Category: Ontario

Ford Announces Plan to Lift Remaining COVID-19 Restrictions in Coming Months

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has announced plans to gradually lift all COVID-19 public health restrictions over the coming months, including masking requirements by March 2022. Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Ford and other officials said the first step in the exit plan is to remove capacity limits in settings where proof of vaccination…


Canada-US Bridge Reopens, Had Shut Over Possible Explosives

WINDSOR, Ontario—The busiest border crossing between Canada and the U.S. was closed to traffic for more than two hours on Monday after authorities found possible explosives during a vehicle inspection. The Ambassador Bridge that links Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit was shut to all traffic and the surrounding area was evacuated as well. Windsor police said…


Ontario Throne Speech: Province Entering ‘New Phase’ in Pandemic, Will Aim to Avoid Lockdowns

Tackling COVID-19, avoiding lockdowns, and aiming for a recovery based on economic growth were among the priorities laid out in the Ontario government’s throne speech on Oct. 4. Read by Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell, the speech kicked off the fall session of the 42nd Parliament of Ontario. It is the first throne speech in over three…


Cardiac Patients Had a Higher Risk of Dying at the Onset of Pandemic, New Study Shows

The significant decline in referrals and procedures for common cardiac conditions in Ontario following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has put patients waiting for surgeries at a higher risk of dying, according to a new study. The study, soon to be published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, highlights the impact of the pandemic…


Legal Organization Calls on Ontario to Revoke ‘Unconstitutional’ Vaccine Passport Mandate

A legal organization is calling on the Ontario government to revoke its vaccine passport mandate, citing “deep concerns” about the constitutionality of the measure. The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms issued a letter (pdf) Sept. 22, demanding the government rescind the mandate, which requires Ontarians aged 12 and above to show proof of having taken two…


Former Ontario Premier Bill Davis Dies at 92

TORONTO—Bill Davis, the 18th premier of Ontario and one of the country’s longest−serving premiers, has died at 92. A statement from his family says Davis was surrounded by his relatives when he died in Brampton, Ont. this morning of natural causes. The pipe−chomping Tory titan, often called Ontario’s “education premier,” held the position from 1971…


Ontario’s Projected 74-year Deficit Doesn’t Bode Well for Taxpayers: Advocacy Group

With Ontario projected to run deficits until the year 2095, and with annual payments on debt interest alone projected to surpass $180 billion by then, taxpayers in the province should sit up and take notice, says the Ontario director of a tax advocacy group. “I think people need to make their voices heard and tell…


Ontario’s New Anti-Sex Trafficking Policy Welcomed by Child Protection Organization

For organizations that grapple with youth sex trafficking on the front line, the Ontario government’s new policy framework that mandates school boards to implement anti-trafficking protocols is welcome news. “It’s wonderful that the money is now being given to prevention and education around human trafficking,” Julie Moore, the human trafficking program co-ordinator at Boost Child…


Ontario’s Electricity Subsidies That Shift Costs to Taxpayers Are Unsustainable: Report

Ontario’s electricity sector has been struggling with the increasing system costs, but the government’s rate subsidies that shift the costs to taxpayers are unsustainable, according to the latest report. The report (pdf), titled “Power Surge: The Causes of (and Solutions to) Ontario’s Electricity Price Rise Since 2006,” published Tuesday by the C.D. Howe Institute, found…


Mindless Dogma and Groupthink: The Panic Approach to COVID Has to End

Commentary The developments of late regarding COVID cases and vaccination rates as the country begins to reopen have been very encouraging and should buttress people’s optimism after the long and gruelling year the pandemic has put us through. A rather depressing feature of the pandemic, however, has been that whenever a moment arrives that could…