Ontario Politics 2016

[ueo]

I have to disagree! The one sector is and will remain the TO and its immediate environs. Apparent to all.

 

[suffolkowner]

Well, you might argue that the only people dumber than those two are the Conservatives who kept on selecting unelectable leaders ...
   

It wasn't that any of them were bad politicians, nor stupid and certainly not dishonest ... the problem was that the PC party of Ontario did not have (still does not have?) a vision that resonates with about half of Ontarians. All three leaders were divisive in their own rights and none could "connect," well enough, with most, mainstream, urban and suburban Ontarians. The Liberals simply out-campaigned (out-promised) and out-politiced the PCs. They, the Liberals, deserved to win back-to-back-to-back majorities because they understood and campaigned on what Ontario, writ large, wanted rather than on what one sector (rural and small town, conservative Ontario) thought Ontario needed.

ERC I have to agree as the PC's never presented a good alternative to the Liberals for the non partisans. Campaigning on religious schools and cutting jobs were poor decisions in my opinion. Likely the voters will be in the mood for a change and as long as the PC's don't screw it up. Patrick Brown is an interesting choice as he has shown an ability to attract support whether it can be extrapolating to the whole province we will see.

I can't see how we can get off natural gas/propane for heating especially with the poor build quality of housing so that seems like a pipe dream

 

[Kirkhill]

Re Natural Gas.

Wasn't the electrification of Ontario tried once already?  I seem to remember when we came over here from Britain in the 60's that Ontario was building electric houses with no basements, hydro dams and nuclear plants.

And yet, here they are 50 years later and 70% of homes are heated by gas.

50 years, 2 generations, I guess that is long enough to forget.  Somebody might have to read a book or something.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

We had a whole subdivision here that was built totally electric. No gas service. It was all right until McSquinty took over and hydro bills started rising. Now there's lots of wood stoves and fireplaces. People can't afford $1000+/ month hydro bills and no one will buy the houses, nor will the province help upgrade them.

 

[ModlrMike]

Isn't that the point? They've dug themselves in an electricity sinkhole and now they want your money to get them out. Whether you want to or not.

 

[mariomike]

May 20, 2016

Raymond Cho and Doug Ford team up in Scarborough to take on provincial Liberals
Councillor seeks to represent Progressive Conservatives in Scarborough-Rouge River riding
http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story/6564507-raymond-cho-and-doug-ford-team-up-in-scarborough-to-take-on-provincial-liberals/
And former Etobicoke councillor Doug Ford – rumoured to be interested in running there for the PCs himself – wants to be Cho’s campaign manager.

 

[George Wallace]

MORE DOLLARS WASTED and for what?


Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.

Audit reveals Pan Am Games were $342M over budget, but Ontario still paid $5M in performance bonuses
The Canadian Press
Wednesday, Jun. 8, 2016

TORONTO — Ontario’s auditor general says last summer’s Pan Am and Parapan Am Games in Toronto came in $342 million over budget, but the province still paid more than $5 million in performance bonuses.


Officials had said spending for the Games was within the $2.4-billion budget, but Bonnie Lysyk’s audit found that the total cost was about $2.5 billion.

She says when compared to the adjusted bid budget of about $2.2 billion, the Games were actually $342 million over budget, and since Ontario committed to paying most of the cost overruns, the province was on the hook for an extra $304 million.

The TO2015 organizing committee had agreed to pay $5.3 million to 53 senior employees if they stayed until the end of their contracts and the net operating and capital budgets were met.

Lysyk says that the full bonuses were paid, even though organizers asked the province for — and received — a $74-million increase in the net operating budget, and were responsible for managing less than two per cent of the capital budget.

The auditor general says “nonetheless,” Ontarians can take pride in the Games as they were on time, with no major incidents and Canada had its best-ever medal counts.

More on LINK

 

[George Wallace]

MORE DOLLARS WASTED and for what.......AGAIN?


Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.

