Government using cellphones in schools to distract from the impact on students of inflationary education cuts:
$1357 per student
$35k per classroom
$2.7 Billion cut in per student funding in
#Ontario
#onted
#onpoli
BREAKING: I’ve been ejected from the chamber today because I am FIGHTING for ALL WORKERS RIGHTS and HUMAN RIGHTS across Ontario.
FORD IS DEMOLISHING OUR DEMOCRACY so I’m STANDING UP and FIGHTING BACK. ✊
#ONTedSolidarity
#ONTed
#ONpoli
After Ontario’s seniors have had to pay into our public health care system their entire lives… you’re telling them they will have to pay for private for-profit health care?
Shame on this government.
#ONpoli
#ONhealth
CUPE was at the negotiating table Thursday evening while PC MPPs jeered and laughed and waved to education workers in the public gallery during our vote on Bill 28.
And Ford thinks CUPE is bargaining in bad faith? I THINK NOT.
#ONpoli
#ONTed
#ONTedSolidarity
He's 56, needs a support team to turn on his laptop & only uses his preferred choice of smartphone.
What about seniors (some 70/80 old) who call my office struggling with booking a
#covid19
vaccine?
They're living on their pensions. Where's their support team Doug?
#onpoli
Therme receives a free 95-year lease and benefits from a billion dollars worth of free advertising, all while Ontarians foot the bill.
This deal is DIRTY!
#ONpoli
#Ontario
Place
Claudia, a small business owner of 23yrs, is a victim of the
#ServiceOntario
Scandal
"I've been a PC my entire life, I am finally done."
The people of ON are done with Ford giving our public assets & services to foreign corporations!
#onpoli
No, Premier, the people of ON don't love this.
They don't love the province being sold off 1 piece at a time to foreign owned companies.
This sole-sourced & secret deal reeks of corruption.
What are you hiding? Show us the business case!
#ONpoli
#corruption
Doug Ford says he has stored about $22 billion in excess funding for a rainy day.
Today is a rainy day.
The past 5 years have been a rainy day.
It's raining Doug so you better start spending.
#ONpoli
Ford's Conservatives have appointed 2 of his staffers to sit on the committee that appoints judges in Ontario.
This is an attack on our democratic right to an independent judiciary.
This is frightening when you consider that this govt is under criminal investigation by the RCMP
Today, the Conservatives began cutting down trees at
#OntarioPlace
.
This is just the beginning of the destruction planned by the Ford government.
This mega-spa is an attack on taxpayers, the environment, and our democratic rights.
#ONpoli
#OntarioPlaceForAll
The Conservatives are bankrupting our hospitals, our schools, our colleges & and universities.
Instead of funding vital services, they use our tax dollars on
#SuperBowl
ads to tell everyone what a great job they are doing.
#onpoli
“Paid for by the Government of Ontario”.
False.
These ads are paid for by the People of Ontario.
How much of our money is
@fordnation
spending on this propaganda? Are ad rates in Canada higher during the
#SuperBowl
? I don’t want my money being wasted this way. Do you?
#onpoli
Make no confusion.
We are in the midst of losing our municipal democratic rights in Ontario.
Here is a list of some of the services your municipality is responsible for that will no longer be democratically-controlled:
🧵⬇️
#ONpoli
#TOpoli
Our tax dollars are now going to renovate Staples stores. The Chair of Staples is a conservative donor. Which one of their friends are the conservatives going to make rich, next? Note: in December they voted down my Cleaning Up Corruption Act.
#onpoli
Without Warning, The Ford Conservatives closed and locked the gate on
#OntarioPlace
, shutting Ontarians out from accessing public parkland!
To the Conservative government: take down the sign, open up the gate, and reopen the park to the people of Ontario!
#ONpoli
As
@fordnation
claims his Minister of Education 'is a champion' and he shamefully describes "reducing class sizes from 28 to 25 and reducing online courses from 4 - 2"
#VoteFordOut2022
is now trending. FYI Class sizes are currently 22, and online courses are at 0
#onpoli
#onted
I have one question for this government: Which of his developer buddies is buying the
#OntarioScienceCentre
land and when did they know that it would be available to them?
#ONpoli
#OntarioPlace
Ford gave developers a $5 billion tax break by downloading developer charges on to Toronto taxpayers.
Now the city has been forced to raise taxes by 7% and cut services to balance the budget and Ford wants to choose OUR mayor!?
#ONpoli
#TOpoli
Ford is letting private staffing agencies gouge public hospitals.
They provide temporary nurses, use surge pricing just like Uber, & charge our hospitals 3-4X as much.
