Yours to Recover

The discerning mediavore’s take on the news of the day, from city hall to Power Ball

July 15, 2011 | 3:56 pm

NAFTA challenges, energy board rulings and the sell-off of AECL: is Ontario’s energy plan unravelling?

T. Boone Pickens is launching a NAFTA challenge to Ontario’s Green Energy Act (Image: Center for American Progress Action Fund)

One of George Smitherman’s crowning achievements in provincial politics was the establishment of the Green Energy Act, a cornerstone in the Liberal government’s attempt to reshape (and, to a large extent, rebuild) Ontario’s electricity sector after the difficulties that plagued the Mike Harris and Ernie Eves years. But a few different speed bumps have appeared on the road to a green economy. First of all, Smitherman’s act has increasingly become a target for conservatives like Tim Hudak. Then, this week, Toronto Hydro’s conservation plans got scuppered by the Ontario Energy Board. Now, a Texan oil billionaire is suing the government—but not for the reasons you think.

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March 30, 2011 | 3:22 pm

Ontario’s boring budget is fine, except for people who live in cities, and Peter Milczyn

The snoozer: Ontario’s budget goes over like a light breeze

Perhaps the first thing to say about yesterday’s Ontario budget is that it perfectly embodies the government of Dalton McGuinty: no surprises, nothing terribly showy, just a hope that incremental progress in certain areas and doubling down on the two biggies for any province (health care and education) will win the Liberals re-election. The problem for us is that there’s nothing here for cities. We set out to write a blog post about what’s in the budget for Toronto, but really and truly, there’s bupkis—unless you count a little bit of an eff-you to Etobicoke.

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March 22, 2011 | 5:11 pm

Former Queen’s Park insider has a billion-dollar 407 secret that he’ll share for only millions of dollars

Here’s a nutty story we don’t quite know what to make of: former provincial insider Jodie Parmar (mainly known as the dude responsible for the 407 during the Mike Harris years) tells the Toronto Star that he knows how Ontario could save $1 billion. For a government facing many times that in deficits for the next few years, this should be an easy sell. The problem, apparently, is Parmar’s insistence on an unorthodox payment scheme: 2.5 per cent of any money he finds through existing provincial projects. See? Nutty.

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March 15, 2011 | 4:33 pm

After Japan’s nuclear disaster, Ontario asks important question: what does it mean for us?

Pickering nuclear power plant (Image: Jason Richards)

The news from Japan today (the most reliable source is from the IAEA) is pretty alarming, causing many to ask what this all means for other places that rely heavily on nuclear power. Germany and Switzerland have both announced plans to scale back their nuclear plans in response to the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake. Will Ontario follow the pack? That really depends on which side of the Liberal government wins out. On the one hand, according to Adam Radwanski at the Globe and Mail, is the government believes there is little political danger on this issue. On the other are those who want to show how careful they are by proceeding slowly on new nuclear energy facilities.

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March 11, 2011 | 12:11 pm

407 extension approved with a blank cheque, in latest example of Liberal seat-protection

As part of its recent spending restraint, the Liberal government of Ontario, led by Dalton McGuinty, truncated its plans to extend the 407 highway through Oshawa all the way to the 115/35 Highway, which leads to Peterborough. This got the mayor of Oshawa so upset he tried to raid Toronto’s discarded Transit City funding. He was rebuffed on that, but not to fear: swing seats in the 905 continue to prove that the most effective way of getting provincial cash in an election year is to threaten the government’s majority.

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March 9, 2011 | 1:26 pm

Sarah Thomson makes her MPP candidacy, riding and party official

Sarah Thomson picks Big Red (Image: Tsar Kasim)

End the rumours, here are the facts: Sarah Thomson, one-time candidate for mayor and then champion for anyone-but-Ford, is running for the Liberals in the October provincial election in the Trinity-Spadina riding. In a move that certainly won’t invite comparisons to Sarah Palin, Thomson announced her plan on her Facebook page (log-in required). Thomson will be going up against longtime NDP MPP Rosario Marchese. The man will not be an easy one to defeat. Thomson’s name recognition from last year’s election may help her, but it’s still going to be a long, tough campaign. The Informer asked Thomson why she decided to run in another election so soon after the municipal one. Her answer, and Marchese’s retort, after the jump.

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March 8, 2011 | 11:56 am

If Ford Nation can’t get cash out of Premier McGuinty, could they squeeze it out of Premier Hudak?

We mentioned last week that Mayor Rob Ford is threatening to campaign against the Liberal government if Dalton McGuinty doesn’t cough up $150 million or so during the next budget. Here’s the thing: for this threat to actually mean anything, there would have to be a decent prospect that Tim Hudak, the leader of Ontario’s Tories, will come up with the money if he wins the election. (We are assuming here that Ford will not be campaigning for Andrea Horwath and the NDP. Call it a hunch.) So what is Hudak’s stance on money for Toronto?

