Election

May 13 2022

A Long List of Candidates for Voters

Syndicated ContentNews candidates, Election, RSS

The nomination period for candidates seeking to run in the upcoming provincial election is now closed.

A total of twenty-eight candidates in the four northwestern Ontario ridings have filed their paperwork with Elections Ontario by yesterday’s deadline.

Eight are in Kenora-Rainy River.

Larry Breiland for the Ontario Party and Mi’Azhikwan, an Independent candidate, are the latest to add their names to the race.

Seven candidates are now running the riding of Thunder Bay-Atikokan.

Dan Criger of the Ontario Party and Kenneth Jones for the Northern Ontario Party the last two to register for the June 2 election.

The riding of Thunder Bay-Superior North has eight candidates while five are running in the riding of Kiiwetinoong.

Here is the full list of candidates.

Kenora-Rainy River
Kelvin Boucher-Chicago, New Blue Party
Larry Breiland, Ontario Party
Joanne Formanek Gustafson, NDP
Richard Jonasson, Consensus Party of Ontario
Catherine Kiewning, Green Party of Ontario
Anthony Leek, Ontario Liberal Party
Mi’azhikwan, Independent
*Greg Rickford, PC Party of Ontario

Thunder Bay-Atikokan
Eric Arner, Green Party of Ontario
Rob Barrett, Ontario Liberal Party
Dan Criger, Ontario Party
Kevin Holland, PC Party of Ontario
Kenneth Jones, Northern Ontario Party
*Judith Monteith-Farrell, NDP
David Tommasini, New Blue Party

Thunder Bay-Superior North
Adam Cherry, Consensus Party of Ontario
Shelby Ch’ng, Ontario Liberal Party
Stephen Hufnagel, Ontario Party
Tracey Allison MacKinnon, Green Party of Ontario
Katherine Suutari, New Blue Party
Lise Vaugeois, NDP
Andy Wolff, Northern Ontario Party
Peng You, PC Party of Ontario

Kiiwetinoong
Alex Dornn, New Blue Party
Suzette A. Foster, Green Party of Ontario
*Sol Mamakwa, NDP
Manuela Michelizzi, Ontario Liberal Party
Dwight Monck, PC Party of Ontario

* denotes incumbent

May 11 2022

Liberals/Greens Release Separate Northern Ontario Platforms

Mike EbbelingNews Election, Green Party, June 2, Liberal, Mike Schreiner, northern Ontario, platform, RSS, Steven Del Duca

Two more of the provincial party leaders have unveiled their campaign platforms specific to northern Ontario.

Liberal leader Steven Del Duca’s promises include the creation of a Ministry of Immigration to help bring newcomers to the north to work and live.

“We will work with the federal government, seeking a mandate from the people of this province to make sure that Ontario is in the driver’s seat when it comes to our own immigration system.,” says Del Duca.

Del Duca says he will also create an advisory plan to ensure the new Ministry is established in the best interest of the north.

Other promises for northern Ontario include;

Ensuring everyone can access a family doctor or nurse practitioner within 24 hours, regardless of their postal code;
Covering tuition costs for medical and nursing students who commit to working in a rural or remote community;
Getting affordable, high-speed internet to everyone in Northern Ontario by 2025;
Constructing new roads to open up access to the Ring of Fire;
Supporting and empowering Northern municipalities by rebating 5% of the provincial mining tax;
Making Community Transportation Grants permanent and slashing municipal and Ontario Northland fares to a “buck-a-ride;”
Promoting economic development and regional tourism by boosting funding for the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund to $150 million;
Building or repairing Northern community infrastructure, like libraries and arenas;
Advancing the proven “2+1” highway model to support safe passing on major Northern Ontario highways;
Ensuring the highest possible level of winter maintenance on Highways 11 and 17;
Promoting safer winter driving by introducing a refundable tax credit of $75 per winter tire and $100 per studded tire in Northern Ontario; and
Reversing Ford Conservative cuts and delays to critical Northern services and projects, and ensuring the following projects move ahead:
- The four-laning of Highway 69 and Highway 11/7 between Thunder Bay and Nipigon by 2025;
- The widening of Highway 17 from Kenora to the Manitoba border;
- The reconstruction of Highway 101 in Timmins;
- The Cochrane bypass from Highway 11 to Highway 652.

