August 16, 2001

It’s that simultaneously wonderful (for parents) and terrible (for kids) time of year again.

Normally, back to school is a bit like Christmas for parents who, by now, have run out of ways to keep young kids busy and are seriously starting to wonder if their teenagers remember how to write without emojis and add numbers greater than their social media followers.

But thanks to the Ford government, this year’s return to school is also a time of concern and confusion.

Just days before students trot off in their first-day outfits with backpacks full of new school supplies, there’s more that’s uncertain than certain about what this year and beyond will look like for them.

September 3, 2013

What changes are being made to Ontario’s math curriculum, and will it do anything to raise math scores? Will the new mandatory online high school courses be innovative or simply a cheaper and lesser alternative to traditional classes? How big will real classes be, not just the “average” size the government likes to reference? How reduced will the options be in art, music, science and other electives?

And, of course, what will happen when contract negotiations really ramp up?

Teachers’ contracts expire three days before students take their seats. Negotiations on new contracts could, in theory, go smoothly or be lengthy, contentious and, in the worst-case scenario, result in the withdrawal of extracurricular activities or a strike before deals are struck.

June 25, 2015

So, amid all that, Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce stepped up last week to “reassure students and their families.”

He announced that class sizes wouldn’t be much larger this year. At 22.5 students in that famously average high school class, that’s up just half a student from last year.

That’s fair enough. But then Lecce suggested that the planned increase to 28 students within four years might not be needed because he’s open to “innovative ideas” that unions could bring forward to save money in other ways.

That’s not about reassuring students or giving parents and educators “predictability” – another of his claimed motives.

Lecce is doing nothing more than trying to shift the blame for the school changes that students and parents aren’t going to like from the government to the unions.

August 21, 2015

It’s a typical, if not very successful, negotiating tactic.

But students and parents know well that the reduction in teachers, increased class sizes and, worst of all, more limited course options are a direct result of the Ford government’s education cuts.

Last month, Lecce blamed the reduction in course options for high school students on school boards. Now, he’s hunting for a new target: teachers.

But this isn’t about teachers, it’s about students. And it’s about this government’s decision to save money in ways that will hurt struggling students, gifted students and generally make school a lot less interesting for everyone.

January 25, 2019

When Premier Doug Ford’s government first unveiled its education overhaul, it claimed it was “modernizing” the system. Then the first education minister said increasing class size was about making students more resilient. And now, with the new education minister, we’re to believe it’s suddenly all negotiable.

But it’s not.

Not so long as the government is determined to reduce its deficit through school cuts that risk the vital education gains that have been made in Ontario.

Ford and his education ministers are fast running out of excuses and ways to sell the unsellable. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Wednesday August 21, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday August 21, 2019

Ford government unveils revised cuts to funding for municipalities

May 23, 2019

Local taxpayers will feel the pinch of higher costs for new daycare spaces and public health programs under funding changes from Premier Doug Ford’s government, critics say, with Mayor John Tory warning of “significant” impacts on Toronto’s finances.

The province unveiled its revised plan Monday, just three months after backing down on retroactive and controversial cuts to public health, daycare and ambulance services in the face of stiff criticism from Tory and other leaders after municipal budgets were set for the year.

“We recognize our government moved quickly when we came into office,” Ford told about 2,000 delegates at the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference in Ottawa. “But we’ve listened to you.”

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath suggested Ford’s listening skills have not improved.

“This morning, Doug Ford confirmed that the countdown to devastating cuts is on,” she said in a statement. “He’s slashing things like public health and child care, things that keep families safe and healthy, and throwing the problems his cuts will create at the feet of municipal councils.”

The changes take effect in January, including a move first announced in the provincial government’s spring budget to make municipalities pay 20 per cent of the cost of new daycare spaces — which had been fully funded by the province.

Carolyn Ferns with the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care said the change will be challenging for municipalities that agreed to expand child care in their communities on the understanding that Queen’s Park would pick up the full cost.

“It’s going to create a chill for any municipality thinking about expanding child care,” Ferns said. “If suddenly they can be on the hook for more of the cost — and with all the other budget pressures they are facing under this government — they are just not going to do it.” (Toronto Star) 

 

Thursday August 8, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday August 8, 2019

Has Doug Ford finally put the cronyism scandal behind him?

It is the calm after the summer storm in Premier Doug Ford’s government.

June 27, 2018

Seven weeks ago, Ford shook up his cabinet in a bid to reboot an administration that polls suggest is struggling — only to be immediately rocked by a cronyism scandal.

Dean French, the premier’s chief of staff, quit on June 21, a Friday night resignation that swamped news coverage of the massive switch of a dozen ministers just one day earlier.

While seven French-linked appointees have also stepped down or been forced out in the wake of the controversy, the departure appears to have triggered the reset the cabinet shuffle was meant to signal.

Yes, staffers have left or are leaving shortly — some because they’re seen as too close to the hard-charging ex-chief; others because they had long been fed up working for him.

However, Ford’s dismal poll numbers are fuelling anxiety within his Conservative caucus, suggesting the party has not put its problems behind it.

April 9, 2019

Overall, though, a sense of quiet professionalism has descended upon the premier’s office thanks largely to interim chief Jamie Wallace, a former Queen’s Park press gallery president and Postmedia executive who ran the Sun tabloid chain.

“It’s palpable,” confided one senior Progressive Conservative, like others speaking on background in order to discuss the scene in the premier’s office.

“Jamie’s been around Queen’s Park forever. He understands the place, he treats (the political staff) well, and he’s respectful to (the public servants),” said the Tory insider.

“He knows what he doesn’t know and isn’t afraid to ask someone who does,” said a retired cabinet minister, who has advised Wallace.

March 22, 2019

“You’d be surprised how rare that is in any government,” said the former PC minister, who has worked with Tories and Liberals at Queen’s Park.

Another PC official said Wallace, who worked briefly in government when Ernie Eves was premier, is implementing processes and discipline that were sorely lacking in a freewheeling 14-month-old administration.

“He understands the need for a plan,” said the official, noting things were so chaotic and ad hoc in the government that it at times seemed as if “message planning” was being driven by what happened to be on CP24, the premier’s favourite cable news channel, at the time.

Now that the “French connections” scandal appears to be fading from the headlines, the premier insists “we’re moving forward as a government.” (Hamilton Spectator) 

Tuesday July 30, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday July 30, 2019

Ford government reversing autism program changes

There’s news today from Queen’s Park that the Ontario government will reverse its direction on the funding of the province’s autism program.

February 16, 2019

This comes after months of protests from parents and an internal review that called for an immediate reset of its strategy.

Todd Smith, the new Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, announced on Monday that the government will move to design a funding program based on the needs of individual children.

Smith says the new program will work within a $600-million budget.

“It’s clear that the Ford government, we didn’t get the re-design right the first time. I’m here to tell you we will now,” said Smith.

“My message to families of children and youth with autism is, we have heard you, and we are taking action,” said Smith. “Our government is committed to a needs-based program that provides children and youth with the supports they need to thrive. Over the past number of weeks, I have met with service providers and families of children with autism who share a common goal to provide the best possible care and make a positive difference in the lives of children and families living with autism in Ontario.” (CTV News)