A thread of recent @thetrillium.bsky.social reporting on the Skills Development Fund. #onpoli

ICYMI: Months before he was labour minister, David Piccini was in Leafs glass seats with a director of a company he later granted $7.5M to. Piccini attended the Parisian wedding of the company’s lobbyist. From me and @charliepinkerton.bsky.social. #onpoli www.thetrillium.ca/news/politic...

New: Ontario's labour minister said he was personally involved in picking “lower-scoring” Skills Development Fund recipients. He held up one whose lobbyist's wedding he attended as an example of a lower-ranked applicant with sizeable impact. #onpoli www.thetrillium.ca/insider-news...

NEW: David Piccini, the minister whose office picks Skills Development Fund recipients, was in Paris this weekend at the wedding of a lobbyist whose clients received millions from that fund. From me and @charliepinkerton.bsky.social. www.thetrillium.ca/news/politic...

New: Clients of lobbying firms with close connections to Premier Doug Ford and his nephew have been hugely successful in applying to the province’s Skills Development Fund. Full analysis: www.thetrillium.ca/news/politic... #onpoli

NEW: The organization that’s supposed to be making sure the people building your home aren’t cheats, liars or swindlers is asleep at the wheel, Ontario’s auditor general has found. From me and Steve Cornwell. #onpoli www.thetrillium.ca/insider-news...

BREAKING: The Ford govt has given groups hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars against the advice of civil servants who’d evaluated their applications, per Ontario’s auditor general. @thetrillium.bsky.social has been covering this story in depth. #onpoli www.thetrillium.ca/news/politic...

Facing pressure from above, Ontario's psychologist regulator has voted to cut training requirements and allow unlimited exam attempts. It's a fascinating debate. What's more important: the highest bar for mental health docs — or more of them? #onpoli www.thetrillium.ca/news/health/...

Premier Doug Ford says speed cameras don't slow people down. They do. #onpoli www.thetrillium.ca/news/municip...

Ontario's highest court will now decide whether Doug Ford's government can have its way with three major Toronto bike lanes. #onpoli www.thetrillium.ca/news/municip...

The premier thanked Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown for following his lead on RTO, and called on everyone else to follow suit. Not all municipalities are into the idea. #onpoli www.thetrillium.ca/insider-news...

New: Doug Ford is leaving open the possibility of invoking the notwithstanding clause to remove three Toronto bike lanes. “Let's see what happens at the Court of Appeal, and then we'll go from there." #onpoli #topoli www.thetrillium.ca/news/municip...

Cycling advocates have won. The Ford government's plan to remove three major bike lanes in Toronto violates the Charter, Ontario's Superior Court rules. Story to come. #onpoli #topoli

New: Ontario could make up to $800,000/day from a U.S. electricity surcharge, according to internal estimates. #onpoli www.thetrillium.ca/insider-news...

Metrolinx facing $8.2 billion in legal claims www.thetrillium.ca/insider-news...

The Ontario NDP is calling for "urgent action" after an increase in overdoses after CTS site closures. During the recent campaign, I repeatedly pressed Marit Stiles on whether she would reinstate CTS sites. She was noncommittal. thetrillium.ca/insider-news/s…

In which a Toronto cop gives $325 tickets to cyclists who slow-roll a changing red light, but two videos beforehand, ignores a driver who slow-rolls a stop sign because he’s a “fair and reasonable person.”

62% of Torontonians say main streets should "offer a balance to all road users" including transit, pedestrians and cyclists — but not many PC voters agree. Most Toronto Tories said main streets "should be prioritized for car traffic or parking." #onpoli www.thetrillium.ca/news/municip...

After responses about expanding GO train service to Vancouver and an electrification schedule 18,000 years into the future, Metrolinx says GO Transit will no longer respond using AI. #onpoli www.thetrillium.ca/news/municip...

Ancient Doug Ford lore requires me to remind people of the time Ford said changerooms and showers at City Hall would be overrun by public sex acts.

New: Therme says the public park around its future spa will have multiple swimming points and free, year-round changing rooms with showers. www.thetrillium.ca/news/municip...

Doug Ford has been busy! In the past ~2 months, his government has proposed or passed a flurry of laws with the potential to reshape Ontario. There's no way you've been able to keep up with it all. So we spoke to @jackhauen.bsky.social, who has. pressprogress.ca/how-doug-for...

When Metrolinx hooked up with European rail experts, the result was a "slow-motion train wreck." The Trillium's @jackhauen.bsky.social breaks down why we (well, Ontario) can't have nice things.

ICYMI: Ontario revealed plans for a five-storey, 3,500-space, $400 million parking garage at Ontario Place. Premier Doug Ford said it "will be blended into the surrounding area." "You'll barely even see a parking lot.” #onpoli www.thetrillium.ca/news/municip...

With Ontario still building far too few homes, I asked Premier Doug Ford if he had any regrets about how he’s handled the file over the past seven years. He said he “wouldn’t do anything differently.” #onpoli thetrillium.ca/trillium-ins...

