Posts with the Ontario Legislature tag

Barris Beat

Bad judgment must be called out

Written by Ted Barris on . 1 Comment
Playing on a tree on the other side of the fence was so inviting, but, it turned out, against the rules.

It happened when I was about nine. The public-school playground got a little boring, so a bunch of us found a maple tree just across the back fence of the schoolyard to climb, sit in and hang from. Word got around to the principal, Mr. Palmer Kilpatrick. If for no other reason than fear of liability, he announced that the tree was off limits.

That didn’t stop us. Next day, we headed back over the fence and scrambled back up the tree. Suddenly, it got quiet. All my fellow tree-climbers disappeared. I was alone. I looked down and there was Mr. Kilpatrick standing at the foot of the tree.

“Ted, come down,” he said sternly. “You know you’re not supposed to be up there.”

“Yes sir,” and I came down. Everybody else who’d climbed the tree with me that day had taken off. And I could have too. But something inside me said, “Fess up and face the consequences.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Hands off our Greenbelt!

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Where development and Greenbelt collide. #ONGreenbelt

On a recent nighttime flight home from a trip out West, I looked out the passenger jet window. Our landing approach toward Pearson took the flight across terrain northeast of the GTA. In the darkness, I spotted a cluster of lights I knew to be Uxbridge. A calmness came over me. The darkness around that cluster of lights reassured me that our Greenbelt looked safe. Untouched. Protected.

Then this week, I heard the municipal affairs minister at Queen’s Park describe a land swap to reporters.

“It’s a bold action to ensure that we meet our housing target,” Steve Clark said.

Bold indeed. But in my view not in a positive way. (more…)

Barris Beat

Learning-by-doing minister Bill Davis

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Bill Davis may have helped more young Ontarians find their way in education than any other 20th century provincial leader. Globe and Mail.

Halfway through my career teaching journalism, around the year 2008, I received a note of thanks from a young man I’d taught reporting skills, news gathering, copy editing and feature writing, among other things. After graduating from Centennial College’s three-year journalism program, Dharm Makwana had left Toronto, moved to the West Coast and landed a job with the Vancouver Sun.

“Because of you, I feel ready to tackle the challenges of an everyday journalist,” he wrote in his thank-you card. “You contributed more to my professional development than any other teacher I’ve ever had.

“I thank you,” he said finally, “for the impact you’ve had on my life.” (more…)

Barris Beat

Notwithstanding democracy

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Justice Edward Morgan ruled restriction of third-party ads by Ont. Gov’t  unconstitutional.

The session bells were ringing Monday afternoon at Queen’s Park, calling Members of the Provincial Parliament into the chamber. The halls outside buzzed with MPPs and their minions. Suddenly, the Premier emerged. He’d seen reporters with cameras. A reporter asked if Opposition debate would delay passage of Bill 307, the one that used the notwithstanding clause of the Constitution to reintroduce parts of a law overruled by a judge last week.

“No,” Doug Ford said defiantly from behind his COVID mask. “We’re fighting for democracy.”

For the record, last Tuesday (June 8) Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Morgan reached the conclusion that it was unconstitutional for the Ontario government to double the restricted pre-election spending period for third-party advertisements to 12 months before an election call. (more…)

Barris Beat

How to pay for paid sick days

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Premier Doug Ford isolating away from the Legislature at Etobicoke home. CPAC photo

It’s been seven days since the premier apologized to Ontarians. It’s been 13 days since he did what he apologized for – unnecessarily closing outdoor recreation facilities and giving police the power to randomly stop citizens during the stay-at-home order. And it’s been nine days since Doug Ford went into self-isolation at his mother’s home in Etobicoke, after a member of his staff tested positive for COVID-19. In other words, the premier has not physically served in his office, nor at the Ontario Legislature since a week ago Tuesday.

In other words, technically, Doug Ford has not been at work.

He continues, of course, to be paid… which means Premier Doug Ford is getting paid for sick days!

That means the premier has received nine days of his annual salary – about $5,148 of his $208,974 annual income – all against the stated policy of his own administration. (more…)

Barris Beat

Where feathers lie

Written by Ted Barris on . 1 Comment

They stood there, almost as if frozen. The look on their faces was the best appearance of innocence they could muster. Most kids are pretty good at trying to look innocent. And though the evidence of a massive pillow fight between the two sisters was everywhere, when we suddenly caught them at it, well, you probably know what we got.

“OK, who’s responsible?” we asked.

“Nope,” said one, and she quickly turned to her sister.

“Not me,” said the other.

I experienced a similar feeling of disbelief, on the weekend, when I read a quotation in the Toronto Star from MPP Steve Clark. The minister of municipal affairs was responding to criticism from David Crombie, the outgoing chair of the province’s Greenbelt Council. Crombie announced on Sunday he was resigning because of the Conservative government’s intends to limit the ability of conservation authorities to assess environmental impact of developments.

“(I’ve) been steadfast in my commitment to protect the Greenbelt for future generations,” said Clark in the Star story. (more…)

Barris Beat

Bowing to young leaders

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Monte Winter announcing he’ll be stepping down after 32 years’ service in Ontario Legislature. Toronto Star

A few weeks ago, I read a story about the end of an era. A man who’d come from a family-run gourmet meat business and then had been elected to the Ontario Legislature in 1985, was stepping down. Monte Kwinter had served his constituents in the riding of York Centre for 32 years, but now he was retiring. The Toronto Star’s Robert Benzie asked the former solicitor general about his decision to leave.

“I am proud of what we accomplished during that time in my riding,” Kwinter told Benzie. But then the 86-year-old Member of Provincial Parliament added something I didn’t expect when he said:

“It’s time to turn over the reins to a new generation.” (more…)