Doug Ford Era

..nope that didn't work

lol..yeah..Wynne was HORRIBLE!....LMAO.

You tell me when the NDP can win in Central Canada. It seems that the majority of the people in Ontario and Quebec are perfectly satsified with the status quo so they never consider any alternatives. I personally don't think the voters of Ontario who switch from Conservative to Liberal and back again are naive enough to think there is any real difference between the parties. That is why they are comfortable voting for either Con or Lib but not any other party.

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You tell me when the NDP can win in Central Canada.

The first time we need to "send the Fiberals a message" and also don't want to vote Conservative in order to do it.

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I personally don't think the voters of Ontario who switch from Conservative to Liberal and back again are naive enough to think there is any real difference between the parties.

Then why do they switch??

Seriously asking here.  Why switch, ever?

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They switch when the government gets stale or corrupt or both.

At which point, presumably, there is a difference (or at least a perceived one).  Sadly, I suppose, any memory of this can be erased by the next government becoming "stale", forcing electors to choose the other party again, now that they're "fresh".

I'm not even really arguing here, kropotkin.  It's just more than a little unfortunate that the electorate seems to say "I'm so sick of this shit that this election, I'm going to vote for the shit that I was sick of four years ago!  When we didn't vote for them, that surely taught them a lesson and they've re-earned my trust!!"

Does Ford Nation Include White Nationalists, Pro-Israel Groups?     -    by Yves Engler

https://dissidentvoice.org/2018/10/does-ford-nation-include-white-nation...

"Pro-Israel politics makes for strange bedfellows. The Ford-Goldy-Bnai Brith-CIJA dalliance highlights the growing links between bigoted white nationalist, right-wing politics and Israeli nationalist campaigners..."

Highway 17 to be twinned from Kenora westward to Whiteshell Provincial Park in Manitoba

Doug Ford is doing major damage to Ontario's educational system and laying off teachers, another broken promise. Actual class sizes could increase to 40 with the cuts. Surprise not!

The Toronto District School Board's preliminary numbers following Friday's education announcement by the Ford government indicates job losses in the teaching profession and classroom sizes increasing in numbers. Jamie Mauracher digs into those numbers and explains what the TDSB is bracing for.

It certainly appears that the Doug Ford government is targeting Ontario’s education system in its stated priority of cutting government expenditures.

It really started shortly after the government’s election to office, when it cancelled Ontario’s cap and trade program. For whatever philosophical reason that was done, one of the consequences of the move was the cancellation of millions of dollars generated from cap and trade revenue that was to go to much-needed repairs and upgrades to Ontario schools.

Then, of course, there was the revamping of the post-secondary tuition system. Ford eliminated the free tuition for low-income families and drastically reduced the grants available to qualifying students. That’s going to make it more difficult for financially challenged students to access post-secondary education, creating a concern that education may only be available to the financially well-to-do.

Adding to those concerns is the impact of the tuition reduction that was proposed. Tuition fees are still one of the main financial resources for post-secondary institutions; with less money coming in, we’re likely to see programs and student services cut back and possibly fewer students accepted into programs. [instead of providing government funding to replace lost tutition]

That’s hardly the scenario for creating a vibrant, innovative education system that will prepare our students to be competitive and successful in the global economy.

But last week’s announcement from Education Minister Lisa Thompson that class sizes in elementary and high schools will increase may be a bridge too far for teachers and administrators alike. The target that the minister stated, about 28 students per class, is a little misleading; those calculations arrive at that number based on a complicated formula. The president of the Ontario Secondary School Teacher’s Federation, Harvey Bischof, told us on The Bill Kelly Show on Monday, that many actual class sizes could increase to an unmanageable 40 students per class. ...

Bischof says that will mean less time for teachers to assist students with special needs or those who simply need extra help, but to make matters worse, the ministry also intends to eliminate teaching positions in an effort to save money.

The government says it will be done by attrition, but teachers and administrators are skeptical. The Toronto Board of Education estimates that close to 1,000 teaching jobs will be eliminated in its board alone; the Hamilton Board of Education calculates that close to 200 teaching positions may disappear.

https://globalnews.ca/news/5070793/bill-kelly-ford-government-is-on-a-co...

Jerrym why would students with socioeconimic problems (specifically) be effected by class sizes?

I have no idea why the Ford government would think larger class sizes are better. 24 students is alot.

E-learning is great when  student is motivated to do it.When someone isn't motivated or they need help it looses effectiveness.

Aristotleded24 wrote:

Paladin1 wrote:

Jerrym why would students with socioeconimic problems (specifically) be effected by class sizes?

Simple. More students per group means less individual attention from teachers who teach said group. Children from troubled socio-economic backgrounds are going to come to school with more issues that need to be addressed.

