"IT FELT DIRTY": a Global News investigation reveals that people connected to premier Doug Ford, including former staffers, sent flyers to developers seeking donations to raise money for his daughter's wedding last year globalnews.ca/news/9457569/o… #onpoli NOTE: the Integrity Commissioner did not conduct an INQUIRY under section 31 of the Members’ Integrity Act. Rather, the IC provided an OPINION under section 28, at the premier's request, and this opinion was based on **information provided by the premier** #onpoli

Pork barrel politics: powerful developers with political & donor ties to Doug Ford & the PC Party are poised to profit from the proposed Bradford Bypass highway through the Greenbelt, according to a new @NatObserver/@TorontoStar investigation nationalobserver.com/2021/10/31/new… #onpoli Ford govt is rushing the politically-driven Bradford Bypass project through, exempting it from the Environmental Assessment Act, even though the 4-6 lane highway threatens prime farmland, the Holland Marsh and the sensitive Lake Simcoe watershed nationalobserver.com/2021/10/31/new… #onpoli

STAR INVESTIGATION: Highway 413 will cost taxpayers $6 billion, carve through the Greenbelt, and only save drivers 30-60 seconds per trip. So why is the Ford government doing it? Maybe because well-connected land speculators & PC donors will profit thestar.com/news/investiga… #onpoli The Ford govt has issued three Minister’s Zoning Orders—bypassing due process, public consultation & environmental review—to fast-track the projects of PC insiders along the Highway 413 corridor. One of these MZOs will destroy three provincially-significant wetlands #onpoli

https://twitter.com/emmamci/status/1378332487059959808

"The third wave was predicted, clearly and unambiguously, and we walked right into it. If this isn’t failure, what is?" asks @jm_mcgrath tvo.org/article/we-kne… #onpoli #covid19 Seven weeks ago #onpoli #covid19

https://twitter.com/seanfitz_gerald/status/1359984490131644422

Holy crap: Canada's Parliamentary Budget Officer says that under the National Housing Strategy, the Trudeau government will spend 14% LESS on Assistance for Housing Need programs over the next 10 years as compared to the previous 10 years pbo-dpb.gc.ca/web/default/fi… #cdnpoli Trudeau's National Housing Strategy turns out to be mainly a giant handout to banks and private landlords that spends LESS on social housing and helps FEWER people in core housing need than under Harper pbo-dpb.gc.ca/web/default/fi… #cdnpoli

Thread (warning: wonkish) — A recent report by the Financial Accountability Officer raises serious questions about the transparency of the Ford government’s current spending plans #onpoli Last month, the FAO released an unusual report, “Expenditure Estimates: A Review of Ontario’s Proposed Spending Requirements for the 2018-19 Supply Bill” fao-on.org/en/Blog/Public… #onpoli

In 1995, the PC govt created the “Red Tape Commission,” which led to cuts & deregulation of water safety, which led to the deaths of seven people at Walkerton. Those deaths led to the Clean Water Act, which the Ford govt now believes to be red tape thestar.com/opinion/contri… #onpoli From the archives: Mike Harris, his Red Tape Commission and the Walkerton inquiry theglobeandmail.com/opinion/what-d… #onpoli

Having opened the door, Doug Ford says he would “not be shy” in using the notwithstanding clause again in the future to get his way. Here are the fundamental Charter rights that can be taken away with the notwithstanding clause: laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/Const/page… #onpoli Section 2: freedom of conscience, of religion, of thought and expression; freedom of the press; freedom of peaceful assembly and association