Ford’s PC’s riding high in latest poll
Abacus Data’s latest poll results show the PC’s at 41%, Bonnie Crombie’s Liberals at 25% and Marit Stiles’ NDP at 21%. After Crombie’s leadership win last December, the PC’s dropped to 28%, the NDP dropped to 19% and the Liberals rose to 27%. The latest results see a reverse in fortunes with the PC Party returning to pre-leadership levels, the NDP closing the gap to their pre-leadership level of 24%, while the Liberals fall back to one point ahead of their pre-leadership numbers.
A time-tested rule in politics is in order to be successful, you must define your candidate before your opponent does. Since Crombie’s leadership victory, Ford has continuously painted a picture of Crombie as elitist and out of touch, referring to her as ‘Queen of the Carbon Tax’. The PC’s have invested heavily in mainstream and social media advertising making the same claims. According to David Coletto, President of Abacus Data, those ads appear to be effective and have impacted the polling results.
More than 1.3 million Ontarians cast online wagers last year
Ontario iGaming issued its market performance report for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, revealing its second year blew its first year out of the water by an increase of 70%. In total, $63 billion (with a ‘b’) was wagered on online gambling platforms in the last fiscal year by 1.3 million Ontarians. This resulted in revenue of $2.4 billion for online gaming companies.
The breakdown in revenue was $588 million from sports wagers, $67 million from poker, and a whopping $1.8 billion from online casino games including slots, live and computer-based table games and peer-to-peer bingo. Casino game revenue increased 89% from the previous year.
Total revenues increased quarter-over-quarter, with $17.8 billion wagered in Q4 alone. With hockey and basketball playoffs now underway, activity is expected to remain high (Toronto Maple Leafs, anyone?).
Federal climb-down on Highway 413
After spending years in a power struggle with the province over environmental assessments related to the controversial project, the federal government has decided to allow the Ontario government to proceed and filed a joint application with the province to have the agreement ratified by a federal court judge.
The federal government froze the project in 2021 citing the Impact Assessment Act which meant Ontario could not begin building the highway between Milton and Vaughan until the feds were satisfied the province had dealt with ways the highway could hurt protected local species. The two governments have instead signed a Memorandum of Understanding that establishes a joint working group tasked with recommending measures to minimize environmental impacts in areas of federal environmental jurisdiction.
Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Stephen Guilbeault, who had been vehemently opposed to greenlighting the project, said the new deal would still protect federally-regulated species along the highway route. Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said the deal provides certainty for the province and expects procurement to move forward in the coming months. This is a political win for the provincial Tories, who campaigned hard on the promise to build the highway.
Bethlenfalvy responds to federal budget
Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled her government’s budget which had many of its spending initiatives released in the weeks leading up to budget day. Many observers noted the communication roll-out was well executed by the Liberals this year. The budget contains $52.9 billion more in spending than the government projected a few months ago in its Fall Economic Statement. As a result of high interest rates, the cost to service the national debt is now more than the feds spend on health care.
Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said the province was glad to see the budget responded to Ontario’s call for more housing-enabling infrastructure funding, and that it recognized the importance of Canada’s electric vehicle battery supply chain through the new electric vehicle supply chain investment tax credit.
However, he said, the budget was a “missed opportunity to scrap the costly federal carbon tax…particularly at a time when it is contributing to high inflation.” He also expressed disappointment by the lack of dedicated funding to expand two-way, all-day GO train service to Milton (by-election shout-out?) and called on the feds to match the province’s investment to build all-season roads to the Ring of Fire region.
Deal reached between CUPE and York University
After eight weeks and the suspension of classes and exams for thousands of students, the union representing 3,000 academic workers ratified new tentative collective agreements. The union’s three units represents teaching assistants, contract faculty and graduate assistants. This is good news for the province’s second-largest university, which will see classes resume this week.
The deal covers a six-year period, including 2020-23, when the now-infamous Bill 124 capped salary increases for broader sector workers to 1%-3% for three years. The Court of Appeal for Ontario found the law unconstitutional earlier this year. The agreement contains wage increases of 14.8% or 17.8% if the 1% per year earned during the Bill 124 period are included. The deal also contains a number of additional measures including a $25K annual fund to support racialized members experiencing discrimination, harassment and violence, an increase in operating costs for the two on-campus child care centres, and a new mentoring fund for professional development.
In a statement, the Union said “Every striking member should feel unbelievably proud of the commitment you have shown to your fellow members, and the determination we have shown as a collective in our fight for a better workplace and more just future.”