Exactly what I would have said if I had answered first. Here's some evidence to back this up. 

Education and Socioeconomic Status

Socioeconomic status (SES) encompasses not just income but also educational attainment, financial security, and subjective perceptions of social status and social class. Socioeconomic status can encompass quality of life attributes as well as the opportunities and privileges afforded to people within society. Poverty, specifically, is not a single factor but rather is characterized by multiple physical and psychosocial stressors. Further, SES is a consistent and reliable predictor of a vast array of outcomes across the life span, including physical and psychological health. Thus, SES is relevant to all realms of behavioral and social science, including research, practice, education and advocacy.

SES Affects Our Society

SES affects overall human functioning, including our physical and mental health. Low SES and its correlates, such as lower educational achievement, poverty and poor health, ultimately affect our society. Inequities in health distribution, resource distribution, and quality of life are increasing in the United States and globally. Society benefits from an increased focus on the foundations of socioeconomic inequities and efforts to reduce the deep gaps in socioeconomic status in the United States and abroad.

SES and Educational Issues

Research indicates that children from low-SES households and communities develop academic skills slower than children from higher SES groups (Morgan, Farkas, Hillemeier, & Maczuga, 2009). For instance, low SES in childhood is related to poor cognitive development, language, memory, socioemotional processing, and consequently poor income and health in adulthood. The school systems in low-SES communities are often underresourced, negatively affecting students’ academic progress and outcomes (Aikens & Barbarin, 2008). Inadequate education and increased dropout rates affect children’s academic achievement, perpetuating the low-SES status of the community. Improving school systems and early intervention programs may help to reduce some of these risk factors; therefore, increased research on the correlation between SES and education is essential.

SES and Family Resources

Literacy gaps in children from different socioeconomic backgrounds exist before formal schooling begins.

• Children from low-SES families are less likely to have experiences that encourage the development of fundamental skills of reading acquisition, such as phonological awareness, vocabulary, and oral language (Buckingham, Wheldall, & Beaman-Wheldall, 2013).
• Children’s initial reading competency is correlated with the home literacy environment, number of books owned, and parent distress (Aikens & Barbarin, 2008; Bergen, Zuijen, Bishop, & Jong, 2016). However, poor households have less access to learning materials and experiences, including books, computers, stimulating toys, skill-building lessons, or tutors to create a positive literacy environment (Bradley, Corwyn, McAdoo, & García Coll, 2001; Orr, 2003).
• Prospective college students from low-SES backgrounds are less likely to have access to informational resources about college (Brown, Wohn, & Ellison , 2016). Additionally, compared to high-SES counterparts, young adults from low-SES backgrounds are at a higher risk of accruing student loan debt burdens that exceed the national average (Houle, 2014).

Research indicates that school conditions contribute more to SES differences in learning rates than family characteristics do (Aikens & Barbarin, 2008). Researchers have argued that classroom environment plays an important role in outcomes.

• Students who were randomly assigned to higher quality classroom in grades K-3 earned more, were more likely to attend college, saved more for retirement, and lived in better neighborhoods (Chetty et al., 2011).
• A teacher’s years of experience and quality of training are correlated with children’s academic achievement (Gimbert, Bol, & Wallace , 2007). Children in low-income schools are less likely to have well-qualified teachers (Clotfelter, Ladd, & Vigdo, 2006).
• The following factors have been found to improve the quality of schools in low-SES neighborhoods: a focus on improving teaching and learning, creation of an information-rich environment, building of a learning community, continuous professional development, involvement of parents, and increased funding and resources (Muijs, Harris, Chapman, Stoll, & Russ, 2009).
• Schools with students from the highest concentrations of poverty have fewer library resources to draw on (fewer staff, libraries are open fewer hours per week, and staff are less well rounded) than those serving middle-income children (Pribesh, Gavigan, & Dickinson, 2011).

SES and Academic Achievement

Research continues to link lower SES to lower academic achievement and slower rates of academic progress as compared with higher SES communities.

• Children from low-SES families enter high school with average literacy skills five years behind those of high-income students (Reardon, Valentino, Kalogrides, Shores, & Greenberg, 2013).
• In 2014, the high school dropout rate among persons 16–24 years old was highest in low-income families (11.6 percent) as compared to high-income families (2.8 percent; National Center for Education Statistics, 2014).
• The success rate of low-income students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines is much lower than that of students who do not come from underrepresented backgrounds (Doerschuk et al., 2016).
• According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2014), individuals within the top family income quartile are 8 times more likely to obtain a bachelor’s degree by age 24 as compared to individuals from the lowest family income quartile.

Psychological Health

Increasing evidence supports the link between lower SES and learning disabilities or other negative psychological outcomes that affect academic achievement.

