Meet Your New Ontario Cabinet and Parliamentary Assistants

The new Premier of Ontario was sworn in under the unrelenting summer sun today outside Queen's Park. We've known for weeks that Doug Ford would be the new head of the province, but what abour your favourite ministries: Health! Infrastructure! Attorney General! Education! Well wonder no more! Below is the complete list of cabinet ministers and parliamentary secretaries in alphabetical order.

GPO Unveils Its Plan for the Province

Any election plan that includes the phrase, "None of our demands will rely on fairy dust or magic pots of money," kind of demands your scrutiny. In Toronto today, the Green Party of Ontario andparty leader Mike Schreiner unveiled their 2014 election campaign platform, which along with environmental protection included new revenue tools, funding initiatives, and their controversial plan to combine Catholic and separate school boards in the province. Schreiner, of course, is our local Green candidate running in Guelph, so we'll be on the front lines of the party's efforts to sell their ideas to the greater provincial electorate. 

Who Pays for Scandal?

On Friday it was reported that Senator Pamela Wallin had made a payment of $100,600.98 covering the remaining amount of expenses she inappropriately claimed as a senator, as well as an additional $13,938.19 in interest charges. To say the she did so begrudgingly is an understatement as she refuses to accept responsibility for using the Canadian taxpayer as her own personal piggy bank. “If mistakes were made, I am responsible for those, but there was never a deliberate attempt to thwart the travel policy that was in place at the time the claims were submitted,” Wallin said in a written statement. Coming from a woman who photocopied an airline ticket so she could claim the expense from both the senate and the University of Guelph, that's some serious chutzpah.

Still, I have to say that I give Pamela Wallin credit, she misspent government money, and even though she's kind of being bullheaded about just owning up to the fact she was wrong, she did - eventually - pay it back. So did Mike Duffy, even if he had to write a IOU to PMO staffers in order to the job done. Spending scandals are nothing new to government, but what struck me about the senate expense scandal is that at least were getting the money back. Can the same be said for most other scandals of this sort?

It's Not Voter Supression

It's by-election day in Ontario! And while it's tough to say how it will all work out in the five ridings going to the polls today, I will say that despite the jokes I've previously made on Gang of Four, it's neither unlawful nor immoral for Kathleen Wynne to have called an election for August 1. 

While tuning in to Global's Morning Show this morning - which I hate-watch merely because it accounts for the 10 minutes of my day before I leave for work - I was granted a rare moment of insight from the show. The comments was made that with the rain this morning, and that if it persisted, the already predicted to be low voter turnout might be lower because... People don't like to vote in the rain. And then it hit me, does it really matter when we hold an election? Because clearly there's a whole segment of people out there who are basically looking for any reason not to have to vote. 

Sandals Makes The Cabinet

It's a day of tremendous pride for a little berg as Guelph's Member of Provincial Parliament, Liberal Liz Sandals, was announced yesterday as the province's new Minister of Education under Premier Kathleen Wynne.

McGuinty and the Parting of the Ways

Dalton McGuinty's resignation as both premier and Liberal leader yesterday was surprising for its timing, if not necessarily for the fact that McGuinty would want to step down after nine years as premier, and nearly 17 as leader.

But McGuinty leaves under a cloud, not just the recent political loss of the by-election in Kitchener, and not just because of the compounding scandals including ORNGE and the power plant cancellation. The news of his resignation came with the news of the proroguing of the Ontario Legislature as well, which, while being a legitimate parliamentary tool, has become under recent minority governments a way to duck and cover till the heat from a controversy dies down. In other words, McGuinty's taking the coward's way out.

NDP Saddles Up For Provincial Election

With the Federal Election stuff out of the way, it appears that local NDP are eager to move forward and see if their federal fortunes can translate into provincial victories. Singer/songwriter James Gordon is primed to be the NDP nominee for Guelph in this provincial election, and he's hitting the ground running with a letter to the people, a new website, and fancy You Tube video:

Dear neighbour,

I love this city and I love this province. My work has led me to travel all across Ontario, and I've spent my life working hard to make this city better.

Above all else, I’ve spent my time listening to our community.

Again and again, I’ve heard from you that we need to make our communities stronger and more sustainable, and that we need to work together to make life more affordable, enlivened and secure. It’s why we get involved, it’s why we work day in and day out for the things that matter, it’s what makes Guelph so special.

