[Towered]

You know the old adage - "If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear".

AoD

All the more reason for the auditor-general to double their exposure efforts. This shady behaviour cannot go without thorough investigation.

 

[John_Dee]

All the more reason for the auditor-general to double their exposure efforts. This shady behaviour cannot go without thorough investigation.

Agreed. And (as always with Thug) it's all so blatant and in-your-face, nothing even remotely subtle here. He's such a transparent crook. Let's hope the proper authorities actually stick to their guns this time. They had better. I am sick to death of seeing this asshole constantly get away with this crap.

 

[Thinker]

Agreed. And (as always with Thug) it's all so blatant and in-your-face, nothing even remotely subtle here. He's such a transparent crook. Let's hope the proper authorities actually stick to their guns this time. They had better. I am sick to death of seeing this asshole constantly get away with this crap.

Agree100%, however no one is going to snitch or roll over and expose his alledged shady activities or connections. It will continue.

 

[afransen]

Their lawyers are just earning their paycheques, but this whole situation stinks and should be thoroughly investigated. It may well end up being legal but the corruption is pretty plain to see.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Their lawyers are just earning their paycheques, but this whole situation stinks and should be thoroughly investigated. It may well end up being legal but the corruption is pretty plain to see.

Did they at least have a K. C.?

AoD

 

[adma]

You know DoFo's antsy when he falls back on the alibi that the Greenbelt was some made-up Liberal thing.

 

[old boy]

You know DoFo's antsy when he falls back on the alibi that the Greenbelt was some made-up Liberal thing.

But, but, we're adding to the Greenbelt...and building a gazillion homes because you know all those immigrants just want to come here...

 

[Thinker]

But, but, we're adding to the Greenbelt...and building a gazillion homes because you know all those immigrants just want to come here...

As if those homes (McMansions) are going to be affordable, just like he reasons that his government is helping to offset the cost of living. None of which affects those who cannot afford to own a car and drive on toll roads.

 

[tiffer24]

Nearly all cities in Ontario must dramatically pick up the pace if they hope to hit the targets set by Premier Doug Ford's government, the latest housing construction figures show.

A year and half ago, Ford's Progressive Conservatives set the goal of 1.5 million new homes to be built in Ontario over the course of a decade, and laid down specific housing targets for 29 of the province's largest and fastest-growing municipalities to hit by 2031.

Now trends are emerging, with some cities faring far better than others at being on track to achieve their benchmarks for getting new homes built.

Comparing Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) statistics on new home construction starts from January 2022 to June 2023 against the province's 10-year targets for each city provides a measure of how close each city is to its needed pace.

Among Ontario's largest cities, Toronto leads the way, with new home starts since January 2022 running at about 90 per cent of the pace needed to reach the goal of 285,000 new homes in 10 years. Vaughan has the next best score among big cities, at 84 per cent.

Most other large cities — including Ottawa, Hamilton, London, Kitchener and Markham — are proceeding at roughly 50 to 65 per cent of the target pace.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-housing-construction-cities-report-card-1.6916180

 

[W. K. Lis]

Most kids with autism in Ontario won't get core therapy funding soon, documents reveal​

From link.

Most of the children in Ontario waiting for publicly funded core autism therapy will not receive it any time soon, the government says in an internal assessment obtained by The Canadian Press.

Days into his new role this spring as Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, Michael Parsa was given a transition binder with information on the files he now oversees.

The document obtained through a Freedom of Information request provides a much fuller picture of the Ontario Autism Program than the Progressive Conservative government has so far publicly disclosed.

The current program budget is $667 million, but that will only serve about 20,000 children in core clinical therapies, the document says. Meanwhile, there are about 60,000 children seeking services through the program and about 7,000 more are added to the list each year.

“Families can access a range of other OAP services, but most children and youth will not receive core clinical services funding in the short to medium term,” the document says.

“More children and youth register for the program than age out each year, which means that the waitlist for core clinical services will continue to grow without further investment.”

Alina Cameron, the president of the Ontario Autism Coalition, said that kind of information on timing is exactly what families have been begging the government to disclose.

Many families pay for therapy for their kids out of pocket while they wait for public funding and they need to know whether to remortgage their house, for example, in order to keep footing the bill, Cameron said.