Kevin O'Leary sends another open letter to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne
KEVIN O'LEARY, SPECIAL TO POSTMEDIA NETWORK
Aug 28, 2016, Last Updated: 3:29 PM ET

Hi Premier Wynne,

I’m worried.

I asked you to keep me informed about the $1.9 billion you are extracting out of the Ontario economy in new carbon taxes. I was excited when you promised lots of new jobs and reductions in carbon emissions. Then I saw the July jobs report. Wow, 36,100 Ontario jobs lost in a single month, the worst decline since the recession, and you still haven’t told me any good news about carbon emission reductions. I guess your new plan is not working.

Maybe it would have been better to leave that $1.9 billion in the hands of the Ontario businesses that were using it to hire employees before you taxed it away from them.

However, I hear it’s not all bad news on the Ontario job front. While the private sector is losing jobs by the tens of thousands under your new tax policies, you have been busy creating some really interesting opportunities for your staff. I don’t know how I missed this, but apparently you lost $70 million setting up and then cancelling the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP) in June. While in operation only six months, you hired some really special people that walked away with millions of taxpayers’ dollars for apparently doing nothing. It sounds so ridiculous that I am assuming I must have it wrong, and that’s why I’m putting pen to paper.

So here goes, true or false?

•Did you spend $8 million marketing the ORPP even though it didn’t exist? That sounds so crazy it can’t be true.

•Did you give Neala Barton, the plan’s senior vice-president of communications, $316,819? She started in March. Just exactly what was she communicating for 90 days?

•Did you pay Anne Slivinskas — the pension plan’s general counsel — $341,418 for working there just three weeks? That’s $2,845.15/hr. You don’t fool around with taxpayers’ money; You hire the best lawyers!

•Did you pay a tech guy named Brian Gill — the pensions plan’s CTO — $414,050 to work for two months! (Note to self: Send Premier Wynne my comp committee’s North American average salary report. Her laptop must have been hacked.)

•Jennifer Brown — your choice for senior vice-president of the plan’s operations — was a lifer. She started March 21 and lasted until the end of June. So, with that kind of long-term commitment, no one should complain about the $445,019 you gave her.

•Did you really pay ORPP CEO Mary Anne Palangio $465,938 for 90 days’ work? Who says you can’t get a great job in Ontario.

•This one is my favourite, it’s so out there! Did you give $485,000 to Saad Rafi when his job running the Pan Am Games ended and then hire him again to run the ORPP even though he has never had an investment mandate before? And then did you pay him an additional $827,925 to walk away a few months later? If this is true, I bet some taxpayers are unhappy about it.

Maybe it would help if you spin this as an inspirational story. You search the province for a seasoned financial money manager to be the fiduciary of the new ORRP but in the last minute hire someone who has fallen on hard times and is out of work, even though they never managed money before. It’s so Rocky-esque!

Rafi could have been great as a pension plan manager but we will never know. Giving him the $827Gs for taking this bold new step in his career is the least we taxpayers can do. After all, it’s hard to live off a measly $485,000 severance when taxes are so high in Ontario, but I know you are not spending any time worrying about that.

These must be very special people! No one in the private sector could ever get a deal like this: Thank goodness they know you. Some Ontarians might see this and assume you don’t give a damn about their hard-earned money. Is that true? Frankly, if I gave away $2.8 million to employees that did nothing in my businesses, I would go bankrupt. Come to think of it, your government has a long history of starting projects, spending millions and then cancelling them — you know, like gas plants, “green” projects and now pension plans. That’s why Ontario is $308 billion in debt, so you are kind of bankrupting us, in your own special way.

Still I get it, perhaps from your point of view, why should anybody give a damn about the $70 million you just wasted, it’s just a rounding error.

Well, maybe the voters do. Have you seen the latest polls? Perhaps at this point in your mandate you may want to think about delivering a little more transparency and performance instead of dreaming up new ways to tax people and businesses and then spending it this way.

I’m just trying to help.