The results:
- tax dollars wasted
- staffing shortages
- hospital closures
- hospital deficits
#onpoli
Pressure is building on the Ontario government to take action against temporary agencies that charge hospitals high rates for replacement nurses amid a worsening staff shortage and growing hospital deficits.
77% losing faith in Ford's government. Maybe because he's:
- creating a crisis in our schools & hospitals to privatize them
- giving tax $, parkland & public services to Therme, Walmart, Staples, & Shoppers Drug Mart
-paving the
#Greenbelt
instead of building housing
#onpoli
850 mature trees on public parkland worth $1.4B to be razed, destroyed and given for free to a private, for-profit spa in a 95-year lease we still don't know the terms of. This math isn't adding up.
#onpoli
What is in this deal with Therme that the Ford Conservatives want to push through so badly, that they are stripping Ontarians of their right to take the government to court when they break the law?
#ONpoli
#OntarioPlace
When asked by
@maritstiles
if the Conservatives will promise never to use the notwithstanding clause in future labour negotiations,
@Sflecce
refused to answer.
Take that as a clear indication they intend to use the notwithstanding clause again.
#onpoli
#bill28
@CUPEOntario
The Conservatives are plowing ahead with the development of a private spa at
#OntarioPlace
without telling taxpayers how much it will cost them.
Knowing this government, it will cost us big $$$.
We've tabled a motion to terminate the lease with Therme.
#ONpoli
I’m out here at 8 AM at the Queen’s Park picket line with education workers! 💜✊
Thank you Kim, Haroula, Jayne, and Jan for all that you do for our students.
YOU are the people who care about our students, NOT this government.
#ONpoli
#ONTed
#ONTedSolidarity
#39KIsNotEnough
The draft Environmental Study is out. Excluded from the assessment - Live Nation and the Therme megaspa. Ford's Conservatives exempted private projects from environmental assessments in May 2021 - at the same time they issued the RFP for Ontario Place.
#onpoli
@ONPlace4All
Therme does not belong at Ontario Place.
New revelations from legislative committee about this rotten deal (with many thanks to
@jennkfrench
):
1/8
#ONpoli
@ONPlace4All
Imagine living in a province where, instead of spending our tax dollars on Oscar ads, we invested in our hospitals, schools, colleges & universities, & where we brought an end to homelessness & food insecurity.
It's possible.
#ONpoli
The
#Greenbelt
scandal is the tip of the iceberg in a litany of dirty deals by the Ford Conservatives.
The Auditor General needs to investigate the $650 million taxpayer donation & and 95-year lease for the megaspa at
#OntarioPlace
#onpoli
In light of the Ontario Government corruption found by the auditor general on the Greenbelt, Global asked us about our AG request at Ontario Place.
#topoli
#onpoli
"Liberals went to jail for deleting emails" says
@OntarioNDP
leader Marit Stiles.
Now Ford's Conservatives have been caught deleting emails in the
#GreenbeltScandal
The RCMP are investigating.
#onpoli
$650 M taxpayer donation to Therme is just the beginning. Now we may have to pay tens of millions to upgrade water and sewer systems for Therme...
#onpoli
@ONPlace4All
Conservative Bill 154 strips Ontarians of the right to take their government to court when they break the law.
“Bill 154 is part of a bigger attack on our democratic rights," says MPP Chris Glover.
#onpoli
Ford's senior staffer who is now appointing Conservatives to be judges is a lobbyist for "an American gun manufacturer"
This is going to make us safer?
#ONpoli
NEW: Premier Doug Ford’s newly appointed chair of Ontario’s Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee is also a registered provincial lobbyist, raising fresh conflict of interest questions.
#onpoli
Remember when Ford tried to appoint his friend Taverner as OPP Chief?
Now his Attorney General is trying to appoint "Conservative friends" as judges.
Very suspicious for a Premier under criminal investigation & dangerous for our democracy.
#ONpoli
The Conservative goal is not to provide us with healthcare for our tax dollars. It's to divert our tax dollars to Conservative owned for-profit healthcare agencies so they can get rich after they get booted out of office.
#onpoli
Ontario government paying for-profit clinic up to 3.2 times more than hospitals for OHIP-covered surgeries
from
@CBCQueensPark
|
@CBCNews
The most important health news, in one place, at Canada Healthwatch 🔗 🍁
Ford can no longer deny knowledge of the Greenbelt scandal. He gave the order.
Ford has refused to release publicly his mandate letters to his Ministers. No wonder. The Auditor General reports that Ford instructed the Minister of Housing to swap land in the Greenbelt.
#onpoli
Therme says they’re “democratizing wellness”.
