Earlier this month the Fraser Institute published a report sharply critical of one of the flagship policies of the Ontario government, namely the Ontario Green Energy Act (GEA). Ontario Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli dismissed it out of hand. What makes the Minister's response most disturbing is that it is so disconnected from reality.
Recent Ipso Reid polls should be good news for Ontario Tory Leader Tim Hudak. Hudak and the Tories are at 37% of decided Ontario voters; Horwath's NDP at 29% and Wynne and the Liberals at 28%. This is real bad news for Premier Wynne and her band of less than merry Liberals. But these polls provide even better news to Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.
Ontarian parents who favour one unified school system would be wise to take a look at the education scene in B.C., where some say the teachers' union is more powerful than God. If we didn't have three teachers' unions in Ontario, it is likely that no students would be enjoying extra-curricular activities today.
Currently, Andrea Horwath, according to the above Forum Research poll, still enjoys the best approval rating at 49 per cent, but Wynne is coming up fast at 36 per cent. With her high approval rating now, Horwath still has a shot at victory and forming the next NDP government. But she who hesitates, is lost. Horwath will be in a worse position next year.
Having won the Ontario Liberal Party's leadership, Premier-designate Kathleen Wynne has a golden opportunity to chart a new course and undo Dalton McGuinty's legacy of fiscal mismanagement. As Wynne contemplates priorities for her leadership she should seriously consider putting Ontario's deficit and debt problem on the top of her to-do list
No matter what Wynne's predecessor, Dalton McGuinty, did, it is simply ridiculous to assume that she would automatically continue on as a McGuinty clone or robot. Parties are parties, but they change depending on the people leading them. That Wynne leans to the left is well-known, but she might still surprise Ontarians.
Our children are not being put first; they are being cheated. If we care about the public good, teachers must be respected and compensated fairly to attract the best and brightest. With the decimation of school board budgets, parents who can afford to do so may pull their kids out of the public system.
Ontario high school students are being disproportionately affected by the conflict between the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) and the provincial government. What is most worrying about the conflict between the Ontario teacher's union and the government is the way in which students are being used as pawns by the OSSTF to advance and promote a political message. Students' anger over the loss of extracurricular activities should not be directed towards the government.