• Low SES and exposure to adversity are linked to decreased educational success (McLaughlin & Sheridan, 2016). Such toxic stress in early childhood leads to lasting impacts on learning, behavior, and health (Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health et al., 2012).
• Children from lower SES households are about twice as likely as those from high-SES households to display learning-related behavior problems. A mother’s SES is also related to her child’s inattention, disinterest, and lack of cooperation in school (Morgan et al., 2009).
• Perception of family economic stress and personal financial constraints affected emotional distress/depression in students and their academic outcomes (Mistry, Benner, Tan, & Kim, 2009).

SES and Career Aspirations

Social class has been shown to be a significant factor in influencing career aspirations, trajectory and achievement.

• Diemer and Blustein (2007) found that racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic barriers generally hinder individuals’ vocational development. Career barriers are significantly higher for those from poor backgrounds, people of color, women, those who are disabled, and LGBTIQ-identified individuals (Blustein, 2013).
• A study showed that individuals from a lower social class generally had less career-related self-efficacy when it came to vocational aspirations (Ali, McWhirter, & Chronister, 2005).
• Those from higher social class backgrounds tend to be more successful in developing career aspirations and are generally better prepared for the world of work because of access to resources such as career offices, guidance counselors, better schools, high level “social actors,” and familial experience with higher education (Diemer & Ali, 2009).

https://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/publications/education

A new poll shows the Ford government continues to slip in the polls and that Ford's cuts to autism funding are quite unpopular. The Mainstreet poll shows the PCs at 34.7%, down 7% from January, while the NDP and Liberals are in a statistical tie, with the NDP slightly ahead at 26.6% to the Liberals 26%. 

Ford's personal popularity has also fallen to -30.3% from -21.5% while NDP leader Andrea Horvath poplarity is the highest at -0.7%. The interim Liberal leader John Fraser popularity is -6.8%, while the Green's leader, Mike Schreiner, is at -3.8%.

A majority of Ontarians do not approve of the changes that the Ford government has made to provincial autism programs, while support for the PC government has dipped below 40% for the first time since the provincial election.

Those are the findings from Mainstreet Research’s latest UltraPoll, a conglomeration of ten provincial polls. The poll surveyed 1290 Ontarians between March 21st to 22nd, 2019. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 2.73% and is accurate 19 times out of 20.

“Ontarians are strongly opposed to the Ford government’s changes to the autism programs,” said Quito Maggi, President and CEO of Mainstreet Research. “Parents of autistic children have been very vocal in their opposition to the PC government’s measures and it looks like that Ontarians generally also disagree with Ford on this issue.” Just over 54% of Ontarians surveyed said that they disapprove of the changes to the autism programs, with 28% saying they approve of the measures. Just under 18% said that they were not sure.

The poll also surveyed Ontarians who they would vote for if an election were held today. Among decided and leaning voters, the PCs led by Doug Ford have 34.4% (-7% from January), while the NDP led by Andrea Horwath come in with 26.6% (-0.4%). The Liberals with John Fraser at the helm have 26% (+3.4%), while Mike Schreiner and the Greens have 9% (+2.4%).

“The PCs have taken a dramatic slide since January – so much so that they might not win a majority if an election were held today,” added Maggi. “The Liberals have had the biggest gains thanks to a surge in support in Toronto.”

Each party leader’s favourability ratings remained roughly the same from where they were in January. No party leader enjoys a positive net favourability rating, but Andrea Horwath has the best rating of -0.7%, while Ford’s net rating has slipped to -30.3% (from -21.5% in January) while opposition leader Andrea Horwath’s net rating is -0.5%. Interim Liberal leader John Fraser has a net rating of -6.8%, while Green Party leader Mike Schreiner’s net favourability rating is -3.8%.

https://www.mainstreetresearch.ca/ontarians-disapprove-of-ford-cuts/

Ken Burch wrote:

            Uh...NOBODY approves of the premier of PEI? 

[/quote]

Liberal PEI Premier Wade MacLauchlan and his party are in third place in the polls 11% behind the Greens and 2% behind the Cons according to the CRA most recent poll, so I'm pretty sure that he would be near the bottom of this Angus Reid poll if Angus Reid had included enough PEIers for a projection of his popularity.

https://cra.ca/pei-greens-show-lead-over-governing-liberals-as-provincia...

Class sizes are a huge issue!!! Very underrated. 

I’m going to use my 5 year old son here and my recent experiences (every night and every morning) as example 

My son 陆 is in senior kindergarten. And there’s about 18 basic words he needs to completely memorize before advancing. Examples include, is as on in I we today like etc etc. Very simple stuff, but a huge task for a 5 year old to memorize the letters, pronunciation how to write recognize and so on. I have to help 陆 every night for an hour and in the morning while eating breakfast. 

He is progressing  well enough. And his teacher has called me to instruct how we will work together so he can advance. 