Building a black wall to keep out the public isn’t democracy.
There is nothing democratic about this deal!
#ONpoli
#OntarioPlace
#OntarioPlaceforAll
Ford's Conservatives waived a $1 B fine owed to Ontario taxpayers by the owners of the 407.
"The only people the Doug Ford Conservative Government ever ‘gets it done’ for is the 1% of the 1%!”
#ONpoli
@RakocevicT
Ford's Conservatives cancelled a Service Ontario contract with a local small business owner to give the operation to Staples.
Owner was told not to talk about it. And, the owner said she had to pay for renos, while Ford shovels tax dollars to Staples & Walmart for renos.
#ONpoli
I commend Klaudia Savona, Welland ServiceOntario contractor for speaking out.
“She had recently been sent by the province a communique warning her not to speak to the media or in public about the government decision to close the ServiceOntario site” 1/3
The
@fordnation
government is trying to convince you that they’re investing in healthcare and education.
But really they’re cutting or putting a ceiling on the wages of healthcare and education workers.
Ford's Conservatives to the courts "we may have broken multiple laws with the Therme deal at
#OntarioPlace
, but we passed a bill in December that allows us to break the law."
#onpoli
#OntarioPlaceScandal
NEW: Ontario's government has filed a notice of motion to quash Ontario Place For All's try for a judicial review aimed at impeding Therme's Ontario Place redevelopment.
The government cites a December-passed law as grounds for quashing the challenge in a recent court filing.
Ford's Attorney General personally interviewed candidates for Ontario's Chief Justice position.
I asked him if he thought it is appropriate for a government under criminal investigation to be interviewing judicial candidates.
#ONpoli
In BC, with an NDP government, housing starts are up 11%
In Conservative Ontario, they're down 36%
Ford gave developers a $5B taxpayer funded subsidy to build housing.
His strategy is failing & causing property taxes to rise.
#ONpoli
The Ford Conservatives spent $8 M of our tax dollars to prove that "It's Happening Here."
Do you know what isn't happening here?
Strong healthcare, affordable grocery prices, and affordable housing.
Wasting tax dollars? It’s happening here.
#ONpoli
An advertising campaign by Premier Doug Ford's government that has been criticized as partisan self-promotion is costing taxpayers about $8 million, CBC News has learned. .
It's -12, and people are freezing in tents across the province. The province is investing 60 million dollars in affordable housing, which is a good start. However, they're spending six hundred and fifty million dollars on the mega spa at
#OntarioPlace
.
This is one of the biggest financial scandals in Canadian history.
If Doug Ford and Steve Clark are not guilty, they will recall the House and restore Greenbelt protections.
#ONpoli
Your
@OntarioNDP
Opposition House Leader
@john_vanthof
is formally requesting the Conservatives recall the Legislature immediately in order to reinstitute Greenbelt protections for the land in question.
#onpoli
Public consultations for
#OntarioPlace
were 3 days ago and feedback was negative.
Yet, Ford is going ahead with bulldozing 850 mature trees. He'll destroy habitat for 125 bird species & other wildlife.
This isn't taking public feedback into consideration!
WATCH BELOW 👇
Ford's privatization agenda:
⏩ Defund
⏩ Disable
⏩ Destroy
The Ford Gov spent $1.7 B less than planned on health care in 2023.
$ is being spent on private, for-profit clinics even though they are associated with worse care, higher costs, and more deaths.
#onpoli
A reminder of what we all now know. As
@fordnation
continues to hoard provincial revenues of *billions*, Ontario has the fewest hospital beds and nurses of any province:
Today the
@OntarioNDP
introduced a motion to end Therme's lease. The Ford Cons voted to stop the debate - disrespecting our democracy and the Ontarians who came out in support of Ontario Place.
My colleagues and I are at the
@ONPlace4All
rally happening right now.
#onpoli
Ford said you would pay for healthcare with your OHIP card, not your credit card.
He lied.
Ads up on subway cars offering access to family healthcare for $450.
#onpoli
The Conservatives’ dirty Therme deal is going to cost taxpayers $650 million.
My message to the Ford government is clear:
Save the
#ScienceCentre
, save
#OntarioPlace
, and save Ontario taxpayers from paying for this shady deal.
#ONpoli
Watched the sun both rise and fall at Queen’s Park while fighting for the rights of
@CUPEOntario
@osbcucscso
education workers and ALL workers across Ontario.
This will be a long fight. I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work. ✊
#ONpoli
200 seniors are being evicted from Chartwell retirement home to make way for a private housing development.
