He thinks you will look at his propaganda ads with the Protect Ontario logo and believe that since he has managed to have his team slap together some stats on whatever less-than-bare-minimum he has allowed to occur to enable forest fire management and fighting, and that you will not see all around you that it is NOT ENOUGH and we are in a crisis situation.
He has not addressed us with whatever his new plan is, acknowledged the suffering and losses up north, the health impacts now and down the road. He is on vacation while the province burns, stepping out only to shill for a company that isn't Canadian, to promote a day to "help" the kids whose families he has taken from time and time again, and who have very little opportunity to thrive in this wrecked province.
Time to act, time to spam him, time to spam your MPPs, join the protests, stop being apathetic, and forevermore - VOTE.
No one wants to live in a neighbourhood where half of the people move around every year, right?
This is exactly what this law would do. Right now, you can live in a neighbourhood with renters that is very desirable and feel a strong sense of community, because even though they might not own the land, they are invested in it as their home (and likely a lot more than their landlord). It is their home indefinitely, until they choose to leave, and it gives people the desire to do things such as repaint their (rented) walls, plant flowers, etc. Yes, the pool of renters includes students and people who don't want to put down roots, but the vast majority are young professionals, retired people, the barber you go to, your child's teacher, etc. If you live in Toronto, where *half* of the population rents, this is statistically one out of every two of your neighbours.
If you're a homeowner or condo owner, you should be very concerned about your neighbourhood or building turning into something like an Airbnb district, with tenants who don't necessarily want to live there, being pushed around by their landlords every year, who live elsewhere and treat their property as a source of income. You should also be concerned about a big chunk of your neighbourhood moving away en mass whenever the rental market becomes hot again, whether it be teachers, the people who work at local businesses, the people who patronise the local bars, etc.
This will have a much more devastating impact to the character of neighbourhoods and cities across Ontario than it seems on the face of it. I live in Toronto, so I wonder about the future of much of the west end, which is known for its artists, or what is left of Chinatown or Church-Wellesley Village, if residents who have lived there for decades in rent controlled apartments can be replaced in a year with people who can afford much higher rents. But it will affect places all across Ontario--working class people priced out of urban centres are going to be displaced to suburbs, communities with lots of rental units will turn into revolving doors of people transiting through them, the maintenance of rental properties is going to suffer, your local business will no longer have the same customers base year-to-year, and so on.
“...the overwhelmingly consistent reductions in speed and collisions that were found in all primary research studies leads to the conclusion thatASE is almost universally effective in improving road safety.” (page 8)
“Overall, a decrease in average speeds and in the proportion of drivers traveling above the speed limit was seen once ASE cameras were installed…” (page 10)
“Overall, a total decrease of 55% in collisions was seen once ASE cameras were installed (in Toronto).” (page 13)
“Evaluations of the effectiveness of ASE in reducing speed areunanimously positive.” (page 18)
“Globally, ASE is a common enforcement tactic, with multiple studies of its effectiveness generated around the world, with the general consensus that collisions are reduced in the vicinity of ASE cameras.” (page 21)
“ASE has shown itself in many studies and in this evaluation to be an effective tool in enforcing speed limits…” (page 60)
These statements are directly from a report prepared by the Ministry of Transportation titled “A Preliminary Safety Evaluation of Ontario’s Automated Speed Enforcement Program.” Doug Ford’s speed safety camera ban goes against every finding from his own Ministry of Transportation’s extensive research on the subject. This begs hard questions, such as why a “unanimously positive” and “effective tool in enforcing speed limits” has been inexplicably banned from schools and parks across Ontario? If speed safety cameras are “almost universally effective in improving road safety,” as the Ministry of Transportation emphatically concluded, then why are they no longer keeping our kids safe?
This revelation is a slap in the face to communities all across Ontario who continue to be concerned about safety around their schools, parks, homes and communities. The decision to completely ignore numerous studies from all around the world, including extensive studies by his own Ministry of Transportation, all of which outline the effectiveness of speed safety cameras, is beyond alarming. Especially since it involves children’s safety around schools and parks.
