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AlvinofDiaspar said:
Oh that is a given. Did you hear her speech on the retaliatory measures? She - and I paraphrase - talked about controlling Alberta's own destiny. Funny thing to say as a sub-national province.

I most certainly hope some are paying close attention.

AoD
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One of the reasons I want to see EVs takeoff is to end the stupidity of petrostate leaders. Abroad they are belligerent terrorists (Iran, Russia, Venezuela). At home, you get nuts like Smith.
 
Premier Doug Ford and his new cabinet were sworn in today, although the cabinet remains largely the same as prior to the election except for a few minor shuffles:

Paul Calandra moves from housing to become the education minister, taking over from Jill Dunlop who moves to emergency preparedness. Former minister of agriculture Rob Flack is being appointed minister of housing.

Todd McCarthy is taking on the role of environment minister, a higher-profile role than his previous job as minister of public and business service delivery.

Ford also moved former environment minister Andrea Khanjin to red tape reduction. Graham McGregor is taking on the role of minister of citizenship and multiculturalism, a post previously held by Michael Ford, the premier's nephew, who did not run again the February snap election.

Litetunant Governor Edith Dumont swore in the premier and his executive council in a ceremony Wednesday held in an unusual location: the Royal Ontario Museum.

Ford has kept the cabinet the same size, which he had increased since he was first elected in 2018, and his last cabinet grew to 37 people in August after he brought new associate ministers on board. Ford also quoted Ronald Reagan in a speech today:

Delivering remarks Wednesday's ceremony, Ford repeated statements about ongoing economic threats to Ontario from U.S. President Donald Trump — calling them "one of the most pressing and significant challenges in the history of our province."

The premier quoted former U.S. President Ronald Reagan in his speech, saying, "We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends, weakening our economy, our national security and the entire free world, all while cynically waving the American flag." The premier concluded his remarks saying, "Canada will not be the 51st state. Canada is not for sale," receiving a standing ovation. The premier's PCs won their third successive majority government on Feb. 27 — making Ford the first Ontario premier since 1959 to win three consecutive majorities.

 
picard102 said:
What was a rationale for holding it at the ROM?
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Maybe Dougie finally wanted to stimulate his mind of knowledge, after years of a steady diet of burgers, attending rib fests, and going to festivals? Or maybe, there's something more to this... maybe he is trying to mess with the ROM, too. You know, if he didn't close it, the Science Centre would have been a good place to do this...
 
picard102 said:
What was a rationale for holding it at the ROM?
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That I don't know, but the museum was closed on the day of with very little forewarning to the general public.(I got a message from the ROM yesterday - on the day it was closed; they also had to offer refunds for people who had purchased tickets ahead of time - which meant the ROM had little to no warning).

Bizarre choice of venue given the ongoing construction as well - and I suspect they also had to halt that. I had to chuckle with the irony that they could finesse the election date but couldn't finesse the location for swearing-in.

AoD
 
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“They’re turning off the heat before some classes finish”: Professor Frances Latchford on York University’s dramatic cuts to liberal arts programs​


As York faces a funding crisis, the chair of the department of gender, sexuality and women’s studies talks anti-DEI backlash, Doug Ford’s disdain for “basket-weaving” courses and the enduring value of a liberal arts education​


From https://torontolife.com/city/york-professor-frances-latchford-on-the-universitys-decision-to-slash-liberal-arts-programs/#_=_
You mentioned the Ford government’s domestic tuition freeze. On paper, that sounds like a good thing for students. What went wrong?On the one hand, Ford froze domestic tuition, and it appeared to be this great generous gift to students. But, on the other hand, he took away OSAP grants and eliminated the six-month interest-free grace period for graduates paying back OSAP loans.

How do these budget cuts play out on campus?There are so many ways, big and small, that the student experience is affected. I know one prof who’s having the heat turned off in their classroom at 4:30 p.m. every day, an hour before the class ends. Then there’s the ongoing neglect of campus maintenance, the bare-bones student events, the increasing class sizes. Our department’s curriculum committee was asked to run online first-year courses with 500 students. We pushed back and said no. First year is so important for students to make friends and build community. That doesn’t happen online.