The Ford government says the lack of classroom AC is school boards' responsibility. The TDSB says adding AC is impossible with a $4.5B repair backlog. #onpoli #topoli 🔓 www.thetrillium.ca/news/educati...

Some really interesting context on how Deutsche Bahn's international operations (including its work on GO) feed into its issues back in Germany.

ICYMI: Several well-placed sources, leaked documents and recordings of internal town halls detail how a bitter, years-long falling out with a European partner has led Metrolinx to scale back its ambitious GO Expansion plan. No paywall. #onpoli www.thetrillium.ca/news/the-tri...

NEW: How Metrolinx’s plan to deliver European-style train service went off the rails @jackhauen.bsky.social got excruciating detail on MX's split with Deutsche Bahn on the GO expansion, and the scope reduction for all-day, two-way GO www.thetrillium.ca/news/the-tri...

A judge has granted an injunction temporarily halting the Ford government’s plans to remove the Bloor, Yonge and University bike lanes, while he considers whether he will allow those removals to go ahead at all. #onpoli www.thetrillium.ca/news/municip...

New: We obtained hospital notes about the patients the health minister has called “bed blockers.” Many have severe health issues including feeding & breathing tubes, can’t afford private care, and can’t go home. For some, there is nowhere else to go. www.thetrillium.ca/news/health/...

The best political story you'll read today, by @jackhauen.bsky.social, via @tyolsen.bsky.social: www.thetrillium.ca/news/politic...

"And families can disagree sometimes, your brother, your sister, right, we have a little bit — but someone else comes to bother our family? Yeah, that's it. It's game over." Ford explains tariffs, GDP to third-graders www.thetrillium.ca/news/politic... By @jackhauen.bsky.social

New: At least 11 employment programs, many focused on people with disabilities, have ended in the past year after the Ford govt's changes. Confidential documents admit to cuts and suggest workers skip lunch to deal with the increased workload. #onpoli www.thetrillium.ca/news/the-tri...

As first reported by @jessiecatherine.bsky.social, @charliepinkerton.bsky.social & @jackhauen.bsky.social at The Trillium, two former Ford government staffers have been accused in a lawsuit of promising to help a developer get land rezoned for money. Full story 👇 www.thestar.com/news/the-for...

A little Monday good news from me! The Narwhal has learned that Rouge National Urban Park is set to grow. Later today, the federal government will announce it has scrapped a plan for an airport in Pickering. Most of the land it set aside for the proposed airport will instead go to Parks Canada 🌳

Not news exactly but I had missed that after more than a decade of absence Toronto has voted to rejoin the Association of Municipalities of Ontario as of Jan 1. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...

New: Private investigators have been poking around two Toronto supervised consumption sites of late. Staff worried they were hired by the Ford government to bolster its arguments against the sites. They were right. #onpoli #topoli www.thetrillium.ca/news/social-...

New: An internal email confirms bike lane removals won't start until spring at the earliest. #onpoli #topoli www.torontotoday.ca/local/city-h...

Light: (turns red) Every driver in the GTA: I think I can make it

Here's where the primary care crisis is hitting Ontario hardest www.thetrillium.ca/news/health/... @jackhauen.bsky.social Get weekly updates: CanadaHealthwatch.ca/newsletter 🍁

“It is so much easier to prevent road trauma than it is to treat it,” Christopher Yarnell @uoft.bsky.social’s Dept of Medicine When it comes to prevention, the research is clear: Bike lanes reduce collisions between vehicles & bicycles. - @mattbubbers.bsky.social apple.news/ApMQ6qyg_ThK...

"Go on the secondary roads that run parallel ... a few feet away from the existing roads," Ford said. Asked to name alternatives to the Bloor bike lane, Transportation Min. Prabmeet Sarkaria did not. #onpoli #topoli www.thetrillium.ca/insider-news...

NEW: The Ford government is working to amend its bike lane bill to block lawsuits that could otherwise arise from the removal of bike lanes. #onpoli #topoli www.thetrillium.ca/news/municip...

NEW: Draft briefing for cabinet warned bike lane changes could worsen congestion #onpoli #topoli www.thetrillium.ca/news/municip...

back in prehistory (~2011) I watched a six-storey building get opposed at Toronto council; back-to-back deputants complained A) that there was too much parking, people wouldn't use transit and B) there was too little parking, people would take up street spaces it was approved anyway, it's fine now

New from Ontario's planners: "OPPI does not support the removal of bike lanes in the City of Toronto or in any other municipal jurisdiction within the province of Ontario." ontarioplanners.ca/OPPIAssets/D...

ICYMI: Ford might not be done. www.torontotoday.ca/local/politi...

ICYMI: The Ford government says main street bike lanes are bad. Municipalities, businesses, road safety advocates and the City of Toronto came to Queen's Park to call BS. www.thetrillium.ca/news/municip...