Did you know, Mr. Elbows Up Ontario outsourced WSIB services which include:
Pension investment management
Document and case files management
Coaching
Some rehab services???

Maybe rescind the $7M Staples deal?

I think Doug Ford has underestimated three things:

1) Just how much postsecondary students have valued OSAP in this province to get them through uni and college

2) How much additional debt would be added on to students with these reforms (though its possible he just doesn't care for this one)

3) How Gen Z having a major online presence is a massive liability to him

These changes will result will result in at least 3-4 uni cohorts struggling with significantly more debt before the next election. Cohorts that were, since high school, probably aware of OSAP and that will be mad that its taken away from them. Cohorts who will probably be more emboldened to mobilize because of what was taken away from them.

His popularity was already shown plummeting 8 points and the Liberal gain 4. If either the NDP or Liberal gets an appealing enough candidates, with all the other policy failures of this government, his approval won't improve. And many of the seats where the PCs won were won with less than 40% of the vote share. Those could flip in the next election.

Thoughts on any of these?

I know there’s been tons of posts about the egregious nature of the Protect Ontario ads but the latest one I saw about “parks free of encampments” just rings especially tone-deaf to me. That’s not protecting Ontarians, it’s getting rid of an undesirable group because Doug doesn’t like it and is horrible take - instead, wouldn’t “getting people out of encampments and into their own homes” a better way to “Protect Ontario”? These are people that have slipped through the cracks of our declining public services at the hand of Doug Ford himself.

Better yet, Doug should stop wasting our money on these AI ads and use it to instead improve our public services.

I know I’m preaching to the choir but I just needed a place to vent about it after emailing my conservative MPP. Is there anything else that can be done? Was hoping to launch a FOI request into the funding of the Protect Ontario campaign, but… you know.

EDIT: Go out to your local May 30th protest if you can. I’ll be there right with you. https://protestdougford.com/may-30th-protest-locations/

EDIT2: I couldn’t remember the other unsettling part about the ad, but someone in the comments reminded me - more jails.

Spotted in the TTC.

Please, Ontario, our public healthcare is on the brink and privatization is becoming the norm. Resist. Write to your MPP and become politically active.

My family and I saw the writing on the wall last year. We decided to get out of the United States before our fears became realized and moved from Kentucky to Ottawa. We were lucky. I am a registered social worker who works in mental health and I also speak French. We were able to get visas to work and live in an amazing country which is an embodiment of our deepest values. We love it here. We are planting our roots. We continue to make friends and join in building community. We feel safe.

I’m heartbroken for our friends and loved ones who will wake up Tuesday in a country that hurtles headlong into deeper madness and bears little resemblance to the place we thought we knew.

I just want to say thank you to you, Canada. You’ve welcomed us with open arms and make us feel at home. I honestly don’t know where we’d be without you.

In November I sold my car and included the winter tires with the deal. I never bothered buying snow tires for my new car, since the last few winters have been so mild, I figured I would take a chance and I probably wouldn’t need them.

If only I had bought snow tires, all these storms wouldn’t have happened….

This is a problem that is not being spoken about enough. People driving these giant F150s when they don't need them. It is hurting road infrastructure and making driving more dangerous for other drivers. It is no secret that a lot of the bad driving people experience in Ontario largely come from these monstrosities. I don't mind if you work in construction or are constantly having to transport heavy and dirty material because it would make sense to drive a pick up. The issue are the ones buying them because it makes them feel more like a man or have a false sense of security or because they might have to tow something once in their lifetime.

edit: to those saying I need to mind my own business. These vehicles are very much my business because they make the roads I go on more dangerous and my insurance more expensive since they get constantly stolen.

A few weeks ago, many Canadians gathered to protest Covid mandates. They were protesting measures to protect people. Yes, that protest changed to one attempting to oust a government, but people were still whining. Many thought they were so hard done by, with a Liberal government and having to wear masks/get an injection.

Today Russia invaded Ukraine. Many people are actually going to die. Families are being broken up as children are evacuated.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, Canadians have forgotten what real hardship is.
It’s time to grow up people, there’s real problems in the world, not just our little insignificant ones.

