NEW: Five major Ontario school boards that have been under the direct supervision of the Ford government for a year or more have posted budget deficits despite the education minister blaming trustees for their financial turmoil. #Onpoli globalnews.ca/news/1195540...

The race to become the next leader of the Ontario Liberal Party is narrowing, as one contestant has decided to bow out. #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1195427...

I genuinely think Toronto's fairly ramshackle BMO Field is one of the most enjoyable and charming stadiums in the world. There's just something deeply special about it's asymmetrical design and location. Roberto Martinez agrees. #worldcupfootball globalnews.ca/news/1195166...

NEW: Provincial transit agency Metrolinx has split a mega contract for its delayed Hurontario Street light rail project into two parts, a move it says “resolves all commercial disputes” on the line. #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1195019...

NEW: Ontario’s education minister is “clarifying” comments he made urging parents not to take their kids out of the classroom for sports, saying parents can still ask for special leave. #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1194507...

Ontario’s jail guards are asking for more help after a coroner’s report detailed a suicide crisis among correctional workers and made more than two dozen recommendations to the provincial government. #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1194462...

NEW: It's official. The Ford government has now applied it's restrictive new freedom of information law to our request for Premier Doug Ford's cellphone. NDP says that shows hiding phone records was the purpose of the changes. #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1194357...

NEW: Bylaw officers for the City of Toronto handed out almost 100 charges related to the 2026 men’s World Cup over the opening two weekends of the soccer tournament. #ToPoli globalnews.ca/news/1193806...

Can Ontario meet its goal of 1.5 million new homes by 2031? Not according to these internal notes where someone in the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing cautions against making anymore promises to build housing quicker. #OnPoli 🔗 globalnews.ca/news/1193754...

NEW: Less than three years after making a key campaign pledge to build more than one million new homes in Ontario over the next decade, the Ford government internally admitted the goal would be impossible to achieve. #Onpoli globalnews.ca/news/1193754...

NEW: Barely half a year after the provincial government ordered Toronto to stop issuing speeding tickets from the cameras it had set up across the city, staff say the number of drivers blasting past the limit has increased more than 350%. #Topoli #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1193652...

NEW: Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he is “no Justin Trudeau” as he rejects a string of negative polling and public protest choosing, instead, to rely on internal party metrics as a sign of his personal popularity. #Onpoli globalnews.ca/news/1192995...

NEW: The opposite of a story I wrote some 20 times last year -- After shuttering outlets across Ontario for more than a year in the face of revamped alcohol resale laws, The Beer Store is opening two new locations in Toronto. #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1191343...

NEW: A Canadian polling firm has sent Doug Ford a legal letter demanding the premier correct the record after he claimed the organization published a “fake” public opinion survey showing his personal approval rating at a record low level. #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1191280...

Ontario NDP responds to our story today about how a provincial jail has been using a scaled-back operations plan since a cyberattack was identified to have hit some of its servers more than two weeks ago. #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1190809...

Ontario’s ill-fated wage restraint law known as Bill 124 is still sending ripples through the public sector across the province, even years after the law was repealed, with the electricity system now attempting to untangle the fallout. #Onpoli globalnews.ca/news/1190948...

NEW: An Ontario jail has been forced to scale back its operations and take some of its servers offline after suffering an unidentified cyber breach at the beginning of the month. #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1190809...

NEW: Ontario Premier Doug Ford is lashing out at a non-profit pollster after the organization recorded a steady drop in his support, culminating in his worst level of support since taking office in 2018. #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1190778...

NEW: An Ontario Liberal leadership candidate who has been generating support in Conservative circles for his policy positions is pushing back against critics who are suggesting he’s attracting the wrong kind of attention to the party. #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1190427...

NEW: A new survey of Ontario’s emergency room physicians suggests the majority are struggling with severe overcrowding, hurting the ability of some to see patients as quickly as they should. #Onpoli globalnews.ca/news/1190509...

NEW: New housing in Ontario stuttered slightly last month after a relatively strong start to the year, with the province still far away from its one-time goal of 1.5 million new homes by 2031. #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1190482...

NEW: The Ford government has awarded a $198-million contract to design and build its new above-ground parking structure at Ontario Place. #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1190043...

NEW: Doug Ford’s approval rating has fallen to the lowest level since he took office in 2018, according to non-profit pollster Angus Reid, as the PC Party continues to face backlash over the controversial purchase of a private jet. #Onpoli globalnews.ca/news/1189981...

NEW: A veteran Toronto police officer died Thursday after being shot during an exchange of gunfire while executing a search warrant. globalnews.ca/news/1189964...

NEW: Police providing motorcades for all 9 World Cup teams playing in Toronto globalnews.ca/news/1189895...

NEW: A councillor is facing criticism from road safety advocates in Toronto after he pushed to overrule staff advice and pilot memorials to victims of road traffic accidents in the city. #TOPoli globalnews.ca/news/1189829...

