Just five grocery companies account for over 75% of all food sales in Canada. This is not "free or fair competition." What we do have is consumer gouging — and now the prospect of predatory, surveillance-based pricing — in no small part because of a clear lack of competition.

Of course the former associate minister of mental health and addictions — one of the Ford government's architects behind the closure of safe consumption sites — lied about having a prestigious PhD in "Clinical Psychology with a Focus on Addictions." www.thetrillium.ca/news/politic...

When Premier Ford slashed Toronto Council in half, each councillor inherited an impossible constituency of 110,000+. Slashing the TDSB in half will give each trustee an impossible constituency of 60+ schools. Ford has ruined our local democratic representation. www.torontotoday.ca/local/educat...

"Rather than admit it has been underfunding the TDSB, the province is instead forcing Toronto schools to abandon an approach to equity that other school systems around the world have been trying to emulate." www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Education is not a business; it is an essential public good. These changes impose a corporate management structure on public education, replacing evidence-based practices and teacher discretion — informed by their professional expertise — with ministerial directives.

Ottawa & Toronto! Join me for two events: I'll be hosting a session on effective advocacy at the Ottawa Food Security Conference on April 15; and I'll be moderating a discussion of housing as a human right, following a free screening of Dr. Brian Doucet's "Thinking Beyond the Market" on April 27!

80% of people in an Ontario jail haven't been convicted of a crime. “This lays waste to the principle of the presumption of innocence. It also lays waste to the argument we have a catch and release system and that our bail is too lenient.” globalnews.ca/news/1177401...

At a minimum, power without ethical grounding leads to shortcuts, self-interest, and moral compromise; at a maximum, it leads to tyranny. In the most bald-faced way, this an abandonment of ethics for the sake of total control.

As always, seizing control of school boards has nothing to do with fiscal management and everything to do with land speculation and education privatization at the cost of our kids. globalnews.ca/news/1177026...

Municipalities are forced to increase your property taxes to deliver services that are the Ford government's responsibility, but that they aren't actually providing. Even though you've already paid your provincial taxes for those services. So, you're paying twice for services that are worse.

Instead of addressing his government's gross underfunding and negligence, Premier Ford is cutting more teachers — and yet, budgeting $41 million to put police into public schools. This government does not care about children.

This is outrageous! By giving his government the power to appoint ALL regional chairs across Ontario, Premier Ford is effectively seizing control of regional governments. School boards. Killing FOIs. And now, regional councils. Ford is dismantling our democracy. www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/arti...

When I was political staff at the Ontario Legislature, I belonged to a union. I fully support political staff at City Hall to be able to unionize. Models exist and can be modified, and it's disappointing to see so many Councillors intervening.

“[HART Hubs] don’t even seem to be providing what they’re supposed to be providing, which is recovery,” said community worker Diana Chan McNally. One year after closing safe consumption sites, drug treatment isn't more accessible and more people are dying from toxic drugs.

Development charges are one of the only municipal revenue tools available to fund services Ford has downloaded/starved. Why subsidize these charges, but also require municipalities to reduce them? To benefit developers, force property tax increases, and keep voters mad at municipalities — not Ford.

The Sunshine List was created by former Premier Mike Harris to denigrate the public sector and justify cuts to the social safety net. Hot take, but I have more of a problem with billionaires, corporate welfare, and tax breaks for the ultra-rich than paying a civil servant $200K.

It's not good. • $345M in unspecified cuts to housing programs • No increased funding for affordable housing • No funding for rent relief and no real rent control • No plan to legalize "missing middle" housing • No plan to renew federal-provincial housing funding agreements

Two small pieces about the Ontario budget: 1. There's no new funding for harm reduction OR for treatment — HART Hubs will have no increases, despite Ford shutting down safe consumption sites. 2. OSAP grants will be dramatically cut, except for tuition to become a cop, which will be covered 100%.

This isn't just about local constituents "having a say." MPs Maloney and MacKinnon are signalling that they are fine with steamrolling Toronto's municipal government — let alone Ford designating Billy Bishop a lawless "special economic zone."

At the same time, Ford is spending $1.3 billion to bailout developers by converting unsold condos to rental apartments — none of which will be rent controlled. These policies don't make housing truly affordable; they primarily benefit developers, landlords, and investors. That's just the truth.

Students can and should be able to express what's important to them at a critical life moment, when they literally have the stage. And frankly, if the Ford government keeps chipping away at their futures, he should not expect them to stay silent. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

People have rights, not infrastructure. And it is our right, as enshrined in the Charter, to hold peaceful assembly and engage in freedom of expression, including in the pursuit of justice and accountability. Infrastructure cannot be made impervious to our ability to exercise these rights.

In 2024, Premier Ford appointed two of his former staffers to Ontario’s Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee (JAAC), which shortlists candidates for appointment as provincial judges. He's already politicizing the provincial judiciary process. This request is one step further.

Invoking Bill 5 to designate the island airport a "special economic zone" isn't just overreach on municipal authority. It also allows the Ford government to circumvent all responsibility for harms caused to the land, water, wildlife, and human health around the airport — including future lawsuits.