Green Party leader Mike Schreiner also unveiled his plans for northern Ontario on Tuesday.

Photo supplied by Green Party of Ontario

“Ontario’s Greens have your back. We have a vision for the north to be prosperous, to be a leader in the new climate economy, to create the new career and job opportunities people in the north need to succeed,” says Schreiner.

The Green’s plan focus on seven key areas

1) Create good green jobs in the North

Increase sustainable, circular and Indigenous-led access to critical minerals and metals while fully adhering to principles of UNDRIP
Maximize job and economic benefits for Northern communities by removing barriers to mass timber building

2) Expand access to quality healthcare in Northern communities

Make dedicated investments in Nurse Practitioner-led clinics in the North where improved access to primary care is critical

3) Invest in a mental health and addictions strategy

Build at least 4,000 supportive homes and 6,000 affordable community rental homes for Northern communities
Implement the Ontario Greens’ Addiction Strategy to address the drug poisoning crisis that has disproportionately affected Northern communities

4) Improve funding for education and French language access

Support the University of Sudbury in transforming into a university by and for Francophones

5) Protect Ontario’s natural heritage

Provide $1B in funding to First Nations communities to support Indigenous-protected and conserved areas and Indigenous-led climate solutions

6) Partner with Indigenous communities

Invest in the creation of 14,000 Indigenous-led affordable homes in Northern Ontario communities

7) Improve connections to the North

Immediately restore and improve the Northlander passenger rail service between Toronto and Cochrane with funding for upfront capital costs of $220 million as well as annual operating subsidies of $12 million

May 11 2022

Leaders Debate Northern Issues

Mike EbbelingNews Andrea Horwath, debate, Doug Ford, Election, Mike Schreiner, RSS, Steve Del Duca

Ontario’s party leaders debated each other for the first time this election in North Bay.

The state of our highways was among the issues raised.

PC leader Doug Ford outlined the investments made and criticized Steve Del Duca when he was Transportation Minister under Kathleen Wynne’s government.

“Mr. DeLuca, you had your opportunity, and you failed. You were the Minister of Transportation. You didn’t build absolutely nothing, absolutely nothing,” said Ford.

NDP leader Andrea Horwath said the promises Ford was making this election as the same made four years ago and not acted upon.

“I have to say it’s pretty interesting when I know that some of the promises that Mr. Ford is making are the same ones that were in his last platform, and he hasn’t gotten around to those things,” said Horwath.

Ford shot back, calling Horwath anti-development.

“Miss Horvath, you’d be in the middle protesting with protest signs on the highway with all your protesters because your anti-development, you’re infrastructure. I’m about getting it done. I’m about building this province,” said Ford.

“You’re about your buddies, Doug,” retorted Horwath.

The debate was held as part of a gathering of municipal leaders from northeastern Ontario.

May 10 2022

Liberals Name Candidate for Kenora-Rainy River

Syndicated ContentNews Anthony Leek, Election, Liberal, RSS

The Liberals finally have a candidate in the riding of Kenora-Rainy River.

Officials with the provincial party tell Acadia Broadcasting that Anthony Leek of Kenora will carry the party’s colours.

The former Emo resident now lives in Kenora where he works as an educator and is the promotor of Lake of the Woods Speedway.

This is the third election for Leek, who is also the president of the local riding association.

He ran for the Liberals in 2011 and 2014, finishing third both times.

Leek is the riding’s sixth candidate.

He will join on the ballot PC incumbent Greg Rickford, JoAnne Formanek Gustafson for the NDP, Green Party candidate Catherine Kievning, Kelvin Boucher-Chicago of the New Blue Party and Richard Jonasson of the Consensus Ontario Party.

May 10 2022

NDP Rolls Out Northern Ontario Platform

Mike EbbelingNews Andrea Horwath, Doug Ford, Election, Green Party, Housing, Liberals, Mike Schreiner, NDP, northern Ontario, ODSP, PC, platform, RSS, Steven Del Duca

NDP leader Andrea Horwath has released her party’s platform for northern Ontario.

Health care plays a prominent role.

It includes hiring 300 more doctors, including one hundred specialists and 40 mental health practitioners.

