It’s time for taxpayers to get out of the political party welfare business
Ontarians should listen for a giant sucking sound from Queen’s Park. Now that the election is over and MPPs know that they don’t have to directly answer to voters for another four years, you can bet that Ontario’s political parties will team up once again to funnel even more money from taxpayers’ wallets into party…
His fiscal record is no better than that of the Liberal government he replaced
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is surely celebrating his decisive re-election victory. But Ford should not be complacent. He was re-elected despite his record, not because of it. It’s worth remembering former premier Kathleen Wynne won re-election in 2014. She wrongly took her re-election as a go-ahead from voters to pursue her spend-happy agenda. But four…
Simply put, NDP and Liberal supporters found nothing of value in their parties' platforms
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and the Progressive Conservatives were triumphant in the June 2 election. That hasn’t stopped their critics and opponents from pouring cold water on this impressive victory for something not of their own making. The PCs won 40.82 per cent of the vote and 83 of the 124 contested seats. This was…
The taxpayer-funded gravy train that just keeps on giving
If you don’t like the idea of burning piles of cash in your living room fireplace, the way political financing works in the province of Ontario will make your blood boil. With election day a week away, millions of Ontarians are being forced to watch political ads that make them want to stop paying their…
All three major party leaders are promising to run record-high deficits
When election day arrives, it appears as though Ontarians will have a choice in which poison pill to swallow: record deficits with Premier Doug Ford, Liberal leader Steven Del Duca, or NDP leader Andrea Horwath. It’s an unfortunate consensus: the three major party leaders are promising to run record-high deficits. But no matter what Ontario’s…
No concrete plan to balance the books and no tax relief for middle-class families
There’s one bright spot in Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s budget. He announced plans to cut taxes for low-income Ontarians, saving over one million taxpayers up to $850 next year. This will serve as much-needed relief for taxpayers who badly need it in the wake of record-high inflation and soaring living costs. But that’s where the…
Ontarians need relief, and they need it urgently
Affordability is the elephant in the room as Ontario approaches this June’s provincial election, and it’s time for Ontario’s politicians to address it before they get trampled. All three of Ontario’s major political parties plan to speak to the issue of affordability in their platforms. The Ford government has been busy eliminating user fees for…
Ontarians need urgent action, not vague future promises
When Ontario Premier Doug Ford finally announced his intention to deliver on gas tax relief after four years of delays, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation supported the move. Make no mistake; a gas tax cut is good news for Ontario taxpayers. As gas prices soar and Ontarians face the highest inflation levels in 30 years, relief…
Should in-person learning be an essential service? Can parents and guardians be included in decisions?
Sometimes it takes a crisis to make things clear. Consider the last two years of rolling pandemic school closures. It’s becoming increasingly clear that Ontario’s government education systems largely failed to serve more than two million students well. Calls for wholesale reform to Ontario education have begun and include revamping all kindergarten-to-Grade-12 curricula and a…
Canada rations care with wait times, limited investment in technology, and by using family doctors as “gatekeepers” to service
Doctors frustrate governments. They think too little about how much health care costs and too much about their patients who need help. The government of Ontario and the Ontario Medical Association arrived at a mediated Proposed Physicians Services Agreement (PPSA) this month. Doctors started to vote on it yesterday, with voting ending on March 27.…