2 weeks Ago
, Oct. 20 What a fiscally irresponsible premier we have. First, Doug Ford scrapped the $120 licence plate renewal fee, costing the province about $1.
1 billion a year. Wasn’t that money necessary to fix our roads, highways, bridges, etc.? Then Ford broke a contract one year early with the LCBO to the tune of at least $225 million.
(This could go as high as $1 billion with the projected repercussions.) Apparently getting beer at the corner store is more important than putting money toward, let’s say, health care. Now he wants to give $200 to each taxpayer regardless of their income.
(Naturally this will not include the most vulnerable among us who do not pay taxes.) This will cost $3 billion. That’s BILLIONS of dollars that could have gone to hire the doctors, nurses and support staff required to cut surgery and emergency wait times; ensure mental health care for children who now have to wait years for help; fund schools properly so they don’t have to fund raise for necessities; subsidize homes for the homeless.
Think about this as you spend your $200 bribe for your vote that could have been used for the greater good — improving the lives of the entire population of Ontario. This is one of the most bizarre decisions that I have ever witnessed by a government institution. Ontario has a huge debt burden which is being compounded by annual deficits.
Apparently the Ontario government thinks it should be rewarded (at the expense of their growing debt obligations) but they should be condemned for such a deplorable stunt. What kind of a clown act is that, sending us back our own money intended for our welfare? Thanks, but no thanks. That $3 billion is our tax money.
It would go a long way in areas in desperate need of funding. We are not amused. The only clown act we want to see from you is of the disappearing kind.
, Oct. 25 Limiting the number of med students from outside Ontario is a step in the right direction and so is offering free tuition to deserving candidates. However, agreeing to practice in Ontario for five years is nowhere near enough.
We need to establish the total cost of a medical student’s tuition without government funding (i.e. $0 cost to the taxpayer).
At the end of their training, the total cost of their tuition would be a debt owing to the government. This debt would be repaid in units of years worked (full time, longer for part-time). Let’s say 20 years (just a number, I really have no clue).
This amount could be reduced if a new doctor agrees to work in an underserved area. Those wishing to opt out of this requirement would be required to pay the full amount of their tuition. Having said that, I do applaud Ford’s initiative.
We need to stop the exodus of doctors whose training is subsidized by taxpayers. Where is MADD’s voice in response to the Ford government promoting more access to alcohol? People are now driving to gas stations to buy alcohol — have you noticed the replacement of juice and milk with booze in gas stations? Alcohol is now available in Ontario for 16-hours each and every day. For those struggling with alcohol addiction, they are now further confronted with this poison at every turn in their daily routine.
MADD’s last Ontario-focused news release is from May — commending the Ontario government on another matter. , Oct. 27 Bike lanes are an integral component of the city’s solutions to transportation challenges, but they cannot fix everything.
A combination of bike, subway, automobile and walking works well together. The bike component provides a great option to circumvent parking costs/headaches, as well as neighbourhood traffic stress, while also helping to keep fit. And once one gets used to cold weather cycling, this combination helps you get around — year-round.
, Oct. 28 Gabrielle Gallant’s plight shows how important accessibility is to her and all of us. Health care means nothing if we don’t actually have access to it.
Houses are only good for selling if we can’t actually live in them due to unexpected disability. Surely, we have the right to access health care and housing, and politicians have the responsibility to provide them. Thanks to Gallant, this much is clear: when we are only concerned about affordability we lose sight of accessibility — even though it is a basic and urgent need.
Oct. 31 On the eve of Holocaust Education Week, I read with sorrow and anger about the rise in residential school denialism and the despicable abuse and threats against Canada’s special interlocutor Kimberly Murray. This has to end, now.
My late father, Jerry Kapelus, a child survivor of the Lodz Ghetto, Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps, ended his own silence about the Holocaust when faced with similar denialism in the 1970s-1980s. Knowing that the few remaining Holocaust survivors would not be around forever to educate the world about what they had experienced and witnessed first-hand, my father used the rest of his days to speak out against hatred and Holocaust denialism. I call upon Canada’s parliamentarians to move quickly to pass the proposed legislation to criminalize residential school denialism.
And I urge residential school survivors to speak out and educate Canadians, louder than ever, about the horror and truth of their own experiences in the residential schools. , Oct. 30 The Star published such a lovely memorial to Charles, the lowland silverback gorilla, who just died.
It talked about him as playful, artistic and later, a wise leader. Our government, however, would describe him, legally, as a piece of property, nothing more. So, as our current law stands, Charles would simply be a financial loss for the zoo and possibly a disposal issue.
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