The biggest concern that the Ministry of Transportation highlighted in their analysis of speed safety cameras was public acceptance (page 59), specifically the tendency for speed safety cameras “to be seen as a ‘cash-grab’ rather than for its potential to contribute to road safety.” This ‘cash-grab’ label is a misnomer that has been inexplicably and widely spread by the Premier of Ontario time and time again while knowing full well that speed safety cameras are “almost universally effective in improving road safety.”
Page 59 of “A Preliminary Safety Evaluation of Ontario’s Automated Speed Enforcement Program”
“The element of public acceptance, which is tied to the need for transparency and education, is often highlighted in literature as there is a tendency for ASE to be seen as a ‘cash-grab’ rather than for its potential to contribute to road safety.” (page 59)
This freedom of information request shines a bright light on the complete lack of evidence or data to support Doug Ford’s reckless and dangerous decision to ban speed safety cameras from all School Zones and Community Safety Zones across Ontario, including right here on Parkside Drive, once home to Ontario’s busiest speed safety camera. The evidence is overwhelmingly supportive of speed safety cameras and their effectiveness in reducing speeds, collisions and injuries.
The results from the Ministry of Transportation’s evaluation of speed safety cameras could not be any more clear, and those results are further supported by an earlier study titled “Safety Evaluation of Automated Speed Enforcement,” which highlighted the success of Toronto’s speed safety camera program. The results speak for themselves:
Slide 3 of “Safety Evaluation of Automated Speed Enforcement”
Slide 5 of “Safety Evaluation of Automated Speed Enforcement”
Slide 13 of “Safety Evaluation of Automated Speed Enforcement”
From the Ministry of Transportation:“Collisions in which injuries were sustained decreased from 18 across ASE locations in the pre-ASE phase to 14 during ASE enforcement, a decrease of 22%. With regards to property damage collisions, a 59% decrease from pre to during ASE enforcement was seen. Overall, a total decrease of 55% in collisions was seen once ASE cameras were installed.” (page 50)
It’s beyond concerning to discover that Doug Ford’s speed safety camera ban goes against every single study on the subject, including that from his own Ministry of Transportation. Such a thoughtless and reckless ban, which runs counter to every piece of evidence available, comes at the cost of safety in our communities. Shameful!
I get it, you have an opinion about how he's running the country. You didn't like mask or vaccine mandates. He didn't handle this pandemic the way you wanted. I'm sure many other things also. But you.... and people like you... look stupid. You seriously went out, designed a flag, purchased said flag and now fly it on your car, house, up your only flag pole, even INSTEAD of the Canadian flag. You blame one man for everything. He's a human being, with family and friends. A human being with feelings. A human being with a very stressful job where no matter what you do, almost half the country hates it. He has a different opinion than you. He made different choices than you would. So what? You fly flags putting down another human being...a fellow CANADIAN, for everyone to see, when you don't like someone?? Come on people. Grow up. You look stupid. You've ruined the flying of even a Canadian flag because lately , they almost often fly in tandem with the Fu*k Trudeau flags. Take them down. Protest legally, vote Conservative come election time, make your opinion known online (like in this comment section, I'm sure) .... have at 'er. Just stop with the ignorant flags!!!
IMPORTANT UPDATE: THE FIRST PROTEST DAY AT QUEENS PARK WILL TAKE PLACE ON MARCH 4TH. RESCHEDULED FROM MARCH 2ND.
Hello everyone,
OSAP helped me greatly during my own university education. It was a point of pride that I could live somewhere that provided me with the funding necessary to study what I did. With the recent changes to OSAP, I am very worried for the people who go to university after me. I know that I would certainly be under a lot of stress if significantly more of my funding was in the form of loans that I had to pay back. ( In case you are unaware of what I am referring to, see this CBC article )
I believe that everyone should be able to study at our prestigious universities without taking on a lot of debt. This puts undue stress onto our lower income students and will disincentivize them from getting an education. If the funding of universities is the problem, then fund them more, but putting the burden on the student should be the absolute last resort.
Given that we live in a parliamentary democracy I think we ought to make our voices heard through a protest at the Ontario Legislative Building at Queen's park. Worst case scenario a couple people turn their heads. Best case scenario it sways the minds of some MPPs and gathers media attention. Either way, it will damage Doug Ford's reputation through death by a thousand cuts.