Will this gov’t stand up for seniors and stop these evictions, or will they allow the tax-subsidized Chartwell corp to sacrifice seniors in the name of profit?
#ONpoli
In other words: The Ford government continues to erode our democracy by stacking the courts with Ford insiders.
This government is currently under criminal investigation by the RCMP.
How much more of this corruption can the people of Ontario take?
#ONpoli
NEW - “I’m not going to appoint some NDP or some liberal” says Ford when asked about two of his former senior staffers being appointed to the committee that recommends which lawyers should become Ontario judges
“I’m appointing, like-minded people that believe what we believe in,…
#GreenbeltScandal
2024
Ford's Conservatives are expropriating farmland in Wilmot for a secret deal to take over 770 acres of farmland hidden behind non-disclosure agreements.
@MaritStiles
is fighting to protect farmland & and the Wilmot community.
#onpoli
In Wilmot, Ontario, farmers are being told that they have to sell their land to the government or it will be confiscated.
We held a town hall to get to the bottom of this with nearly 500 in attendance.
#ONpoli
Councillor
@gordperks
gave an exceptional speech tonight on how
@fordnation
has stripped communities in Toronto of their municipal democratic rights.
Because of that, this budget doesn’t represent our communities. It represents Tory and ultimately, it represents Ford.
#ONpoli
Councillor Gord Perks is on a heater. He’s taking shots at Mayor John Tory for how he’s handled the budget and Councillor Brad Bradford for his attempt to goad Councillor Bravo into saying ‘defund the police.’
Worth a listen.
#GreenbeltScandal
Ch 2
Ford's wedding guests bought farmland along Hwy 413 route.
In order for them to maximize their profits, Ford's Cons are exempting the project from an environmental assessment. Just like they did at
#OntarioPlace
.
#onpoli
Doug Ford keeps using housing as an excuse for his
#GreenbeltScandal
. But all his policies really do is make it harder for municipalities to build the housing we need, while stripping away Ontarians' democratic rights and giving money to his friends.
#ONpoli
Hoping everyone recovers asap. Fortunately for Ontario Premier Doug Ford, he doesn't need to worry about going unpaid as he self-isolates & doesn't have to wait 4 weeks for financial relief like other low-income essential workers in the province.
#PaidSickDaysSaveLives
#onpoli
This is the natural habitat in the heart of downtown
#Toronto
that Ford's Cons want to destroy. Thank you
@frantasticx
for these beautiful photos.
#ONpoli
For those involved and championing the destruction of
#OntarioPlace
West Island, spinning that it’s unworthy of any other form of revitalization or investment except for a giant private spa, please see this image thread of a condemned public landscape and wildlife habitat
⬇️🧵
#ServiceOntario
scandal
Ford's Cons said:
- No one will lose their job
- It will save $1M
- Everybody loves this
But:
- Job losses
- No business case showing savings
- People don't love backroom deals giving services & tax dollars to Walmart & Staples
#onpoli
NEW - A ServiceOntario owner who had their business of 23 years closed by the Ford government speaks to CityNews in a broadcast exclusive. Hear why Claudia Savonia feels she’s been “Left high and dry”
WATCH -
Ford's friends bought Greenbelt land around the 413, now this government’s Bill will speed up the development and maximize his buddies’ profits.
This is how Conservatives "Get it Done."
While fighting corruption, the
@OntarioNDP
will be pushing for a green economy.
#ONpoli
Ford's Conservatives are handing our public health services to Galen Weston & Shoppers Drug Mart.
Their response - restrict access to healthcare so they can divert as many tax $ as possible to their profits.
#onpoli
Thousands of seniors died of Covid in long-term care homes.
Those in for-profit long-term care homes were 2x as likely to die.
Ford tried to protect these homes from lawsuits with Bill-218.
With this ruling, at least some families will have their day in court.
#ONpoli
NEW: Ontario’s Court of Appeal is allowing a class-action lawsuit to proceed against the minister of long-term care for alleged negligence regarding the government’s response to COVID-19.
#Onpoli
The same pattern of Ford Government corruption we saw with the Greenbelt is happening with Ontario Place. They walked back on the Greenbelt, they walked back on urban boundaries, now we need to stop them before they start cutting down trees.
@ONPlace4All
@ausmalik
#onpoli
Thank you Ontario Place Protectors for launching a lawsuit challenging Ford Conservatives’ undemocratic Ontario Place Bill (154.) Quote: “Bill 154 is a complete negation of the laws meant to protect every Ontario resident and their most basic democratic rights.”
#onpoli
Ford's Conservatives announced today they are going to begin destroying the ecosystem at Ontario Place that includes 850 trees, 125 bird species, mink, foxes and beavers.