“They say right in the document that there's going to be years-long wait - it's right there in black and white and they aren't articulating that,” she said.

“Be honest with families. Yes, they're going to be mad, but people need to hear that and plan for the future. They need to realize that there is going to be a gap, they're going to have to wait.”

That internal assessment suggests the program is no better than it was in February 2019, Cameron said.

The Tories scrapped the former Liberal government's needs-based autism program four and a half years ago because it had long waits. Their own needs-based program is currently in place, with long waits.

“They could have invested all this time in building capacity, instead of breaking the program and letting it sit for five years,” Cameron said.

In the meantime, the government gave families on the wait list interim “one-time” funding of either $22,000 or $5,500 depending on a child's age. The government also ended up issuing a second “one-time” funding round, but anyone who registered for the OAP after March 31, 2021 has not received any.

“Depending on when they transition to core clinical services, some of these children and youth may experience a gap in services,” Parsa's transition binder says.

Intensive behavioural therapy can cost upwards of $80,000 or $90,000 a year, families say.

The ministry is monitoring “levels of need and how families prioritize spending their funding allocations” and will give the Treasury Board an updated forecast in the fall on costing and the wait list, the internal document says.

The Progressive Conservatives already more than doubled the program's budget, but more is needed, the document suggests.

“An increased investment in core clinical services will help to increase number of children receiving core clinical services, minimize service gaps for some families, and slow the growth of the waitlist,” it says.

As of March, more than 12,000 children were registered to receive core services, the document says. About 6,400 had completed their determination of needs interview, through which their level of funding is set. The money is then supposed to flow fairly quickly, though some families have reported delays in getting it or not being able to spend it due to a shortage of therapists.

The document does not reveal the number of families actually receiving publicly funded core services - a number the government has previously refused to disclose.

There are, however, more than 3,000 children that were already in government-funded therapy when the Progressive Conservatives scrapped the previous government's plan.

Their funding levels have been maintained until now, but about half will eventually receive less government-funded therapy because their current programs exceed the maximum funding allocation for the new provincial program.

Patrick Bissett, a spokesperson for Parsa, wrote in a statement that there are a “large” number of families who haven't responded to attempts by AccessOAP - an organization helping to administer the program - to register them for core clinical services.

“As AccessOAP does not know when or if unresponsive families will respond to their (core clinical services) invitation, it is impacting their ability to issue new CCS invitations and enrolling more children into service,” he wrote.

“We urge all families who have received CCS invitations to respond to those invitations as soon as possible.”

 

[W. K. Lis]

Note the following is aimed at Toronto (Olivia Chow, a former NDP MP, in charge), Mississauga (Bonnie Crombie, a possible Ontario Liberal leader, in charge), and Brampton (Patrick Brown, a former Progressive Conservative MPP and MP and PC leader, in charge).

---

Doug Ford hires auditors to probe finances in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and other cities​

Premier Doug Ford has named the auditors who will swoop in to probe city finances in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and other GTA municipalities.

From link.

Premier Doug Ford has named the auditors who will swoop in to probe city finances in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and other GTA municipalities.
After a competitive procurement process, Ernst & Young LLP has been hired to examine civic finances in those cities, as well as the soon-to-be-disbanded Peel Region, Caledon and Newmarket.
Ford wants to address the municipalities’ concerns that their development-related fees and charges would be drastically cut by his housing policy changes designed to boost supply.

The Progressive Conservatives are promising to build 1.5 million new homes by 2031 to tackle the fast-growing province’s housing crisis, but construction is falling well below their targets.
That means the Tories need an average of 150,000 new homes annually, even though the best year in Ontario housing starts since 1987 was 100,000.
To encourage more construction of rental housing, the province is eliminating development-related charges on affordable and non-profit housing units and cutting by up to 25 per cent the fees for “family-friendly purpose-built rentals.”

But the Association of Municipalities of Ontario has warned the changes could cost cities and towns $5 billion in lost revenue.

Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark said Wednesday the audits, which will be completed by the end of this year, are “a critical part of our work to rein in the soaring cost of housing across Ontario.

“We want to ensure development-related charges and fees are being used in a manner that supports increased housing supply and critical housing-related infrastructure, but which does not unduly raise the cost of finding a home for hardworking Ontarians,” said Clark.