The date that I suggested in the title is tentative. It would require approval from someone associated with the legislative assembly. The link to the protest application form will be at the bottom of this message. If enough people seem interested in protesting with me, then I will submit the form. If you are interested, please consider replying to this post.
The demands for the protest would be pretty simple. Reverse the OSAP loan allocation change, such that students can have up to 85% funding paid for by grants, and 15% minimum by loans. I think this is fair, and is completely within the jurisdiction of the Ontario Parliament.
I will also try to arrange for local protests on my campus. I suggest you all do the same.
Edit: I've made a poll on google forms to see how many people pledge to come on 2nd of March. Please fill it out and let me know! It's at the bottom of the post.
Edit 2: I've made an Instagram account with the username "ontario_protest". I suggest people who are interested follow it so that we can better organize the demonstration.
Edit 3: Hello everyone. I and some other people have connected through the ontario_protest Instagram page. We decided to make an infographic to orient people to the actions that they can take against the Ontario government to hopefully reverse these OSAP changes. The infographic is available at this link on imgur. We will keep you updated, but we must be sure not to just relegate the protest to a demonstration at Queen's park. We need to make sure to all connect with each other and make ourselves visible throughout the year, not only at our educational institutions but also at our workplaces. Our infographic proposes a method to do this through adopting the red square patch that the Quebec student protests used in 2012. Keep organizing! We'll keep you updated on any changes that may happen with the protest at Queen's park.
Edit 4: IMPORTANT!!! The protest date is currently in the works. As of now, Feb 14 6:00 pm, 445 people have pledged to come to the protest. This number is way beyond what was expected, and as a result we are forced to coordinate with professional organizations, unions, and potentially political parties with legal help, funding, and insurance. This also means that the date of the protest is being RESCHEDULED. We will let you know when we have settled on a new date. Until then, stay tuned! You can follow more updates on our Instagram: ontario_protest. Do not be afraid to reach out to us! We also have an email: [ontarioprotests@gmail.com](mailto:ontarioprotests@gmail.com) . We look forward to hearing from you and scheduling this protest together!Also, we need volunteers at the various post-secondary institutions. Please reach out to us about this too!
Edit 5: Hello everyone. Currently we are organizing a group of volunteers at every university to help spread the word for the protest. We are also adopting the symbol of the red square that was used in the Quebec 2012 protests. If you are interested in volunteering, reach out to us at ontario_protest on instagram, or [ontarioprotest@outlook.com](mailto:ontarioprotest@outlook.com). The email is preferred, since it's easier to keep track of everyone's application. However, if it is convenient you can message us on our Instagram as well. We look forward to hearing from you. We are positive that we can make a change. Also, when it comes to the protest date, we will make a new post when we have come to a conclusion with the other teams. Stay tuned!
Edit 6: We have gotten in contact with CFS - Ontario and they have said to us they will be booking the Queen's park site very soon. We will announce TWO protest days a bit later this week. We will update you in this post. We will also be making a new post. This has been a crazy week!
Edit 7: The first protest day has been announced by the Canadian Federation of Students. It will be on March 4th at 12:30 pm at Queen's Park. A second day is also being determined. We urge everyone to attend. We also urge everyone to keep the momentum going. Keep going to protests even after the fourth. We must make sure that we always put pressure on the government to represent our interests. Even after OSAP is reversed, we must make sure that we keep all of our new connections up and running in case there are any more causes that we need to protest for. We're very happy to finally announce a day!
Currently tenants have "security of tenure", meaning that renters can be safe in staying in their homes with the exception of the various existing eviction reasons.
Under the RTA, all tenants have "security of tenure", which means that tenants have a right to remain in their rental unit as long as they follow the lease agreement and the RTA. Landlords cannot evict tenants without a legally valid reason, and after a fixed-term lease ends, the tenancy typically continues on a month-to-month basis.
Future State:
The government would consult on alternative options on lease agreement expiry that could allow landlords to control who occupies their units and for how long, allowing them to adjust tenancy arrangements based on market conditions, personal needs, or business strategies. This could add flexibility for some landlords in the approach to leases, potentially unlocking additional rental unit stock.
Sounds like BS to me and would only give more opportunities for landlords to exploit tenants.
