[gabe]

A certain contingent of servers would fight against that tooth and nail.

The culture amongst some restaurant servers (especially those in fine dining) is they deserve every last penny of a given tip, the rest of the place be damned. They complained when tips were shared with back-of-house and I know several who would work for nothing if they could take home all of their tips (hint; they can take home thousands a week). It's sad that there are places where servers can make more annually than the chef-de-cuisine, and regularly make more with no formal education at the entry level than the very lowest-level cook who has a (often required, in most places these days) two year culinary school diploma.

That side of hospitality can be a very big ego trip. Some get off on the "I'm the person who truly makes the customer happy!"-idea.

A lot of servers would fight it. They would be making less money. Unless we bump up the minimum wage up to $20+ an hour.

I worked fine dining for 10 years, i heard no complaints about the tip out to the kitchen staff, the biggest complaint i heard from servers was restaurant owners stealing tips. - they should NOT be touching tips.

 

[old boy]

Yes, that's why I said they did little (little ≠ zero) until their final year, 2018 when they granted a nearly 21% increase. If the OLP was the champion of minimum wage increases McGuinty/Wynne would have not left the rate unchanged for many years. That's how Doug Ford was able to steal the issue from the OLP. Mind you, it'll likely be well into his third term before he raises it again, so the OLP can have a chance to do it right.

God help us if the putz is around for a third term.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Former Ontario premier Bill Davis remembered as ‘giant of Ontario politics’​

From link.

Former Ontario premier Bill Davis was remembered Thursday as a political giant, a beloved family man and a kind mentor to many public servants.

Davis, the 18th premier of Ontario and one of the country’s longest-serving premiers, died in August at the age of 92. Family, friends and public figures paid their respects to him at a memorial service in downtown Toronto.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Davis “a visionary” who played a major role in the patriation of the Constitution and the entrenchment of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the Constitution.

“Bill’s goal was always to help people. That’s why he loved politics, because he knew it was there and he could get things done,” the prime minister said.

“And that’s what Bill Davis was all about -- getting things done.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Davis touched “so many people’s lives, from his beloved family to those who had the privilege of working with him, to the countless Ontarians he impacted through his decades of public service.”

Davis won four consecutive elections. Often called Ontario’s “education premier,” he held the position from 1971 to 1985.

Ford praised Davis for creating Ontario’s college system, North America’s first Ministry of Environment and the province’s public broadcaster, TVO.

“His accomplishments are too many to list, but beyond all of them, Bill will be most remembered for his kindness and his humility,” he said.

Ford said Davis was “a giant of Ontario politics, but he never behaved that way.”

“You always got the sense that he thought of himself simply as Bill from Brampton and he’d be happier up in Georgian Bay than in talking about all he had done for Ontario,” he said.

Neil Davis, one of the former premier’s sons, said his father was not only a great politician but “a better person, a wonderful father, grandfather and great grandfather.”

Toronto Mayor John Tory said there were two people he’s tried to model himself after -- his father and the former Ontario premier, who was a mentor and friend.

“For any of us to be able to consistently represent the kind of decency and balance and humanity and humility that he did would be a monumental personal achievement. I’m not sure anyone could do it as he did,” Tory said.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown also paid tribute to Davis, saying he “set the gold standard of public service” and will go down in history “as one of the great contributors to modern Canada.”

Davis died on Aug. 8 of natural causes at his home in Brampton.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2021.

Should be remembered that former Premier Bill Davis was a real Progressive Conservative. Not the (progressive) Conservatives Premiers like Mike Harris nor Doug Ford.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Should be remembered that former Premier Bill Davis was a real Progressive Conservative. Not the (progressive) Conservatives Premiers like Mike Harris nor Doug Ford.​

Mike Harris was elected in 1995 and 1999 because he connected with what the people were feeling.

 

[Towered]

Mike Harris was elected in 1995 and 1999 because he connected with what the people were feeling.

Only for there to eventually be mass amounts of buyer's remorse, leading to 15 years of Liberal government...

 

[Admiral Beez]

God help us if the putz is around for a third term.

The Star today may thus give you some hope.

Bob Hepburn: The end of Doug Ford’s time as Ontario premier may be starting to unfold

On Oct. 22, Doug Ford handed a victory to the 1.4 million Ontario adults who still haven’t bothered to have at least one vaccination jab. He did that by telling them to wait just a bit longer and they won’t have to be vaccinated.

www.thestar.com

 

[tiffer24]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1456685700137594883

 

[W. K. Lis]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1456685700137594883

From Toronto Life, on Stephen Lecce, from link...