Toronto's FIFA Fan Fest put hundreds of thousands of free tickets online in May which were snapped up in hours. In a wildly predictable twist the free tickets are now being resold online. #ToPoli #WorldCup

NEW: As the Carney government kicks off consultations on the expansion of Toronto’s island airport, more than two dozen residents — including a former premier, former mayors, an Olympian and a famed author — are asking Ottawa to pump the brakes. #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1189817...

NEW: Toronto’s bike share is busy at the best of times. When the 2026 #FIFA World Cup kicks off, it is expected to go into overdrive. #ToPoli globalnews.ca/news/1189702...

NEW: The Canadian government may still not have an official position on expanding Billy Bishop Airport in Toronto, but it wants to know what you think about the idea. #Topoli #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1189679...

NEW: Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he’s been “jammed meeting everyone” in Washington, D.C., as he tries to drum up support for his Fortress North America vision, an idea he has been pushing in some form since Trump was first elected. #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1189615...

WATCH: How Toronto is preparing to ferry hundreds of thousands of soccer fans around the city by transit. And why the TTC is treating it as a legacy opportunity to prove that throwing more resources at streetcars can overhaul the city's surface network. #ToPoli

NEW: We got a look inside the Toronto Transit Commission's nerve centre, where CEO Mandeep Lali laid out why he thinks the legacy of the 2026 FIFA World Cup can be a streetcar system that finally works properly. #ToPoli globalnews.ca/news/1189237...

The brilliant producer of Focus Ontario Trevor Popoff has put together this deep dive into the story behind the viral Gravy Train song and the world of AI in Ontario politics. #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1189216...

When Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government drastically cut student assistance grants earlier this year, it cited “unsustainable” costs, but new figures show nearly all of the recent growth was among career college students. #Onpoli globalnews.ca/news/1189211...

NEW: The City of Toronto says only a fraction of the 2026 FIFA World Cup tickets it bought as an investment remain unsold, with the soccer gamble looking set to pay off a week before the games begin. #ToPoli globalnews.ca/news/1189119...

NEW: The war in Iran is adding almost $650 in extra fuel costs this year for the average Ontario household, according to the province’s financial watchdog. #Onpoli globalnews.ca/news/1188905...

NEW: The Ford government has confirmed Ontario will officially take control of the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway away from Toronto next year, completing an agreement that was first signed three years ago. #OnPoli #ToPoli globalnews.ca/news/1189038...

NEW: Doug Ford has charged Ontario taxpayers more than $140,000 over the past year to charter private flights, according to publicly available records, revealing a change in habits for the once infamously penny-pinching politician. #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1188954...

NEW: Ontario’s financial watchdog says the province’s labour force declined in the first quarter of this year at the sharpest rate since records began, excluding the pandemic lockdowns. #Onpoli globalnews.ca/news/1188887...

NEW: Ontario’s major teaching unions have served notice to the Ford government to begin bargaining new agreements for more than 255,000 educators across the province. #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1188869...

Hey transit enthusiasts, there's a special FIFA Presto card 👇

NEW: As politicians begin an extended, 21-week summer break from legislating, Premier Doug Ford is facing scrutiny over his own attendance at Queen’s Park. (Calendar of attendance included in story). #Onpoli globalnews.ca/news/1188753...

NEW: As the Ontario legislature wrapped up its spring session on Tuesday, Ontario Interim Liberal Leader John Fraser walked over to Premier Doug Ford to offer him a gift: a set of metal wings that pilots typically pin onto their lapels. #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1188718...

NEW: The Ford government is ending its spring session two days early and embarking on an extended 21-week break, saying it doesn’t want the legislature to be in session during municipal elections this fall. #Onpoli globalnews.ca/news/1188699...

For those who follow government cellphone stories: Keir Starmer’s WhatsApp messages automatically delete, Downing Street has confirmed, calling into question how full a picture emerged of his role in the appointment of Peter Mandelson. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

NEW: The Ford government says it has reached out to FIFA about “ongoing non-compliance” with its strict new legal changes to curb ticket scalping as the soccer giant prepares to host six matches in Toronto. #Onpoli #Topoli globalnews.ca/news/1187646...

Amongst my haul from the @stanchionbooks.bsky.social London Football Book Market yesterday was Hibernian Heroes by @isaaccallan.bsky.social which has now taken its place on my Hibs bookshelf

Looks like another Protect Ontario commercial is in rotation, this one under the title "keeping costs down." It directs to a web page that lists various PC policies like licence plates, gas tax or one fare over the past few years. #OnPoli www.ontario.ca/page/keeping...

Minister Todd McCarthy is in Uxbridge today to highlight the government's plans to help build an urban provincial park. A couple of years ago, I wrote about how a fortuitous agreement between the municipality and province kicked off the plan. #OnPoli globalnews.ca/news/1050323...