In Toronto, residential development charges range from $25,470 to $93,978 per unit depending on the size of the home.

Municipalities insist they need those funds to pay for infrastructure required with new housing projects, such as roads and waterworks.

When the Ford brothers did an audit when they were in charge of the City of Toronto, the auditors found that the city was already "efficient" and there was no "gravy train". Now Doug is trying again.

---

It was in the spring of 1993, that the former City of Toronto council turned its attention to a premium garbage pickup service that saw city trash collectors pick up garbage from inside the yards of residents in Forest Hill and Rosedale, and return the cans to their rightful place.

The service cost $422,000 a year — and existed because of a promise made to the former village of Forest Hill when it was annexed by Toronto in 1967. After some heated debate, council axed the premium service and Forest Hillers had to carry their garbage to the curb and back like everyone else.

Later, after a few years, the city reduced garbage collection from twice a week to once a week. Again to save money.

Today, we have overflowing trash bins at street corners, because they cut services, again to save money.

The city has been cutting and cutting and cutting on services to "save money" for years now. We are no longer a "world class city" because of the cuts to save money.

 

[Thinker]

Note the following is aimed at Toronto (Olivia Chow, a former NDP MP, in charge), Mississauga (Bonnie Crombie, a possible Ontario Liberal leader, in charge), and Brampton (Patrick Brown, a former Progressive Conservative MPP and MP and PC leader, in charge).

---

Doug Ford hires auditors to probe finances in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and other cities​

Premier Doug Ford has named the auditors who will swoop in to probe city finances in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and other GTA municipalities.

From link.




When the Ford brothers did an audit when they were in charge of the City of Toronto, the auditors found that the city was already "efficient" and there was no "gravy train". Now Doug is trying again.

---

It was in the spring of 1993, that the former City of Toronto council turned its attention to a premium garbage pickup service that saw city trash collectors pick up garbage from inside the yards of residents in Forest Hill and Rosedale, and return the cans to their rightful place.

The service cost $422,000 a year — and existed because of a promise made to the former village of Forest Hill when it was annexed by Toronto in 1967. After some heated debate, council axed the premium service and Forest Hillers had to carry their garbage to the curb and back like everyone else.

Later, after a few years, the city reduced garbage collection from twice a week to once a week. Again to save money.

Today, we have overflowing trash bins at street corners, because they cut services, again to save money.

The city has been cutting and cutting and cutting on services to "save money" for years now. We are no longer a "world class city" because of the cuts to save money.

This seriously sounds like Ford is going to try to run the city from Queens Park. Starve the city of funds that are due and take over when it crumbles. True revenge of the worst kind.

 

[John_Dee]

And note that Ford appears to be continuing with the weird grudge he holds against Patrick Brown. God knows why; I doubt that Brown has ever actually done anything to him. Has Brown ever publicly commented on this? (And after all the under-handed kicks Ford has taken at him, shouldn't Brown say something?) And how much is this "audit" going to cost? Mr. Respect-For-The-Taxpayers strikes again!

Oh, but surely Ford wouldn't pull this kind of stunt just because Toronto and Mississauga didn't vote the way he wanted them to? In simpering Betty Boop voice: "Why, that would be dishonest!"

And an abuse of power.

 

[Thinker]

And note that Ford appears to be continuing with the weird grudge he holds against Patrick Brown. God knows why; I doubt that Brown has ever actually done anything to him. Has Brown ever publicly commented on this? (And after all the under-handed kicks Ford has taken at him, shouldn't Brown say something?) And how much is this "audit" going to cost? Mr. Respect-For-The-Taxpayers strikes again!

Oh, but surely Ford wouldn't pull this kind of stunt just because Toronto and Mississauga didn't vote the way he wanted them to? In simpering Betty Boop voice: "Why, that would be dishonest!"

And an abuse of power.

Pfftttttt, Sometime ago I read Patrick Brown's book with great scepticism, but something kept me thinking that there had to be some truth in there. Well then, it is more than apparent there is. Ford is vindictive and unethical and yes he is full of abuse, verbal and we all know he loves to abuse his power only to be taken down in court. Ford is always happy to lie, throw someone under the bus and or deny he had something to do with it.