The university has also been trying to reduce staff costs. Faculty are paying for things like staff appreciation out of pocket. It’s a small thing, but it matters. Our staff are the backbone of the university. They’re the ones on the front lines when students come in panicked. They’re the first warm face when a student enters a unit. Now, students are increasingly finding empty desks in the front office.
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Diversity, equity and inclusion have become a scapegoat for any number of economic and social issues and anxieties. Is the anti-DEI fervour at play here?Absolutely—I think a significant part of this is a backlash. Our provincial government is not sensitive to issues of equity. Ford is one of these politicians who will do whatever he can get away with.

Ford has referred to affected programs as “basket-weaving” courses and said that students should focus on STEM in preparation for “the jobs of the future.”If ever there were a future-proof degree, it would be a liberal arts degree, because it teaches you how to think. We teach problem-solving skills. We teach social responsibility. In the coming decades, many of the jobs that people are currently working won’t even exist. When one door closes, you have to ask yourself, “How do I refashion my skill set and direct it toward something else?” A liberal arts education allows you to do that. My degrees are in philosophy, but while I was in school, I did all kinds of jobs because I can think my way through a problem. I’ve been a courier. I’ve been a carpenter. Business leaders frequently say that they would rather hire somebody with a liberal arts degree than a very specific training degree.
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What are the consequences if programs like gender studies and Indigenous studies are lost?It’s a profound loss. In programs like these, people study how to change the world. We do specialized research and disseminate it for the greater good of the community—affecting policy, bringing it into workplaces. Our graduates are running programs in communities and institutions around the world. All of this is at risk. At this time in the world when there is so much ignorance and hatred, it’s important that we make it a social value to educate students on the issues that our programs address. If you have people you care about in your life who are affected by forces like racism, heterosexism and ableism, then you should care about these programs.

I imagine that, back when they were first introduced, there was a lot of pushback against gender and women’s studies programs. Did you think those days were behind you?We actually had one of the very first women’s studies programs in Canada. The program started at Atkinson College, which was for mature students, many of whom were women. So we’ve always been committed to ensuring that people who’ve been left in the margins can get access to a proper education. That’s come from a lot of work by our elders—people who fought for feminism, LGBTQ rights, decolonization and anti-racism.

Homophobia, heterosexism and racism never went away, they just became less explicit for a while. I wouldn’t have anticipated the intensity of the backlash that is appearing in the US. My friends and colleagues in the States who are LGBTQ, racialized or disabled are living in a constant state of fear. And that’s spilling over across the border. Where the US goes, Canada often follows.
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Doug Ford is laser-focused on tariffs... and collecting $1500 cheques

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From https://x.com/TDotResident/status/1905266866815132136
 
The Ford gov't out this morning with the fall minimum wage increase, from $17.20 per hour to $17.60 per hour effective October 1st.

That's a 2.4% increase

For comparison:

Chicago, with a much lower cost of housing, is $16.60USD effective July 1st, 2025, which is $23.84 CAD per hour

Seattle, a very comparable market to Toronto is $20.76 USD per hour which is $29.80CAD per hour

***

A final note... what if the Wynne minimum wage hike had been delivered, and indexed?

We'd be at $18.18 per hour right now.....or ~$18.40 by October.....
 
I wonder if/when the Ford government will reintroduce bill 240 to download Peel Region's roads. Mississauga is eager for this bill to be reintroduced as they say we subsidize both Caledon ($24 million) and Brampton ($6 million).

FWIW, Mississauga has 29% of lane-kms of Peel regional roads (Brampton has 41%, and Caledon has 30%)

 

CBC: Amid trade turmoil, Ontario government mulls sweeping overhaul of permits​

"Let's not take three or four years to get a permit," Ford said during a news conference on April 4. "Let's not put the barriers up because there's a grasshopper in a field and everyone has to stop and wait for that grasshopper — it's ridiculous."

CBC News has obtained internal draft government documents recommending a sweeping review of permits in Ontario, proposing to transform or eliminate all permits issued at the provincial and municipal levels within a year.
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