Anyway, I don’t want to be negative so I hope you are having a great summer. I know the 36,100 people in Ontario who just lost their jobs in July are feeling a little down but I’m sure they will go from sad to glad when you tell them about all the carbon emissions you have reduced. Best you get that good news out soon. In the meantime, next time you are paying people on your staff to do nothing for $827,000, maybe you could show a little compassion and hire one of your 36,100 constituents who just lost their job.

There will be an election soon and when that’s over and you start your new career, I’m going to bet it won’t be one where you manage money.

Yours respectfully,

Kevin O’Leary

Ontario taxpayer, voter and your employer, for now.

More on LINK.

 

[GAP]

Shit, you guys have my sympathies.....the NDP here in Manitoba did some wacky things like pay out a billion to Onitracs up in Churchill, but I don't think they can top Wynne..................and you guys keep voting them in. What's up with that?

 

[PuckChaser]

Ask Toronto and the teachers/OPP/OPSEU unions. I think even they may change their tune this time around.

 

[FSTO]

I just came back from a week in Ontario. Man are people pissed at their electrical bills and the way the Wayne government is foisting these windmill farms on areas that did not vote for them. And the gas plant fiasco? Wow, what a colossal FUBAR that was.

Remember, quite a few of the Wayne advisers are now advising the Trudeau government.

 

[George Wallace]

Remember, quite a few of the Wayne advisers are now advising the Trudeau government.

And that is a "DOUBLE WHAMMY" for the people of Ontario.

 

[Lumber]

And that is a "DOUBLE WHAMMY" for the people of Ontario.

Combined Power and Water bill for March-April: $230
Combined Power and Water bill for May-June: $330
Combined Power and Water bill for July-August:...$550

But this is me in my house  :cold:...

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Ask Toronto and the teachers/OPP/OPSEU unions. I think even they may change their tune this time around.

Don't put OPSEU in there......we were 'anyone but".    Smokey even called her a 'liar' just days before the election.....

 

[mariomike]

Ask Toronto and the teachers/OPP/OPSEU unions.

The OPFFA did not endorse Mr. Hudak.

Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association

May 9, 2014

OPFFA says Tim Hudak is putting public safety at risk
http://opffa.org/items/Press%20Release%20--%20Response%20to%20Hudak%20100%20000%20job%20cut%20announcement.pdf
BURLINGTON – The Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association came out against Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak’s plan to cut 100,000 jobs from the public sector.

The union that represents firefighters backs the Liberals
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/06/10/collision_between_union_rights_and_journalistic_independence_tim_harper.html

“You’re the police officer, the firefighter and the paramedic who look into our frightened eyes and calmly tell us that we’ll be OK,” Wynne said while in North York. “Every day, you keep our communities safe and secure.”
http://www.thesudburystar.com/2014/06/02/hudak-and-wynne-duel-over-job-cuts

I'm retired, but I don't believe Mr. Hudak received a lot of support from the Police, Fire and Paramedic unions.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Bucket Boys  :facepalm:

 

[QV]

Combined Power and Water bill for March-April: $230
Combined Power and Water bill for May-June: $330
Combined Power and Water bill for July-August:...$550

But this is me in my house  :cold:...

That is outrageous.  In Alberta I paid $206.xx for water, power, gas, and utilities this month.  Big house huge garden ac on most of the time.  When is the next Ontario election again????

 

[Loachman]

An eternity...

 

[Nuggs]

Combined Power and Water bill for March-April: $230
Combined Power and Water bill for May-June: $330
Combined Power and Water bill for July-August:...$550

But this is me in my house  :cold:...

That's insane.

My first hydro one bill was $230

It's almost twice as expensive as NS. The weird part is my power usage was actually less than $100. It was the taxes compounding that were over half the bill.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[George Wallace]

That's insane.

......... The weird part is my power usage was actually less than $100. It was the taxes compounding that were over half the bill.

People have over $400 bills for ZERO usage, due to Delivery Charges, Paying down the Ontario Hydro Debt Charges, and the numerous Taxes on Hydro.  It really is insane......and then you look at the wages and bonus' paid to the top bureaucrats in Ontario Hydro and you really see how insane it is.