 

[W. K. Lis]

A bad sign for Doug Ford’s future? Majority of Ontarians think his decisions benefit ‘friends and supporters,’ poll finds​

Premier Doug Ford may be sailing along this summer, but storm clouds are forming for his Progressive Conservatives, a new Abacus Data poll suggests.

From link.

Premier Doug Ford may be sailing along this summer, but storm clouds are forming for his Progressive Conservatives, a new Abacus Data poll suggests.

While Abacus found Ford’s Progressive Conservatives at 41 per cent support compared to 24 per cent for the leaderless Liberals, 23 per cent for Marit Stiles’s NDP and seven per cent for Mike Schreiner’s Greens, there are ominous signs for the governing party.

Ford’s King’s Counsel patronage award for connected lawyers and the ongoing controversy swirling around Greenbelt development may be taking a toll.

The survey found 54 per cent of respondents think Ford’s “decisions have been primarily about what’s in the best interest of his friends and supporters.”

That compared to 27 per cent who felt his “decisions have been primarily about what’s in the best interest of people living in Ontario,” with 19 per cent unsure.
“Using your power to help your friends is a surefire way to lose trust,” Abacus CEO David Coletto said Wednesday.

“It hasn’t killed the government, but it has the potential to do damage.”

Indeed, even 32 per cent of Conservative voters surveyed said they believe Ford helps “his friends and supporters,” while 52 per cent of Tories insisted he has the province’s best interest at heart and 16 per cent didn’t know.

“Ford is weathering the storm, but the clouds are growing dark and they’ve got to be mindful of that,” the pollster said, warning of the perils of “the perceptions of motivation” behind government decision-making.

On the Friday before the Canada Day long weekend, the premier quietly revived the King’s Counsel title for lawyers, with many of the 91 recipients being Tory politicians, staffers, grandees and loyalists.

After outcry over resuscitating an award that former Liberal premier David Peterson had scrapped in 1985, Ford ordered embattled Attorney General Doug Downey, who gave himself a KC, to “fix that process.”

The KC fiasco came as the Tories deal with continuing fallout from their surprise land swap of Greenbelt lands, which has benefited some housing developers with links to the government.

Using online panels based on the Lucid exchange platform, Abacus surveyed 1,000 Ontarians between last Thursday and Tuesday.

Although opt-in polls cannot be assigned a margin of error, for comparison purposes, a random sample of this size would have one of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The survey comes ahead of byelections Thursday in Scarborough-Guildwood and Kanata-Carleton.

“If the Conservatives win in Scarborough and Kanata then … they’re winning despite any of these vulnerabilities,” said Coletto.

But there remain serious challenges as Ford’s Tories vie for a third consecutive election win in 2026.

Abacus found 70 per cent of respondents felt the government is “not focused enough” on “making life more affordable.”

Similarly, 70 per cent said the Tories are “not focused enough” on “making housing more accessible and affordable.”

About two-thirds — 65 per cent — said Ford isn’t doing enough to improve a health-care system ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than half — 56 per cent — said Queen’s Park needs to do more to protect “the environment and green space in the province,” while 48 per cent said the government was “not focused enough addressing the causes of climate change.”

About one-third — 29 per cent — said the Tories were “focused the right amount” on climate change with 11 per cent saying they were “focused too much” and 12 per cent unsure.

Coletto said the upcoming Liberal leadership contest could also present the Conservatives with a potentially troublesome opponent.

“If Bonnie Crombie becomes leader of the Liberals, that’s someone who could chip away at that PC voter,” he said, referring to disgruntled or wavering Tories.

“She doesn’t look like a scary alternative to those voters. That’s why they should be afraid of her.”

In an Abacus poll last month for the Star, the Mississauga mayor’s personal approval was plus 12 per cent — 25 per cent had a positive view of her compared with 13 per cent negative, 25 per cent neutral and 37 per cent unsure.

By comparison, Ford was minus eight per cent in this latest survey — 35 per cent positive, 43 per cent negative, 20 per cent neutral and three per cent unsure.

Still, that’s an improvement from his minus 16 per cent last month — 31 per cent positive, 47 per cent negative, 21 per cent neutral and one per cent unsure.