UCP-manufactured "evidence" is being used to justify closing supervised consumption sites in Alberta, and now here in Ontario. In fact, Premier Ford directly referenced this compromised report just last week to justify site closures. edmontonjournal.com/opinion/colu...

Every cut, every time, regardless of the sector will always eliminate front-line workers — which, in the case of journalism, are the reporters. No journalism without reporters, no colleges without teachers, no healthcare without nurses. But we could do with far fewer executives.

Not to downplay anyone's fears, but it's interesting how much more focus is put on the prospect of AI taking away jobs when there is a real and immediate threat of the public service being obliterated in the face of massive government cuts.

Don’t stop talking about how the AB government snuck a fraudulent study past peer review, which Doug Ford then used to justify closing down ON’s supervised consumption sites, while a SK conservative MP used it to call for the same in his province. AB-SK-ON in lockstep since 2024 Recovery conference

The Ontario Legislature resumes on Monday and there's a lot to yell at Doug Ford about! Here are a few of my tips to know ahead of time to help keep you safe while you exercise your Charter right to protest: youtu.be/b2lscy3nvTE

What a time of cruelty we live in, where we systematically strip away the very few resources we allocate for people with the least resources, the least rights: inmates, refugees, migrants, homeless people, and people who use drugs. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

It costs taxpayers ~$130,000 a year to imprison someone in Ontario. That is far, far greater than paying their rent.

None of us knows what a HART Hub is, and the Ford government won't clarify their model or what they do. None of the housing associated with HART Hubs is online, and there is a growing worry in the community that these hubs will become the architecture of forced treatment.

Exactly this. Actual practitioners of harm reduction understand that it isn't a dichotomy between supervised consumption sites and recovery. We need a spectrum of voluntary, evidence-based, public services — including supervised consumption sites, because you can't support someone when they're dead.

It serves a political purpose to create the problem of open air drug use across Ontario, especially in an urban centre like Toronto. Conservatives can claim that "crime is everywhere!" and weaponize the public's fear — no matter that they created the problem. No matter that thousands will die.

... and just like that, late on a Friday afternoon, the Ministry of Health informed operators of the remaining supervised consumption sites that they will lose funding on June 13, 2026. This means two more sites in Toronto will close: Moss Park CTS and Fred Victor.

Every time you see a National Post pundit extolling the virtues of the Alberta Recovery Model and decrying supervised consumption sites, they're citing the work of compromised studies. Their authors and editors either have direct links to the UCP or have a for-profit interest in addictions medicine.

This is a nuclear bomb to Ontario's democracy. The Ford government wants to obfuscate absolutely everything it does.

With the passing of Bill 60, the Ford government has given itself broad regulatory powers that allow for the privatization of water and wastewater without legislative debate. I'm old enough to remember Walkerton. Our water — our health — isn't for sale. www.thetrillium.ca/news/municip...

The defining characteristic of Doug Ford, besides his unending obsession with Toronto and its waterfront, is his systematic overriding of transparency and meaningful consultation. He continually imposes his will on communities and people without evidence or input. He is a threat to democracy.

My latest for @thestar.com. Increasing surveillance and extending police powers doesn’t solve homelessness or drug use on transit — it merely opens up the broader public to arbitrary punishment, including the potential for jail time and $10,000 fines. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

I was briefly a ward of Children's Aid. I'm lucky enough to have found stability before I aged out of the system, but too many young people don't find that support — especially to find housing — before the system cuts them off, effectively putting them on the street. www.thestar.com/news/gta/rya...

A few things I will remember John Tory for: Violent, militarized encampment evictions. Undermining local democracy by requesting 'Strong Mayor' powers from Doug Ford. The failure of SmartTrack and the closure of the Scarborough LRT. Denying shelter to refugees.

It's already illegal to openly use drugs on public transit. What Premier Ford is proposing is to give powers reserved for police to untrained transit constables to profile, detain, arrest, and fine you if you "look like someone who uses drugs" — which in the context of Bill 6 means homeless people.

In 2023, Premier Ford seized realty control of the Metropolitan Toronto Convention Centre and other entities, including the ROM and the McMichael. Ford is a realtor pouring money into projects the public never asked for while slashing healthcare and education. globalnews.ca/news/1170842...

Do you know why this is dangerous? Because this law states that you can be jailed for six months, fined $10K, or both if you are merely *suspected* of having or using drugs. People will absolutely be profiled — and not just homeless people. www.thestar.com/news/gta/dou...

I spoke to CBC about proposed regulations on Bill 6. Bluntly put, I am vehemently opposed to criminalizing people on the TTC suspected of using drugs. While the law is aimed at homeless people, what does someone who uses drugs look like? This is a recipe for profiling. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Happy Lunar New Year! To literally say "Happy New Year" in Cantonese, we say "sun nin fai lok (新年快乐)!" — just don't judge my terrible pronunciation too harshly! And, of course, a happy Losar to all of my Tibetan friends. I wish everyone a peaceful year full of rest and joy.

In 2019, Premier Ford substantially cut OSAP grants and axed the interest-free six-month grace period before graduates had to repay OSAP loans. He's again limiting grants as well as vastly increasing loans — a recipe for massive student debt, to begin being repaid immediately post-graduation.

Thanks for having me!