On The Ledge - your Ontario politics podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

The week, our On the Ledge crew got bigger!

We're excited to add former Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and former Ontario P.C. Leader Tim Hudak to the Roundtable with veteran pollster John Wright, Queen's Park Commentator Keith Leslie and Story Studio Network's Dave Trafford. 

In this episode, the crew "digs" into Doug Ford's call for a Brampton-to-Markham tunnel under the 401.
Is it just a back-of-the-napkin pipe dream or big thinking and big ideas when we need them most?

What's to be learned after Toronto school kids went on a field trip that ended up at a pro-palestinian protest?

The province's long term care fix is short term pain. Bill 7 is designed to free up scarce hospital beds but it's forcing patients into LTC homes of the government's choosing OR it's fining families $400 a day.

And the premier's answer to homeless encampments is "get off your A.S.S." and get a job!

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In this episode of On the Ledge - your Ontario politics podcast:

John Wright says the Ford government may have won the battle but the union got a better deal than they demanded in the first place, despite a disastrous communications strategy

Or...was the contract package already baked into the government's plans even before the workers walked off the job on July 5th?

It was a long term win for Doug Ford. But he and his team keep laying rakes down and stepping on them when it comes to the Ontario Place rebuild plans.Seems the premier is shocked to learn that underground parking on the Lakeshore is not only expensive, it's likely to FLOOD when we get the epic rain events we saw in July.

We also touched on Deputy Premier "What's her name?" announcing plans to allow expand pharmacists role in treating ailments. Minister Jones REFUSED to say how much the program will cost.

And, as we watch crews sift thru the charred remains of Jasper, where are governments, at all levels, in all regions with their commitment to investing in smart forest management?
The wildfires across Canada are only intensifying and all were left with are a "thoughts and prayers" response from first ministers and ministers responsible for climate change and the environment.

The Carbon Tax isn't a solution. Neither are heat pumps and EVs

Read Jamie Stephen's LinkedIn post if you want to understand how government should be responding and investing. 
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jamesstephen_jasper-faces-significant-loss-of-buildings-activity-7222187533596540929-fO0H?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios


AND..BTW...
OTL is going on hiatus for the month of August. John, Keith and Dave will be back in your podcast feed after Labour Day!

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For more information go to Dave's website.

In this edition of On the Ledge - your Ontario politics podcast:

We pick through the entrails of two by-election wins for the Progressive Conservatives.

Two things are clear:

1. There's no "call for change" at Queen's Park. Are we on the verge if the next Big Blue Machine era of politics in Ontario?
2. If Bonnie Crombie couldn't muster enough attention, support or money to win the race in Milton, what does that say for the future of the Ontario Liberal Party?

Oh ya,,,,Go LEAFS!


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It's been a minute since the Ledge rose for the Christmas break at Queen's Park. We will be back at the roundtable in a couple of weeks with the usual suspects parsing the provincial politics in Ontario. But today, we have a treat for you. John Wright and I sat down Thursday of this week, the morning after the federal Tories dispatched Erin O'Toole and discussed the future of the Conservative Party of Canada. It's a new podcast I launched this month called The Daily Brief. Check it out.

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It's been more than a week since we knew the omicron variant had arrived in Canada. We know the positive cases are among those who have travelled internationally. Do we know their vaccine status? Nobody seems to know. Why? Because, it seems nobody's asking. The Queen's Park Press Gallery floated through an entire Q&A session with the CMOH Dr. Kieran Moore and no one asked whether the patients were vaccinated. Instead the bulk of the newser was taken up with questions about the possibility of future lockdowns, testing procedures, calls for more travel restrictions and other "process" issues. Needless to say, we learned little from that line of questioning and missed the obvious issues.   

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It's always the coverup that causes a crisis! This week, the On The Ledge crew with Sabrina Nanji from the Queen's Park Observer, weigh in on the Wiarton Willie coverup.  Oh ya, and we get around to the $10 a week Child Care plans, the pediatric vaccine rollout and the 4-13 is the project that just keeps on giving Ford Nation a headache.

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Put up your hand if you understand the COVID test plan for school kids over the Christmas holiday? Seeing none...we move onto the next item of Suck and Blow.  Seriously! It is becoming increasingly wearisome to have to figure out what's driving the Public Health strategy at Queen's Park. I'm all for connecting dots if need be, but this week we're left, AGAIN, having to draw our own dots!  

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Ontario Premier Doug Ford has commanded the political high ground by creating a political distraction - namely Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass. They are to the media and the general public what a SQUIRREL is to Dug the Dog! Love or hate the idea of expanding a ring road around the GTA, it's turned out to be a stroke of political brilliance. Ford and company have created a ballot question while, at the same time, forcing the Opposition into a corner. If they criticize the highway plans, they're the guys who say "NO". If they approve, they're losers among their base.  

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He passed away in August of this year and he was memorialized this week by family, friends and political colleagues of all stripes. Former Ontario Premier Bill Davis is remembered as a politician whose success came from his innate ability to include the opposition in his policy and legislative process. The service happened the same day the Ford government unveiled its Fall Economic Statement. What was in it? What was missing? One thing is clear, the Progressive Conservatives are saying "YES!" to electioneering.  

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Ontario's Minister for Long Term Care tabled the Ford government's bill outlining the province's latest promise to address the needs of our elders and most vulnerable. More money for more  inspectors, more money for more staff training, more more of more... But what good are more inspectors if the standard of living in an LTC isn't properly addressed? What good is more tuition support for PSW training if there are fewer and fewer people interested in doing a poor paying job under the glare of public scrutiny in the face of lousy working conditions?

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For more information go to Dave's website.