Profiles: Rob Smith

 Rob Smith is a fourth-generation railroader. Hailing from Perth, Ontario, he started as a brakeman (a position now called a trainman) with CP Rail in nearby Smiths Falls, where he spent much of his career. The legislation of safe working conditions for railway workers and the communities through which railways

Wynne’s Win

 Last week we watched as Premier Kathleen Wynne and her cabinet team were sworn in at Queen’s Park. Now it is time for them to start making campaign promises a reality. Their overall goal is to create opportunities and secure futures for the people of Ontario by leading a transparent

Why Ontarians are Going Online Overseas for Gambling

 Written by John Sorensen In recent years, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission (OLG) has been going online to try to attract new patrons from across the province by offering online casino games, poker tournaments and even Lotto 6/49, Lotto Max and ENCORE tickets over the internet.  There can be no doubt that

Keeping People Safe by the Ontario College of Trades

 Image: collegeoftrades.ca   Every morning across Ontario, in big cities, small towns and everywhere in between, enforcement officers with the Ontario College of Trades are on the road with your safety in mind. The College is a member-driven regulatory body that is mandated to protect consumers and promote skilled trades

Why Medical Tourism is Not the Answer

 Medical tourism is not a ‘cash cow’ but a ‘many-headed Hydra’ So it looks like the ‘magic bullet’ solution has been found at last to cure Canada’s health care woes: medical tourism.  Last week, Toronto’s Sunnybrook hospital defended its position to court affluent medical patients from other countries who can

Unsung Heroes of Search and Rescue

 In October of 2011, a search-and-rescue (SAR) mission was deployed in our northern, icy waters to find two walrus hunters stranded in a small aluminium boat. The members of the teams sent out are now being honoured in full for their valiant efforts and heroic work. When David Aqqiaruq and

Why our Health System Works for Canada

 The Future of Medicare Depends on our Ability to Change In the past 18 months I have required two major, but unrelated surgeries, experiencing first hand Ontario’s version of Medicare. The two interventions necessitated down-time and an enforced idleness for reflection on life and what it means to be Canadian.

Ottawa Life Editorial: Win with Wynne

 Kathleen Wynne is Ontario’s best bet for the future. Dalton McGuinty is the most successful Ottawa-based politician to ever serve in the Ontario Legislature. For nine years, McGuinty led the province through tumultuous times, including the 2008 global economic collapse and recession that cost Ontario over 250,000 jobs. One of

Government Puts Politics, Not Students, First When It Targets Education

 Sam Hammond is President of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario. Ask any teacher and you will hear that teaching is a calling. That is what drives teachers to work hard and love the work they do. With that comes the responsibility to model values and positive behaviours for students

Ontario Education Must Learn to Deal with Massive Spending Cuts

 The public education system in Ontario will be hit with $2.6 billion in cuts over the next three years. The education cutbacks will have an enormous impact on students and teachers across the province. Ottawa Life spoke recently with Ken Coran, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation. OTTAWA

Part Three: Horse Sense & Government Nonsense

 Public-Private Partnerships Are Not Subsidies The Ontario government’s decision to end the Slots at Racetracks Program has a detrimental effect for Ontario’s vibrant horseracing and equine industries. The McGuinty government’s decision to end the Slots at Racetracks Program has become a political football which has been kicked back and forth between the OLG, the

Part Two: Horse Sense & Government Nonsense

 Public-Private Partnerships Are Not Subsidies The Ontario government’s decision to end the Slots at Racetracks Program has a detrimental effect for Ontario’s vibrant horseracing and equine industries. This is a serious problem with major ramifications. Dennis Mills, the former Liberal MP whose web site Racing Future builds awareness of Ontario’s horseracing and equine industries,

Part One: Horse Sense & Government Nonsense

 Public-Private Partnerships Are Not Subsidies The Ontario government’s decision to end the Slots at Racetracks Program has a detrimental effect for Ontario’s vibrant horseracing and equine industries. THE COMEDIAN GROUCHO MARX ONCE COMMENTED that: “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying

How to Import Wine into Ontario

 Have you ever wondered how one becomes a wine agent - better yet, how one gets wines, that are not available in the LCBO, into the province?  You're not alone.  I get at least an email a week asking me how one goes about acquiring a wine that someone tried

Opposition Leader Tim Hudak says with Ontario facing unprecedented job losses and a massive deficit, six million in bonuses to LCBO management is wrong

 Premier Dalton McGuinty recently announced that the Ontario government is considering selling off crown assets such as the LCBO to reduce the deficit. Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak is convinced that such a move is not the right way to go. "Selling off crown assets is the wrong approach to

Andrea Horwath says LCBO bonuses show a culture of entitlement

 By: Dina Zeldin OLM: Ex-LCBO employee Larry Paterson discovered through Freedom of Information requests that the LCBO dished out over 6 million dollars in bonuses to employees in 2008 (which had increased from just over 400 thousand in 1997). Can you comment on why these bonuses were awarded? What was

The Soaring Loonie

 The rise and fall and rise again of the Canadian loonie can be confusing in its implications. When the loonie achieved parity with the American dollar early in 2008 there was a sense of euphoria among some commentators, as though Canada had finally matured as a country. Since then the

We Need Action On Land Claims And We Need It Now

 Canada's mining industry offers major opportunities for First Nations peoples. We are the larg-est industrial employer of Aboriginal peoples. We double the national aver-age, while some mines have Aboriginal workforces that are 30-40 percent Ab-original or even higher. And these are good paying jobs. The average income of Aboriginal people

To Veil Or Not To Veil

 Quick, what do the words "Muslim woman" bring to mind? Is it the austere beauty of a face untouched by make-up, framed by a sober headscarf? What about the fresh-faced girl celebrating the end of exams over coffee with her friends, their shining hair swinging free? Could she be a

Jim Watson’s mission: Reverse post-9/11 tourism slump

 Concerned about a "travel deficit" in Canada resulting from the combined impact of terrorist attacks and a stagnant economy in the United States, Jim Watson, president and CEO of the Canadian Tourism Commission, spoke to these concerns in a recent interview with Ottawa Life reporter Hank Reardon. An abridged version

In opposition against “a Phantom Prime Minister”: An interview with Stephen Harper

 By: Peter Gill Ottawa Life Magazine: If you were Prime Minister, how would you deal with Canada's declining military? How much money do you think needs to be invested in it? Stephen Harper: A lot. Numbers have been thrown around by various groups. The consensus seems to be you need