Category: Ontario premier Doug Ford

Ontario to Lift Mask Mandate for Most Settings on March 21

Ontario will lift its mandatory masking requirements for most settings on March 21, says the province’s chief medical officer of health, as COVID-19 indicators continue to improve. Dr. Kieran Moore made the announcement in a press conference on March 9, saying that the number of positive cases in the province remains stable and new admissions…


Ontario Lifts State of Emergency Declared Due to Protests

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has lifted the province’s state of emergency previously declared in response to protests opposing COVID-19 mandates and restrictions. Ford’s office said in a statement on Feb. 23 that the “emergency tools” provided to law enforcement would still remain in place for now, “as police continue to address ongoing activity on the…


Ontario to Lift Vaccine Passport and All Capacity Limits March 1

Ontario is easing some of its COVID-19 restrictions on Feb. 17, and will be lifting all capacity limits and proof of COVID-19 vaccination requirement on March 1, Premier Doug Ford said on Feb. 14. Ford said based on recommendations by the province’s chief medical officer of health, his government will remove capacity limits in indoor…


Trucker Protests: The Deeper Problem Is Canada’s Entrenched and Divisive Media-Politico Class

Commentary Signs abound that Canada’s media-politico class is losing, however temporarily, its collective mind. The signs come daily, often hourly. Or in the immortal words of Ontario Premier Doug Ford: “The cheese is slipping off the cracker.” That would be the same Doug Ford who just declared a “state of emergency” to deal with a…


Closing Schools at This Stage of the Pandemic Is Wrong

Commentary Ontario students must deal with another two weeks of their schools being closed. To be more precise, students will not be back in school for “at least” another two weeks. That’s politician-speak for indefinitely. Premier Doug Ford says it wasn’t a hard decision. In fact, it took only 30 seconds for him to make…


Increasing the Minimum Wage Hurts Those It Aims to Help

Commentary Ontario Premier Doug Ford hiking the minimum wage thrills liberals and socialists because they think those fusty, hard-hearted Tories, in jettisoning obsolete economic theory for compassion, are admitting they were right all along. And it thrills conservatives to give up defending unpopular ideas because they think they’ll stop being treated as social lepers. So…


Ontario to Boost Minimum Wage to $15 an Hour, Ford Says

Premier Doug Ford says Ontario will increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour. He says the wage, which is currently $14.35, will increase on Jan. 1. Ford’s Progressive Conservative government cancelled a scheduled increase from $14 to $15 that was supposed to happen in 2019. The previous year, the Liberal government at the time…


Ontario Will Boost Minimum Wage to $15 an Hour in 2022: Ford

Ontario will raise its minimum wage to $15 per hour next year, Premier Doug Ford announced on Nov. 2—a move that was welcomed by labour leaders and questioned by some business groups.  The minimum wage in Ontario currently sits at $14.35 per hour. The wage increase will take effect on Jan. 1, 2022, giving a…


Ontario Throne Speech: Province Entering ‘New Phase’ in Pandemic, Will Aim to Avoid Lockdowns

Tackling COVID-19, avoiding lockdowns, and aiming for a recovery based on economic growth were among the priorities laid out in the Ontario government’s throne speech on Oct. 4. Read by Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell, the speech kicked off the fall session of the 42nd Parliament of Ontario. It is the first throne speech in over three…


Ontario Rolls Out Vaccine Certificate Program

Ontario has announced its own version of a COVID-19 vaccine certificate, which will be required to access non-essential businesses in the province starting September 22. Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced the new vaccine certificate policy on Wednesday, saying vaccination is needed to access non-essential services such as restaurants, bars, casinos, and other indoor facilities. The…