“You have not gotten your fair share on so many fronts, and we’re here to say you can get your fair share with the government that pays attention to your needs,” says Horwath.

Horwath is also promising to deal with the opioid crisis with investments in treatment programs and revamping the Northern Ontario Travel Grant program.

Other components include creating more training and job opportunities in the trades, mining and film and television sector.

An NDP government would also make high-speed Internet available across the north by 2025.

Ontario Liberal leader Stephen Del Duca has released his full campaign platform.

It’s labelled A Place to Grow.

He says it tackles the province’s affordability crisis and will help families get ahead.

“Our message to the people of Ontario is that this plan will give them the relief that they deserve. And the choice on June 2 will be theirs,” says Del Duca.

The Liberal plan is fully costed.

Del Duca says it also paves a way for Ontario’s budget to be balanced by the 2026-27 fiscal year.

Green Party leader Mike Schreiner wants to give first-time homebuyers a level playing field.

Schreiner says if elected premier, he will put the brakes on wealthy speculators and corporations, which he says are driving up the costs of homes across the province.

“We will bring in a multiple homes speculation tax and a vacant home speculation tax. The clampdown on the rampant speculation happening in the housing market,” says Schreiner.

Schreiner will also make home inspections mandatory at the seller’s expense.

Ontario PC leader Doug Ford is promising to increase the Ontario Disability Support Program by five per cent,

It will then be followed by annual increases tied to inflation.

Ford is also pledging an enhancement to a credit program geared toward low-income individuals and families.

May 9 2022

Ford Insists Opioid Crisis Being Addressed

Mike EbbelingNews Addictions, Andrea Horwath, Doug Ford, Election, Green Party, Liberal, mental health, Mike Schreiner, NDP, Opioids, PC Party, RSS, Steven Del Duca

PC leader Doug Ford is defending his party’s record when it comes to the opioid crisis in northern Ontario.

Several communities have seen a rise in overdoses and related-death in the last few years.

Speaking yesterday in Timmins, Ford says tackling the issue has been a priority.

“Actually, we are getting it done. We’re the only government that made sure we had a Minister of Mental Health and Addiction. We’ve done the largest investment in Canadian history of $3.8 billion,” says Ford.

He says that is far and above what the Liberals did when they were in power.

“They did absolutely nothing. They never had a Minister of Mental Health and Addiction. They didn’t put a red cent into mental health and addiction. We’re putting $3.8 billion. I understand it’s an issue here, and we’re going to continue investing and make sure that we help people that have an addiction or have any mental health issues.”

The budget brought forward before the election call included an investment of $204 million into mental health programs.

Recently, a report issued by the Northern Policy Institute presented to local leaders concluded that local municipalities are finding themselves cash strapped in dealing with homelessness, addictions and mental issues.

Analyst and Author Holly Parsons, “All health units in northern Ontario have seen a general increase in opioid-related emergency department visits, with more drastic increases experienced in Northwest Health Unit, Porcupine Health Unit and Public Health Sudbury and District.”

Parsons makes eight recommendations, including creating a northern mental health and addictions centre of excellence to address the unique challenges of service delivery in the region.

She stresses one-size-fits-all policies and standardized systems of care don’t always work up here.

It was a quiet day for the other provincial party leaders on Sunday.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath hosted a Mother’s Day brunch in Ayr.

Green Party leader Mike Schreiner held private meetings with residents in his riding of Guelph.

Liberal leader Steven Del Duca opted to do no campaigning on Mother’s Day.

May 5 2022

Provincial Leaders Kick Off Election Campaigns

Randy ThomsNews Andrea Horwath, Doug Ford, Election, Green Party, Leaders, Liberals, Mike Schreiner, NDP, PC's, RSS, Steve Del Duca, Syndicated

PC leader Doug Ford’s reelection bid is now underway as the campaigning toward the June 2 election officially got underway on Wednesday.

Addressing supporters in Etobicoke last night, Ford says he’s ready to back his campaign slogan, Get it done.

“Friends, it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work and say yes to more jobs, more homes and more roads, more highways and public transit, and more money back into your pocket,” says Ford.