You attended the private St. Michael’s College for high school; you have no kids. With respect, why does it make sense for you to be in charge of public education in Ontario?
I’m also a proud alumnus of St. Margaret Mary Catholic elementary in Vaughan, I have nieces in the public system and I am an unabashed, unapologetic defender of public education. I’m also 33 and take a generational lens to how public policy impacts young people, which has not been the historic norm in cabinet.

The average class size at St. Mike’s is 23; you came to the negotiating table with teachers pushing for 28. Is there some degree of hypocrisy to that?
This is a challenging question. I would say that our position with respect to average class size was negotiable. But that spirit of reasonableness must be matched by the other parties. You can’t have one entity being flexible and the other unwilling to change their opinions at all.

Your parliamentary assistant, Sam Oosterhoff, was home-schooled. How do you correct for a combined lack of recent experience in public education?
This isn’t about myself or the parliamentary assistant or any other politician. It’s about the people we serve.

Yes, that same St. Michael's College that was in the news recently.

 

[W. K. Lis]

From link.

 

[Richard White]

So apparently Doug Ford will be using Taxpayer money to construct a highway nobody wants. He will also pave over sensitive lands to do it!

I think he may have cost himself the election right here...

https://www.thestar.com/politics/pr...l-bankroll-the-toll-free-bradford-bypass.html

 

[W. K. Lis]

So apparently Doug Ford will be using Taxpayer money to construct a highway nobody wants. He will also pave over sensitive lands to do it!

I think he may have cost himself the election right here...

https://www.thestar.com/politics/pr...l-bankroll-the-toll-free-bradford-bypass.html

Ontario taxpayers will cover the entire cost of the new Bradford Bypass linking Highways 400 and 404, vows Premier Doug Ford.​

​

On a campaign-style swing to Bradford, Ford announced the proposed 16.2 km highway would not be tolled — like the Highway 407 — when it is scheduled to open in 2024.​

​

“I want to be clear our plan for building roads, bridges and highways doesn’t include tolls,” the premier said Monday in a farmer’s field several kilometres from the planned route.​

​

“Our government is fully funding the construction of the Bradford Bypass — this project is a critical part of our plan that’s building Ontario,” he said.​

​

The price tag is not yet known, but Ford noted Queen’s Park plans to spend $144 billion on numerous infrastructure projects over the coming years.​

​

“With both Simcoe County and York Region expected to grow at incredible speed, building the Bradford Bypass is a no-brainer,” he said, lashing out at “ideological activists who oppose any and all highways over hardworking families.”​

​

The highway would cross 27 waterways and cut through environmentally sensitive Holland Marsh lands, impacting about 39 hectares of wildlife habitat and 11 hectares of wetlands.​

​

Claiming the new freeway would save motorists 35 minutes a trip from Highways 400 to 404, Ford said it would “reduce highway congestion” and curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions because commuters would not be idling in gridlock.​

​

But Green Leader Mike Schreiner countered that the bypass “would pump almost 87 million kilograms of GHG emissions into the air each year.”​

​

“Urban planning research has long shown that more highways create more congestion, traffic and emissions through induced demand. We need to crush climate pollution, not create more,” said Schreiner.​

​

In Thursday’s mini-budget, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy pledged $1.6 billion over six years “to support large bridge rehabilitation projects and advance key highway expansion projects, including the Bradford Bypass and Highway 413.”​

​

With the June 2 provincial election looming, the Progressive Conservatives are banking on support for highways being popular with Greater Toronto Area voters.​

​

That’s why there is a renewed emphasis on the Bradford Bypass and Highway 413, a controversial 60 km freeway connecting Milton from Highway 401 to Highway 400 at Vaughan. Neither even merited a mention in the March 24 budget.​

​

Bradford West Gwillimbury Mayor Rob Keffer said the “lack of an east-west artery hurts our quality of life (and) harms our environment” because drivers are stuck in gridlock in towns like Bradford.​

​

“It also hurts our farmers who now compete with commuters on rural roads,” said Keffer.​

​

“We need this link. We’ve asked for it for over 30 years. Let me just say to those who oppose this highway: you should speak to the locals. They know we need it.”​

​

Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney, who represents York-Simcoe, said the environmental assessment done a quarter century ago would be updated before construction can begin.​

​

“There are a number of important studies that need to be done and they are currently in process. It will take a little bit more time to complete and we’ll be in a position to put shovels in the ground once that environmental assessment process is complete,” said Mulroney.​

​

“Each step of the procurement process will bring us closer to awarding the design build contract expected next March so that we can get shovels in the ground as soon as possible,” she said.​