To be done at taxpayer expense. As part of the $650 taxpayer donation to the megaspa.
#onpoli
These are just some of the services your city council controls & which you have a say over through democratically electing your councillor.
Ford's plan to remove the voices of Ontarians in how these services are delivered sets a dangerous precedent for democracy in our country.
Then:
Doug Ford on sole-sourced deals: "It's all about filling their buddies' pockets full of money,"
Thanks to
@RichardCityNews
for the coverage.
#onpoli
#corruption
Privatized healthcare is about depriving people of access to health services in order to maximize profits for Conservative insiders.
#onthealth
#onpoli
🏥After administering thousands of vaccines over the past few years, we've made the tough decision to conclude our vaccine season, & possibly for all future seasons for publicly funded vaccines.
Sacrificing seniors for profit.
Families accuse for-profit LTC of "widespread negligence leading to preventable deaths"
Ford tried to protect for-profit LTC homes from lawsuits with Bill 124, then gave them 30-year tax funded contract extensions.
#onpoli
The Ford government’s Luxury Spa Act may go through soon. We are inviting anybody who cares about
#OntarioPlace
to come to Question Period in the legislature tomorrow @ 9:30 am.
Email my office at cglover-qp
@ndp
.on.ca for Members Gallery passes&info.
#onpoli
@OnPlace4All
Ford's Ministers keep making up reasons to justify the
#ServiceOntario
scandal.
Maybe they should just tell the truth.
They're closing sites run by Ontario small business owners & providing taxpayer subsidized contracts to Walmart & Staples.
#onpoli
NEW - In a new interview with CityNews 680, Minister Todd McCarthy said purported ServiceOntario cost savings come from the government no longer paying leasing costs for the independent owners who are being shut down. However, owners say at no point did the government ever pay…
Auditor General's investigation of Ontario Place is underway.
@fordnation
will you pause plans to destroy 1500 trees until the investigation is complete?
Thank you
@ONPlace4All
&
@OntarioNDP
leader Marit Stiles for requesting this investigation.
#ONpoli
NEW: Ontario’s auditor general is conducting a value-for-money audit into the controversial re-development of Ontario Place, Global News has learned.
#Onpoli
#topoli
Private for-profit nurse practitioner clinics charge $450/year + $90/visit.
In Ford's Ontario, you pay for health services with your credit card.
#ONpoli
Nurse Practitioners are great, but they should be paid through OHIP.
#protectpublichealthcare
There are 627,000 black individuals in
#ontario
. Ford's offer of $1.5 million = $2.40 each to address all of the disproportionate impacts of
#COVID19
on black communities.
#onpoli
With ERs closing due to staff shortages and hospitals facing financial challenges, this govt allocated $60M for MedsChecks this past year.
Pharmacists note that the pressure to conduct more MedsChecks is impacting their quality of care.
Is this the best use of $60M?
#ONpoli
NEW: Pharmacists say corporate pressure led Shoppers Drug Mart staff to bill unnecessary medication reviews.
Ontario pays a pharmacy up to $75 to do a MedsCheck consult over the phone, nearly 2X what a family doctor bills for a patient visit ($38). 👇
Therme will release 100,000 tonnes of carbon & use:
The gas/hr of 300 homes in 1yr
The electricity/hr of 7k homes in 1yr
The water/day of 5k homes in 1 yr
No wonder Ford Conservatives exempted the
#BillionDollarBoondoggle
from an environmental assessment.
#onpoli
#ONPlace4All
NEW - Health Minister Sylvia Jones announces that starting this spring the government will expand the number of private surgical and diagnosed centres. Will be OHIP covered.
It makes me incredibly emotional to think these nurses have spent 3 harrowing years in our hospitals and they are STILL GOING STRONG protecting our public health care system.
@fordnation
@SylviaJonesMPP
listen to our HEALTH CARE HEROS! 📢
#ONpoli
#ONhealth
#ONpoli
As a reminder, Ontario Place had 2.9M visitors in 2022 and made a record profit of $5.7M with basically zero investment from the Ford Government! That profit is almost double what Therme Bucharest made for the same year.
The
@OntarioNDP
discovered via FOI requests the Ford Conservatives’ secret plan to pave over a section of Lake Ontario at Ontario Place. When asked to release the plan, the Minister recited talking points, citing a “competitive process” that seems rigged from the start.
#onpoli
The fate of
#OntarioPlace
has always been up to the province, and Ford’s Conservatives are handing Ontarians a terrible deal with an elite luxury spa and a mega parking structure subsidized to the tune of half a billion dollars.
#ONpoli
🧵