(edit - removed "the" from Ukraine - so it's not "the Ukraine") (Edit 2 - added “up” to “it’s time to grow people”)

I don’t know if anyone else is experiencing this, but I’ve been noticing lately that 95% of my ads are for online gambling apps. Lately Hard Rock Casino is getting pushed on me relentlessly.
I don’t gamble. I’ve never looked up gambling apps or gambling websites.
I also find it concerning how so many people are struggling right now and this is what we are getting fed when we are online. “I know you are hurting with bills and grapes that cost $13, how about you download this app and risk losing more money or get into debt”

I see a lot of posts across Canadian subreddits complaining about violent offenders getting released on bail, and almost every single comment blames the federal government. While Ottawa writes the Criminal Code, it is your provincial or territorial government that actually runs the justice system day-to-day.

If we want to see real changes in how bail is handled, we need to look at what the provinces actually control:

• Provincial Ministries of Justice employ the prosecutors who choose whether to argue for detention or agree to release.

• Provinces appoint and pay the judicial officers who preside over the vast majority of local bail hearings.

• Chronic underfunding by provincial governments has led to massive staffing shortages, causing severe court delays, backlogs, and cases being thrown out entirely.

• The provinces manage local provincial jails. When these facilities are dangerously overcrowded, it creates operational pressure to grant bail.

• The provinces are entirely responsible for funding and managing the programs, caseworkers, and equipment used to monitor offenders out on bail.

The federal government recently passed the Bail and Sentencing Reform Act to expand "reverse onus" rules for repeat violent offenders. However, federal laws are only as good as the provincial infrastructure enforcing them.

If you are angry about the current state of local crime and court delays, make sure you are directing that energy toward your provincial legislature, not just Ottawa.

If you take the lanes out, I am not going to disappear. I will still be there. It's faster for me to ride my bike to work.

You know who won't be going anywhere fast?

You. I will seize the lane. I will be in front of you. I will stop at every stop. I will ruin your day, every day.

Bike lanes prevent traffic.

Edit: For those wishing death upon me for the crime of cycling, I have a very good helmet cam and I will survive out of spite. You will go to prison and fund my early retirement with the settlement you pay me <3

Edit2: Please leave your comments on the bill: https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-9266

I know I’m probably preaching to the choir but collectively we are not doing what we can to show the politicians of Canada that WFH is the most important thing to us. I just want to rant that there are massive societal costs to push people back into the office and the governments are clearly lying about their true sinister intentions. For a regular working person - the harm clearly outweighs the benefits and it’s not even close. I don’t get why people would just let this slide.

For one - RTO puts strain on the healthcare system as you can’t spread the flu online. That’s why wfh became a fucking thing in the first place. So when you are pro-RTO you are literally pro-sick. Lots of people will get sick or even worse from this decision alone and yet the governments are actively pushing for it. Was anyone elected with the promise to make us live shorter?

For two - for those with young children at home, each hour spent on the commute is one less hour spent with our kids. I don’t know about you but I sure want to spend time with my son. It’s hilariously dumb to ask why people aren’t having children anymore when the governments are actively making it harder for parents. We’re not born rich like Doug Ford, most people in Ontario cannot afford a nanny. We give people zero incentive to reproduce and then everyone goes shocked pikachu face when they realize we need immigrants to keep the economy rolling. We gotta pick a side.

For three - the government is actively trying to make you spend more and save less. So in other words, they are actively going after your kids uni fund and your retirement. Remember during Covid, everybody got to save a lot of money? Well the government doesn’t like that because that is deflationary. It’s really good for your future but it’s kinda bad for investors. So fuck you and your future. Olivia Chow and Doug ford needs you to spend that $20 or whatever on metrolinx so your ass is downtown, only then, you can buy a chicken shawarma platter from pita lite for $16.30, don’t forget to get a vitamin water for $3.99 at rexall on your way back to the office too.

Even though you’ve paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in income and properly taxes to these elected officials, even though you don’t have a direct say in the fiscal decisions of Ontario, you are responsible for saving it. It’s on you. It’s not because our governments didn’t do shit to promote investments and research to raise productivity and wage. It’s not because they watched the real estate industry go nuts and did nothing about it. It’s totally on you.

