Doug Ford

The Doug Ford government is quietly signalling to industry that it may be open to clean energy, while committing no fresh funds to fighting climate change “without a carbon tax.”

The 2019 budget forecasts that Ontario’s public account will not reach balance until 2023–24, one year earlier than the prior Liberal government of Kathleen Wynne had proposed but beyond the current term of the government’s mandate, breaking one of Ford’s key election promises.

"Twenty-first century education is supposed to be about problem solving and creative solutions and those things don't get developed when you're online," teacher Beyhan Farhadi told National Observer. "If the government heads in this direction, students will suffer."

From Kenora to Oxford to Ottawa and Toronto, members of the Progressive Conservative provincial government of Doug Ford posted photographs of themselves at gas stations warning drivers to fill up their tanks before a carbon tax kicks in. They failed to recognize federal rebates to taxpayers.

"When I'm not being hopeful for the young people, I cannot stop thinking that it will be so hard if they become invisible again,” said outgoing child advocate Irwin Elman. “That was the tip of the iceberg for me: that nobody really realizes the number of children and youth connected in some way to child welfare care who die without our knowledge...all because we don't listen to them."

The Doug Ford government has appointed a former federal Tory cabinet minister, Joe Oliver, who denies human responsibility for climate change to the board of the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), a Crown corporation that oversees and manages the province's electricity operations.

The Ontario government is increasing energy bills, air pollution, health impacts and greenhouse gas commissions through policies that promote the use of fossil fuels, says the province's environmental commissioner, Dianne Saxe, in her final report released on March 27, 2019.

Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative government said on Thursday it will reform Ontario's electricity system in a bid to reduce costs overall and lower rates for businesses, a move critics say limits the most efficient way to save money in the power grid and threatens thousands of clean energy jobs.

The Ontario government is slashing a series of programs that were designed to help save energy in buildings. It's all part of a plan that Premier Doug Ford's government claims would help “businesses improve their bottom line,” says a leaked provincial document.

“Faith leaders have been completely invisible, as far as I can tell, in the public debate in Ontario about how to fight climate change in general, and about carbon pricing in particular,” says Dianne Saxe

Doug Ford delivered the partisan message at a staged event in a suburban community west of the Greater Toronto Area, launching into a full-frontal assault on the federal government’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, without acknowledging the science underpinning global efforts to stabilize the planet’s atmosphere and prevent dangerous climate change.

Just five days after Doug Ford's long-time friend and Toronto Police Supt. Ron Taverner, 72, withdrew his name from consideration for the province's top police job, the Ontario government has announced a new choice — one who hasn't met the premier. 

In the wake of the news that Doug Ford's friend Ron Taverner withdrew his name from the province's top policing job, National Observer spoke to experts to understand what the process was meant to be and what, if any, accountability measures are available to deal with a conflict-of-interest situation like this.

Accounting giant Deloitte is a powerful auditing and consulting company with a troubling history of business and political scandals.

Outspoken Ontario police deputy commissioner Brad Blair is out of a job after accusing Premier Doug Ford of interfering with police operations.