Wrapped up as Ontarians were in the Blue Jays’ Cinderella run to be World Series champions, they may have missed news that Premier Doug Ford’s government is going to scrap fixed election dates and increase donations and public subsidies to political parties. Elections are the backbone of a democracy so any tinkering with the rules […]

While Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra decides what to do with school boards, another controversy is dividing parents, teachers and school board officials – should schools reinstate or maintain “school resource officer” programs. The programs place police officers in schools to help prevent and deal with violence and to try and teach students that police […]

Premier Doug Ford, riding high in the polls, is planning to spend some political capital to dramatically change the way democracy works in Ontario.  Attorney General Doug Downey is seeking to reform the Elections Act to end fixed election dates in Ontario, a practice that is currently in place in at the federal level and […]

Throw more money at it.  That’s the solution mainstream politicians seem to be turning to as outcomes in schools decline and parents demand better.  But if more money were the solution to declining outcomes in government-run schools, the issue surely would have been solved long ago.  Take the province of Ontario as an example.  Back […]

Alberta’s striking teachers should buy some snow boots for the picket lines, because it looks like Premier Danielle Smith is digging in her heels and this could take a while. Being paid $100,000 a year to teach school sounds plenty fair to plenty of Albertans and the province does not have extra money to spend. […]

School must be back in session as the days of discontent for teachers have arrived once again. Alberta teachers have been the latest bunch to strike in what seems to be an unfortunate Canadian tradition. Teachers really love to strike or have “job actions”- such as working to rule or denying students extra-curricular activities – […]

Ontario is now leading the nation, and not in a good way.  For years, the province of Quebec was known as the corporate welfare capital of Canada, where the government handed out billions of dollars to wealthy companies that didn’t need taxpayer help.  But under the leadership of Premier Doug Ford, Ontario has officially passed […]

The golden rule of political communication is simple: talk like people talk. This imperative demands relatability, which is why politicians and their staff ground their messages back to constituents and the everyday realities of life. Rather than talk in terms of figures so far removed from household budgets, the details are often distilled into themes […]

While Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra decides what to do with school boards, another controversy is dividing parents, teachers and school board officials – should schools reinstate or maintain “school resource officer” programs? The programs place police officers in schools to help prevent and deal with violence and to try and teach students that police […]

This week saw an odd publicity stunt in Ontario, with Premier Doug Ford melodramatically pouring out a bottle of Crown Royal whiskey at a press conference while stating “A message to the CEO in France – you hurt my people, I’m going to hurt you.” This was in reference to the planned closing of a […]