The values that I know you and I share seem to have been largely set aside by our current Queen’s Park government.

We’ve seen good ideas ignored, while wasteful and bad ideas get rubber stamped in Queen’s Park.

We’ve seen the special interests of the well-connected come before the rest of us.

In this day and age, you’d think we could be strengthening and building our communities for the challenges that lie ahead.

And yet, we’ve seen things done the same way, over and over again-- and we’re getting the same results.

We’ve lost our voice in Queen’s Park. We need someone to listen and be that voice.

Listening to our community means that when one of the world’s largest companies demands more from a community that has less-- you fight to protect what really matters.

Or when our security is challenged by rising costs of living, you answer with great ideas like an Ontario Pension Plan-- not the HST which adds costs to everything from haircuts to hydro bills.

And when a new generation faces an unprecedented challenge to care for themselves and their families, you strengthen our public health care system-- instead of letting it slide towards privatization and a weakening of our health services.

That’s why I’m putting my name forward for the Provincial NDP nomination. I want to be your MPP, an MPP that listens, brings people together and stands up for what really matters.

In my years of work in the cultural sector, I know how important it is to work together and find the best way to make progress on key issues. Guelph has the creativity, ingenuity, and collaborative spirit that we need to bring about fundamental change.

I'm asking you to begin right now to work with me to build an exciting and winning campaign.

Things are changing here in Ontario-- people are starting to hear the message that New Democrats have been saying for so long. Andrea Horwath has re-energized our party as Leader, and Canada’s NDP has won a historic breakthrough.

Now more than ever, I believe the party reflects the values and principles that formed the foundation of the NDP 50 years ago. Across the country, people are seeing the NDP as the better way forward on challenges that we all face. I want to make that change a reality here in Guelph.

I believe that all Ontarions should live with the peace of mind of a strong and steady pension, and with better access to quality public health care. Our great province should be at the heart of a thriving, sustainable energy economy.

That’s the message we can bring to the ballot box this fall, and that’s the vision I hope you will join me in making a reality.

We're only a few days away from the deadline to sign up new members, which means I already need your help. Please use the tools below to share with your friends, and help us win the nomination.

You may not be an NDP member, you may not have even voted NDP before-- but I'm asking for you to take a look at getting involved. My team needs your help, our city needs your energy and enthusiasm.

Thank you in advance for your support and involvement.

James Gordon

On a sad note though, accessibility advocate Susan Wheeler is taking her leave from the race for person reasons. She sent out the following letter today to explain her reasons:

May 3, 2011

Over the past month I have worked behind the scenes assisting with communications and website development as part of the Federal election campaign team for NDP Guelph’s candidate Bobbi Stewart. It has been a privilege working with such a dedicated candidate and I sincerely appreciate that I had the opportunity to be involved in the federal election process within this capacity. It has provided me with a tremendous learning experience. More specifically, it has given me clear insight to the actual time demands and physical activity level required of a candidate. As a result of this knowledge I now find myself faced with the difficult task of reevaluating my decision to be considered as a NDP candidate nominee for the upcoming provincial election.

Although I consider myself to be a person who focuses on my abilities and strengths despite the level of physical disability that I experience everyday, at the same time I must also be realistic. Since I initially submitted my application for candidacy consideration my health has been further challenged due to the ramifications of a serious fall that occurred last winter. Unfortunately, my recovery has not been as productive as I would have hoped. With that in mind, it is clear to me now having experienced this past election in my limited capacity that it would not be in my best interest to challenge myself physically to pursue the honour of being a candidate first hand. Therefore, it is with a heavy heart that I regret to inform you that I must withdraw my request to be considered as a NDP candidate nominee for the provincial election.

I have complete faith that the elected nominee chosen for this honour will both champion the citizens of Guelph and be a superior representative for the New Democratic Party. To date I hold the position within the NDP Guelph riding executive committee as their designated disability representative and I would like to continue to provide support to the group/party within this capacity.

I trust you will communicate my decision to withdraw from the nominee process to those required to know this information.

Yours respectfully and in solidarity

Susan Wheeler

While I appreciate the vigour to get next campaign off the ground, if it's okay with everyone, I'd like to take maybe a week to think about other things, like sleep. ;-)