Charlie Pinkerton
iPolitics
Ottawa, ON, Canada
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Past articles by Charlie:
Fumbled start of sports betting to cost Ontario Super Bowl payout
This Super Bowl Sunday, Ontario’s in for what sports betters would call a “bad beat.” The provincial government will lose out on an estimated $1.5 million in tax revenue because Premier Doug Ford’s government couldn’t launch its regulated sports-betting market in time for gamblers’ favourite day of the year. The federal government repealed the final […] → Read More
'Go home,' Ottawa MPPs tell protesters
Members of provincial parliament who represent Ottawa-area ridings, as well as all three parties with seats in the city, are asking protesters to get out of town. Thousands of people arrived in Ottawa over the weekend to protest vaccine mandates and public-health restrictions. One of their goals was to gridlock Ottawa, which they’ve succeeded in […] → Read More
Ontario pressured to reward foreign nurses in long-term care
One week after short-staffed long-term care homes were told to hire internationally trained nurses to fill gaps in their workforce, Ontario’s government is being pressured to better recognize these workers’ help. On Jan. 17, the province’s ministries of Long-Term Care (LTC) and Health told nursing home operators that any that are undermanned can hire help from a […] → Read More
Holiday drear: Queen's Park holiday cards ranked (not)
About seven months ago, a better writer and comic than I, Bo Burnham, released Inside, a musical comedy short. In the special that Burnham wrote, directed, filmed, edited, and performed, he depicts through song his experience of a lengthy pandemic lockdown. In one song, Look Who’s Inside Again, Burnham asks, “Can one be funny when […] → Read More
Ontario re-issuing strict gathering, capacity limits over holidays
Strict public health measures will be re-implemented in Ontario, just in time for the holidays. Beginning Sunday, private gatherings will be limited to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors, and 50 per cent capacity limits will be re-applied in places including: restaurants, bars, personal care services, gyms, malls, grocery stores and pharmacies, clubhouses, strip […] → Read More
More Ontario schools and pharmacies to offer COVID tests
COVID-19 tests will soon be available at more drugstores and schools, the provincial government announced Thursday. The idea is to prepare for winter and people spending more time inside, where COVID spreads more easily. There are now 428 COVID-testing locations in Ontario, including at 211 pharmacies, 182 testing centres, and 35 community labs. The government […] → Read More
Ford plans to sign controversial Bradford Bypass deal before vote
The Ontario government is planning to sign a contract with a company to build the controversial Bradford Bypass just months before the provincial election. The Bradford Bypass is a proposed 16.2-kilometre freeway that would connect Highways 400 and 404 in Bradford, Ont., about 60 kilometres north of Toronto. The project has been discussed conceptually for […] → Read More
Canada's top doctors reject COVID booster shots for all (for now)
Just days after Canada’s committee of vaccination advisers recommended that booster shots be given to more groups at high risk of severe complications from COVID-19, the country’s chief medical officers are saying the general population doesn’t need them yet. Last Friday, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) published updated advice on administering third doses, […] → Read More
PC government introduces bill to shore up long-term care
Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government tabled its highly anticipated long-term care overhaul on Thursday. If passed, the bill will empower the government to take over unsafe homes and punish neglectful operators, according to a government memo. READ MORE: PCs defeat NDP motion to stop licensing private nursing homes The Long-Term Care Homes Act, created in 2007 would […] → Read More
Ontario to ask Ottawa to help more PSWs immigrate
The Ford government will be closely watching the shakeup of Justin Trudeau’s cabinet on Tuesday to see which Liberal MP takes over immigration. That’s because whoever it is will largely determine the success of Ontario’s ambitious plan to fix its beleaguered system of long-term care. The Progressive Conservative (PC) government’s plan is three-pronged: to pass […] → Read More
Ontario keeping mandatory masks, ditching most capacity limits
Premier Doug Ford’s government is lifting the capacity limits for most settings in Ontario, but will continue requiring that people wear masks indoors, as the province begins its phased removal of remaining COVID measures. Ford, Health Minister Christine Elliott, and the province’s top doctor, Dr. Kieran Moore, announced Ontario’s new schedule for removing restrictions on […] → Read More
Ontario's plan for rapid testing in schools gets mixed reviews
Ontario’s plan to send rapid COVID-antigen tests to schools in high-risk areas is getting a mixed response. While the Opposition says it’s just another instance of the Progressive Conservative government dodging its responsibility, a pair of community groups that have taken it upon themselves to test schoolchildren say it’s a step in the right direction. […] → Read More
Ford's throne speech plots general route through pandemic
In its second throne speech, the Ontario government promised more stable management of the COVID pandemic and again asked Ottawa to fund health care. It also hinted at how it plans to help reinvigorate the province’s economy. The speech, which was short and COVID-focused, was delivered in the legislature on Monday by Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell, […] → Read More
Throne speech to be COVID-focused, short on pizzazz: sources
While expected to be unexciting, the speech from the throne at Queen’s Park on Monday will lay out Premier Doug Ford’s plans for his government before the provincial election next June. “Boring” was how three sources close to his government characterized what they know of the speech that Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell will deliver on the […] → Read More
Jays, Ont. CFL teams, await 'final' approval for more fans: source
Ontario’s professional sports teams, including the Toronto Blue Jays and the province’s CFL teams, expect the Doug Ford government will soon allow them to increase the number of fully vaccinated fans at their games, according to a well-placed source. The source, who works in business operations for one of the teams, said the team was […] → Read More
Campaign Watch: 'Twas the night before election day
The leaders of the Conservative and Liberal parties both spent their Saturday in Ontario, where Monday’s election is shaping up to be decided. Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau made stops in ridings in Richmond Hill and Newmarket. The Liberal party also lost a candidate on Saturday. Kevin Vuong, who had been the Liberal candidate in Spadina—Fort […] → Read More
Campaign Watch: Protests and disapproval as Week 3 begins
The election cooled down on Saturday, with Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau taking a break from the campaign trail. Trudeau’s day away came after an evening in which a few hundred angry and aggressive protestors protestors who took issue with his government’s COVID vaccination policies forced the cancellation of one of his campaign events over security concerns. […] → Read More
It’s shrunk, but the Libs keep their lead in Kitchener bellwether
As the Liberals’ electoral advantage in seat-rich Ontario has weakened, a new poll of one bellwether riding in Kitchener shows the Liberal incumbent’s lead is now paper-thin. A bellwether riding is one that usually indicates an election’s overall outcome. In Kitchener Centre, constituents have elected an MP belonging to the party that’s won the most […] → Read More
Conservatives gain ground on Liberals, poll shows
Don’t count out the Tories. With signs that an election could be called within weeks, Erin O’Toole’s Conservatives have narrowed the gap between them and Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, Mainstreet Research’s latest poll of Canadian voters shows. READ MORE: Liberal party appoints regional election-campaign directors The Liberals are still leading all parties in support nationally, as […] → Read More
Health care, environment popular on lobbying scene
During a week in which years-old communications were responsible for much of the reported lobbying activity, environmental and health care organizations were particularly active on the federal Registry of Lobbyists. More than 400 communications each about health and the environment were logged last week between lobbyists and federal employees or public office holders. MPs, unsurprisingly, […] → Read More