Ford labelled the NDP as ‘the party of no’ while criticizing the Liberals for wasting tax dollars, leaving health care on the brink of collapse, and stalling the economy while they were in power.

Supplied photo Ontario NDP

NDP leader Andrea Horwath warns of more cost-cutting if the PCs receive a second mandate.

“So the first job, the most important thing that we can do in this election is to make sure Doug Ford does not get a second term so that the Conservatives can’t make even more cuts that hurt people,” says Horwath.

Horwath says the NDP is the best party to get that done.

She notes the party finished first or second in one hundred ridings in the last election.

Photo courtesy Ontario Liberal Party/Facebook

Education was top of mind as Liberal leader Steven Del Duca kicked off his campaign.

He is promising funding that will lead to the construction of 200 new schools and the upgrade of 4,500 others.

He says the $10 billion will come from cancelling the planned construction of Highway 413 in southern Ontario.

“From my perspective as a dad with kids in the system, the fact that Doug Ford wants to invest at $10 billion on the 413, instead of making sure that our kids attend state of the art schools really underscores how frankly he is not up to the job,” says Del Duca.

Del Duca says he would invest that $10 billion back into the education system within the first 100 days of taking office.

Supplied photo/Green Party of Ontario

While the other party leaders will travel by bus across Ontario, Green Party leader Mike Schreiner is going electric.

He unveiled his campaign and the electric vehicles he will use to tour the province.

Schreiner says running to earn your vote, not buy it.

“Gimmicks are not going to solve the challenges we face in this province. Gimmicks are not going to address the climate crisis and leave a livable future for our children. Gimmicks are not going to provide the housing solutions,” says Schreiner.

On the campaign trail today, Horwath will unveil her party’s plan to expand health care coverage in the province while she campaigns in the Scarborough area.

Del Duca makes a campaign announcement of his own in Woodbridge.

Schreiner talks housing in Waterloo and takes part in a candidate’s debate in his Guelph riding tonight.

The itinerary for PC leader Doug Ford was not immediately available.

April 27 2022

NOMA Conference Begins in Fort Frances

Mike EbbelingNews conference, debate, Election, fort frances, municipal meeting, NOMA, RSS, Syndicated

Municipal leaders from across northwestern Ontario are gathering in Fort Frances.

The Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association’s annual conference begins this afternoon. (Wednesday)

President Wendy Landry says it’s a hybrid forum after two years of meetings online.

“We’re offering a hybrid model for those who can’t make it or those who don’t feel comfortable yet gathering in person. Some of our ministers are preoccupied and booked as well. So they are attending virtually. We moved to having the hybrid model so we can accommodate,” says Landry.

Fort Frances was to host the event in 2020 but cancelled because of the pandemic.

All the provincial party leaders will address delegates this afternoon, including Premier Doug Ford.

Municipal leaders will then get down to some of the Association’s key business, including the discussion of resolutions that will be presented to members of cabinet at a later date.

There are several presentations, including one from the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, one of its first since transforming into a new stand-alone university.

“The Ministers are attending as well, Minister Clark, Minister Rickford. The Premier is going to address the group. We have (Solicitor General) Sylvia Jones,” says Landry.

They will be taking part in the traditional Minister’s forum where delegates get to pose questions.

April 21 2022

NDP: Rx Birth Control To Be Covered By OHIP If Elected In June

Syndicated ContentNews (CKTG Country 105) Acadia Ontario (CJUK), Andrea Horwath, birth control, Election, NDP, OHIP, onpoli, Ontario, ontario election, Ontario politics, RSS, Syndicated

Another party platform outlined by the Andrea Horwath and the provincial NDP.

Party leader, Andrea Horwath, outlined that if elected to lead the province in June she would make changes within weeks that would allow OHIP to cover all prescription birth control.

In a written release, Horwath said “the change will remove any cost barriers that limit people’s ability to make free choices about their reproductive health…,”. Types of contraceptives that would be included are the emergency Plan B pill, oral contraceptives, patches, injection/shots, IUD’s (intrauterine devices), rings and implants.

Currently tubal ligations (getting tubes tied), vasectomies and some forms of prescription birth control are available through the province’s health care system, and are only for those 25 and under. There are some exceptions for those outside of that age limit.

The provincial election is scheduled for June 2nd.