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Sarah Jama at the opening of her Hamilton Centre constituency office, Nov. 14, 2023. Jama opened the office as an Independent MPP after the Ontario NDP kicked her out of caucus for posting a statement in support of Palestinians. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Silencing Sarah Jama diminishes Canadian democracy

Censure might occasionally be necessary to preserve the integrity of a parliament, but using it to punish members for their personal views threatens the foundations of democracy.
NDP MPP, Sarah Jama, a Black woman, was censured by the Ontario Legislature for her comments which called on Canada to refrain from military intervention in the Middle East. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Power)

Sarah Jama’s censure: Making people feel uncomfortable is part of the job

The response to Sarah Jama’s comments on Gaza highlights the anti-Black and Islamophobic sentiments within Canadian politics.
Legislation on the right to disconnect sounds promising. But does it really address why workers are putting in so many hours long after their work day should be done? (Victoria Heath/Unsplash)

The right to disconnect: Why legislation doesn’t address the real problems with work

The right to disconnect can be the catalyst an organization needs to review its workplace policies. But what’s really needed is a cultural shift that gives workers more control over how they work.
A woman is pictured at the window of her west Toronto apartment in March 2020 as her landlord issued eviction notices at the start of the pandemic. Secure and affordable housing is a big concern of those collecting social assistance, whether it was CERB or provincial programs. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

CERB was luxurious compared to provincial social assistance

CERB was a lifeline but no paradise, highlighting the struggles of social assistance recipients to get by on much less.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott walk to a news conference at Queen’s Park on April 16, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

How Ontario can recover from Doug Ford’s COVID-19 governance disaster

The pandemic’s third wave has brought Ontario to the brink of catastrophe. The best options for controlling the situation are well understood, so why won’t the provincial government implement them?
Digital health technology, such as electronic health records, is believed to enhance patient-centred care, improve integrated care and ensure financially sustainable health care. (Shutterstock)

Ontario’s digital health program has a data quality problem, despite billions in spending

Digital health can improve care, but in Ontario, health data are still fragmented, despite billions of dollars spent over the last two decades to enable fast and secure exchange of health information.
Why has the Doug Ford government been so reluctant to take action amid the second wave of COVID-19? THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Why Doug Ford is stumbling during COVID-19’s second wave

Is Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s mishandling of the second wave of COVID-19 a byproduct of his pro-business sympathies?
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announces the government’s plan for reopening schools at Father Leo J. Austin Catholic Secondary School in Whitby, Ont., on July 30, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Empathetic incompetence? Ontario’s Doug Ford government at 2 years

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has presented an image of deep concern and empathy for the victims of COVID-19. But he’s flailing when it comes to delivering proactive measures to fight the pandemic.
A sign and stuffed animal lay at the entrance to Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School ahead of a vigil for murdered 14-year-old Devan Bracci-Selvey, at his high school in Hamilton, Ont., in October 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Cole Burston

Bullying won’t be curbed until we figure out what fuels it

A truly new approach to combating bullying would investigate the factors that make bullying attractive, rewarding and legitimized in the first place, both in schools and beyond.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford faces the Toronto skyline as he attends a recent event. Ford’s campaign slogan was ‘for the people,’ but his first year in office suggests he’s not paying attention to their anger about his government’s cuts. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Doug Ford: Continuing to turn his back on ‘the people’ despite new faces

Despite the Doug Ford government’s claim that it’s now listening to ‘the people,’ there’s little evidence anything has changed.
Ontario budget provisions aiming to limit Crown liability would also apply retroactively, thereby extinguishing existing lawsuits, including a class action by juvenile inmates who were placed in solitary confinement. Ye Jinghan/Unsplash

Ontario government seeking to insulate itself from lawsuits

Proposed new legislation in Ontario will make it much harder to sue the provincial government for its negligence or bad faith.
The Ontario government tabled legislation Dec.6 which would increase the number of young children who can be cared for at once by home child care providers. The proposed legislation is as part of larger reform measures introduced under the Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act that the province says will cut red tape for businesses. Shutterstock

The Ontario government’s plan to loosen child-care rules is dangerous

Low-income, less-educated parents with non-standard work schedules rely most on home child-care providers whose rules would be relaxed under proposed legislation.
Making preschool free will dramatically improve affordability for families across Ontario, Canada, and lead to a predicted increase of 40,000 parents in full-time employment. (Shutterstock)

Why free preschool makes the most sense for families

It is vital that Ontario’s child-care reforms reach all families, and that the province learns from mistakes made in Quebec.
Ontarians got a taste of privatization in the 1990s, when the Conservative government of Mike Harris handed over the lucrative Highway 407 toll road in a 99-year lease for a fraction of its value.

Financiers are now controlling public works, much to the public’s confusion

Canadian governments aren’t completely selling off major public works, but their embrace of public-private “partnerships” is giving private financiers control of major infrastructure projects.

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