​

A recent Torstar/National Observer investigation raised questions about the ownership of land adjacent to the project.​

​

Associate Transportation Minister Stan Cho’s father co-owns East Gwillimbury’s Silver Lakes Golf and Country Club, which would be spared from development under a recently proposed route change.​

​

Cho has declared a conflict of interest and no information about the bypass is shared or discussed with him.​

​

NDP MPP Catherine Fife (Waterloo) said “highway plans should be based on commute times and safety, not politics and making your buddies rich.”​

​

“At least 3,100 acres of prime real estate along the route are owned by Ford’s buddies and high-value donors — so Ford is bumping back other highways projects to prioritize enriching his friends with the Bradford Bypass,” said Fife.​

​

“He’ll do anything for his buddies, no matter what it costs the rest of us.”​

 

[W. K. Lis]

 

[W. K. Lis]

Urgent Letter to Ontario MPPs Regarding the New Long-Term Care Act​

From link.

Dear Members of Provincial Parliament,


We are writing to request that you do not support or facilitate any plan to drive through the “new” long-term care bill with undemocratic speed. We are asking that there be full public hearings across Ontario on this legislation.


Bill 37 Providing More Care, Protecting Seniors, and Building More Beds Act, 2021 is not truly a new long-term care act despite the reported statements of Minister Phillips preceding the bill’s introduction. The bill does, however, contain amendments to the existing act, some of which are consequential. In addition, the bill carries with it a significant opportunity cost: a lost opportunity to make meaningful changes in the public interest.


The most egregious change to the language of the legislation is in the preamble. The current LTC Homes Act commits the government to promoting public and non-profit long-term care only. The legislation is supposed to be interpreted in accordance with the commitments in the preamble. This matters. In the new bill, that clause is changed to include “mission driven” organizations – a term that is not defined in law and which, as you know, is a euphemism that been used to cover for an array of for-profit long-term care chains, including those that are responsible for the highest death rates and most ghastly conditions of living and care in our long-term care homes.


This proposed change is about facilitating the privatization of more long-term care homes. It is contrary to the morals and values of the vast majority of Ontarians but it suits the interests of the private equity, finance, and for-profit chain long-term care corporations. Given what has happened in our province’s experience with for-profit long-term care, their interests cannot again be allowed to supersede the public interest. This change should not have been put into the new legislation. At the very least it must be subject to fulsome debate and public input.


As noted, there is more that warrants a full public discussion, and since there was no proper public consultation prior to the introduction of the legislation, it must happen before this bill is driven through.


We must also note: we will not allow false excuses or manipulation to be used as cover for pushing through this legislation undemocratically. Many of the powers described as “new” in media statements are already covered in the existing Act and amendments. It is entirely within this government’s power to proclaim the sections of the Act passed by the Ontario Legislature in 2017respecting administrative penalties (fines) and suspensions of licenses and to begin to use them without delay. In fact, the government has been sitting on those powers for its entire term in office (3-years) without putting them into action. Further, there have always been powers to levy provincial offenses and fines upon conviction, and to suspend admissions and revoke licenses. In addition, the government could have passed a regulation through Cabinet – and can still forthwith — to institute a real enforceable minimum care standard (unlike the “target” proposed in the new law). Asking for real public consultation does not delay anything meaningful that could have already been done and can still be done right away in the interim.


As you know, successive governments have changed the rules of the Ontario Legislature to push through legislation more quickly. The most recent changes have resulted in some of the worst, most undemocratic railroading through of major health care legislation that we have seen in the entire 40-year existence of the Ontario Health Coalition. These practices have to end.


If almost 4,000 deaths in 16-months from COVID-19 alone in our long-term care homes is not enough to end partisanship and “business as usual”, what could possibly be enough? We are asking each of you to search your consciences. Tens of thousands of Ontarians have suffered hideously as a result of what has happened in our long-term care homes. Our province has among the worst pandemic outcomes in long-term care homes among developed nations. We need real change that is effective.


As you know, there are approximately 30,000 licensed long-term care beds with licenses that end in 2025. In addition, there are 15,000 new beds being licensed. This is a huge proportion of the capital stock of long-term care beds in our province. The public will be paying to build/rebuild and operate those homes for the next 30 years. Public debate about a major public policy issue, privatization of health care services and assets, and the use of billions of dollars in public money that will impact hundreds of thousands of Ontarians over the next 30 years cannot simply be sidelined.


Thank you for considering this request.





Kind Regards,


Natalie Mehra Ross Sutherland, MA, RN (retired)


Executive Director Chair

 

[tiffer24]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1458461562059075589

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1458461562059075589

His government, perhaps.

AoD