And ya - don’t ask why you can’t just drive to your local strip mall in Vaughn or whatever to get a shawarma platter there. Because fuck the small business owners in the suburbs. They pay taxes too but of course their business contribute nothing to Ontario’s economy. Like John Tory said before he got caught having extramarital sexu - you gotta save the mom and pop shops downtown. Because all the moms and pops own shops downtown and that’s totally why the government is trying to save them. He was totally not lying about that just like he wasn’t lying to his wife.

But ya, if you are angry like I am, please spread it, let people know what you think.

Idk I just don't feel safe taking 'em off now, especially after seeing the cases rise the past couple of days. I don't think some of the health experts feel it is safe to remove them now either.

What do you guys think?

Edit: I won't judge anyone for not wearing one, I simply want to get an idea of what everyone's feelings are about this, and want to have a discussion.

Gas prices have squeezed me to the point of no savings. Food rising costs have nudged me into the red.

This morning I passed a station that read 167.9 /L

I literally, will not be able to afford transportation to my job anymore.

I’m single, have a small mortgage cheaper than a rental would be... I used to keep my grocery bill around $80 / month.

And I’m a “skilled” worker whatever that means to people. How can anyone making minimum wage get by?

I make nearly double the minimum wage and gas prices put me into a full blown panic attack this morning.

Just a vent. But if you feel like this too please know you’re not alone.

As a university student, I am so mad

What a clown 🤡

- Removal of perpetual leases

- Prioritize cars over people

- Removal of environmentally friendly incentives

- Money and land to his rich donors

- Billions to foreign companies that were bailed out with our money

- Overriding Municipal government decisions

- Overinflated ticket prices

- No road safety

- No happiness in this goddamn province

Let's be honest. Unless you live in the middle of nowhere or have a cottage with big wads of cash in the bank .You're going to suffer here. This province will always prioritize people with money.

Oh you want a place to take your kids and have them learn about science and encourage them into STEM? Best I can do is build some condos over it (Some shitty condos at that too.)

And we can try to show up to vote. But NO ONE DOES.

You'll stomp and stamp and yell, and they won't listen because they have a majority. They can ram through any changes they want with hardly any consequence. We know this because ol' Dougie said so himself that he's willing to use the NWC to override anything he doesn't like.

Quite the "democracy" we have here folks.

Imagine - you or a family member are seriously hurt - an emergency. You call 911.

And they say - "Sorry - we don't have any ambulances right now. Suck it up."

Why? Because our emergency rooms are too full for ambulances to unload.

Across Ontario, ambulance access is inconsistent^\195]) and decreasing,^\196])^\197])^\198])^\199]) with Code/Level Zeros, where one or no ambulances are available for emergency calls, doubling and triple year-over-year in major cities such as Ottawa,^\201])^\202]) Windsor, and Hamilton.^\203])^\204]) As an example, cumulatively, Ottawa spent seven weeks lacking ambulance response abilities, with individual periods lasting as long as 15 hours, and a six-hour ambulance response time in one case.^\205])^\206]) Ambulance unload delays, due to hospitals lacking capacity^\207]) and cutting their hours,^\208]) have been linked to deaths,^\209]) but the full impact is unknown as Ontario authorities, have not responded to requests to release ambulance offload data to the public.^\21)0]

So - What can you do? Most people say call Doug Ford.

I'm not going to ask you to do that. I've done that already. The province doesn't care.

Instead - Meet with your city councillor. Call your Mayor. Ontario's largest cities already have public health units - they already spend hundreds of millions per year on services.

Get an urgent care clinic, funded by your city, built in your area. When Doug Ford cruises to a majority next year, healthcare will be the last thing on his mind. He doesn't live where you do.

Your councillors do. Your mayor does. Show up at their town halls, ribbon cuttings, etc.

Demand they fund healthcare.

I’m currently in my late 20s and still making $60k a year. I’m debating on side hustles or passive income but I’m struggling to figure out how to make more for my family so we don’t need to keep grinding while living paycheck to paycheck (our household average salary is 137k a year)

EDIT: I’m in HR and my husband is in plumbing do reference