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February 25, 2011 | 2:30 pm

The Ontario election just got real, chemical warfare style

Dalton McGuinty (Image: Ontario Chamber of Commerce)

By this time last year, Toronto’s election was busy wondering which titan of the left would replace Adam Giambrone, setting the crazy bar high for the coming year (and, boy howdy, it did not disappoint). Well, Ontario’s upcoming October election looks to be off to a fine start, with Dalton McGuinty taking an early lead in the “wild accusations that make the accuser look bad” sweepstakes. He’s accusing previous Tory governments of not telling workers about why Agent Orange is nasty stuff.

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February 14, 2011 | 1:03 pm

Kneel before Scarborough, Ontario: province’s biggest renewable energy resource will go untapped thanks to Bluffs voters

Offshore wind farms, like this one near the English Channel, won't be coming to the waters near you (Image: phault)

There’s nothing quite like watching a government run against itself: after years of touting itself as the greenest government in North America, Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal government has spent the last three months running away from various parts of its clean energy program. Friday saw the latest and greatest example of this, as Queen’s Park used exciting, headline-grabbing news elsewhere in the world to distract from an announcement they’d rather not have made: Ontario is halting offshore wind projects in the Great Lakes until further study.

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February 10, 2011 | 1:38 pm

Here’s something to make pinko cyclists cringe: “Doug Ford for Premier”

Doug Ford (Image: toronto.ca)

Rumours are abounding that the mayor’s brother, Doug Ford, is being courted by the provincial Tories under Tim Hudak—and Ford isn’t ruling it out. According to the Toronto Star, his only response when asked about the rumours was “Never say never.”

From the Star’s report:

Sources say Ford seriously considered the idea during a Florida getaway before Christmas but came to the conclusion he wanted to stay and help his brother bring fiscal accountability to city hall.

He is seen as a huge asset to the mayor, who has avoided the media spotlight while his big brother steps forward to push their smaller-government, do-more-with-less agenda.

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February 2, 2011 | 10:50 am

Rocco Rossi’s jump to the Tories leads to epic Twitter fights

The news yesterday that one-time mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi was jumping parties got an angry response from those who had supported him as a Liberal, and a pretty joyous response from those who welcomed him as a Progressive Conservative. Perhaps the most amusing little slap fight that unfolded throughout the day was between Stefan Baranski (who once ran George Smitherman’s mayoral campaign) and Warren Kinsella, who helped Rossi run against Smitherman, Rob Ford and the other candidates. Because both men now find themselves on the opposite side of where they were only a few months ago, there was plenty of ammunition for each man to use, if they were willing to dig up old quotes.

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February 1, 2011 | 2:14 pm

Provincial election ramp up: Rocco Rossi joins Conservatives in name and not just in fact

Rumours started swirling last week that former mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi was going to join the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario for the coming October election, and at 10 a.m. today he and Tim Hudak made it official outside Queen’s Park. Rossi will be running in Eglinton-Lawrence, a riding the Tories narrowly lost to Liberal Mike Colle in 2007. (Technically, today’s announcement is only that Rossi will be seeking the riding nomination—but when the party leader introduces a candidate, the race is not expected to be gruelling.)

This makes us think of that incident nearly a year ago when Rossi gave an interview to the Toronto Star in which he confessed he couldn’t understand why everyone thought he was so conservative and emphasized how much of a granola-munching hippie he was at heart. Those were good times.

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January 12, 2011 | 11:00 am

Dwight Duncan: the HST is saving Ontario’s economy—no, really!

(Image: Amy Gizienski)

The Harmonized Sales Tax may be one of the Liberal government’s biggest weaknesses in the coming election, so they’ve opted to turn taxed lemons into taxed lemonade by convincing Ontarians that the tax is really in their best interest. (It helps, too, that Tim Hudak and the Tories are basically incoherent on this file.) So we aren’t surprised that Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan is claiming that the HST is helping Ontario’s economy move out of the recession.

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January 10, 2011 | 4:54 pm

Ontario commits $5 million to war on bedbugs

Thirsty for knowlegde: Queen's Park is banking that education is the best way to fight bedbugs (Image: Liz Novak)

We’re sure it has nothing to do with it being an election year in which Toronto’s vote- and bedbug-rich ridings will be a major battleground, but Dalton McGuinty announced today that the Liberal government will be committing $5 million to a program designed to fight the spread of bedbugs. Some provincial leadership will be nice to see, but the program is more limited than some proposals, namely from the NDP.

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January 7, 2011 | 10:54 am

Sarah Thomson lands on her feet, may be gearing up to run for Parkdale seat as a McGuinty Liberal

Sarah Thomson (left) may take on NDP powerhouse Cheri Di Novo (Images: Tsar Kasim)

Hey, remember Sarah Thomson? The come-from-nowhere candidate for mayor who made us all fall in love with subways, but failed to catch on and eventually dropped out to endorse George Smitherman? With a public profile only slightly higher than the other also-rans from the mayoral race, she’s been easy to miss until now. She’d been dropping copious hints that she intended to stay in the public eye and run for another public office. Now, according to the Toronto Star, it looks like she’s found it. Thomson will be running for Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal Party in Parkdale–High Park.

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