Point I’m making here is the time required to invest! 陆‘s teacher has to spend time with him! So do I. Bigger class sizes mean less time teacher has with each child one on one time!

I suspect posters here don’t really appreciate this. And for sure a lot of Ontario voters could care less. 

My family is lucky, we have time to invest. But I know for a fact that this is very difficult for many younger parents. Or any parents. 

If class sizes increase, necessary and essential one on one time will drop! Children education and progress will suffer!

I need 陆’s teacher to spend time with him to evaluate where he’s at! She needs to contact me and inform me where we need to focus! Her help/work is essential 

As a side note, in China, children 陆 age would be expected to know 150 characters memorized!

How we kicked Doug Ford out of Napanee

The morning of Saturday, March 23rd, Andrea Loken (president of OSSTF Limestone local) got word from a reliable source that Doug Ford would be making an appearance in Napanee, a small city of 15,000 near Kingston, Ontario. This would be his one stop between Ottawa and Toronto. The source claimed that he was scheduled to make an announcement about extraction industry investment at a mining supply manufacturer, Continental Conveyor Ltd., between 3pm and 5pm.

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The protest
At the 2:30pm meet-up time, more than 50 people had gathered in Napanee’s industrial park. At 3pm, the protestors began chants and cheers before splitting into 3 groups that blocked all 3 entrances to Continental Conveyor. Soon after, an abnormally large number of police cruisers were seen driving up the quiet sideroad beside the factory. Towards 4pm, a series of black Silverados with tinted windows began circling the building in apparent confusion. They disappeared without trying to get past the informal pickets. Finally, at 4:30pm, cars started exiting the parking lot. Finally, a manager came out of the facility to inform protesters that they were “wasting their time” since the event was cancelled.

With only a few hours of notice, education workers and their labour and community allies succeeded in shutting down Doug Ford’s announcement event. Loken writes “That so many people came out to Napanee on short notice showed that people are ready and willing to challenge authority when faced with such injustice. Many of the people who came out do not have a lot of time to give. They are busy, working people/students, many with young families, but they see what’s at stake.”

I posted this elsewhere but Ford's global warming denial approach to the environment will have negative impacts not just in Ontario.  The Ontario environmental commissioner calls the Ford government's climate policies "frightening".

 Ontario’s environmental commissioner issued dire warnings Wednesday about the “frightening” state of climate policy in the province as she delivered her office’s last report. The Progressive Conservative government announced last fall that it was eliminating the office of the environmental commissioner and merging its functions with the auditor general. In delivering a report on energy conservation, Dianne Saxe said Ontario is heading in the wrong direction on the environment.

 Ontario’s environmental commissioner issued dire warnings Wednesday about the “frightening” state of climate policy in the province as she delivered her office’s last report. The Progressive Conservative government announced last fall that it was eliminating the office of the environmental commissioner and merging its functions with the auditor general. In delivering a report on energy conservation, Dianne Saxe said Ontario is heading in the wrong direction on the environment.

“On the big things that will reduce our climate pollution, allow Canada to fulfil its role under the Paris agreement and show the poorer countries of the world that are suffering the greater damage that we are going to do our part, we are causing great damage.”

Saxe is critical of the government’s cancellation of a cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gases, as well as the cancellation of electricity conservation programs and a growth plan that she says increases urban sprawl and therefore reliance on transportation fuels.

“I think that what we’re doing in Ontario and what we may do in Canada this year puts the entire Paris Agreement at risk,” she said, referring to the federal Conservatives’ opposition to the upcoming carbon tax. If the world can’t hold together on the Paris Agreement we are toasted, roasted and grilled.” ...

Saxe was critical of the government’s recent cancellation of a slew of electricity conservation programs, including rebates for energy-efficient heating and cooling equipment, discounts for buying energy-efficient products such as LED light bulbs, incentives for builders to improve energy performance in new residences, and refrigeration equipment upgrade incentives. ...

The government’s environment plan doesn’t even mention electricity conservation, Saxe said, and abandoning it would increase greenhouse gas emissions from electricity by about two megatonnes. ...

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said reports and comments like the ones Wednesday from the environmental commissioner are why the government got rid of Saxe’s office. “They don’t want to hear what it takes and what’s necessary to meet greenhouse gas emission reduction targets,” she said. “Instead, they just want to continue along their merry way and not take seriously our responsibilities when it comes to climate change.”

https://globalnews.ca/news/5101825/ontarios-climate-policy-frightening-w...
 

https://www.change.org/p/doug-ford-ask-doug-ford-to-be-the-first-ontarian-to-have-a-colonoscopy-without-sedation

Badriya wrote:

Bekayne, I detest Doug Ford and would love to see him get a colonoscopy without sedation, but I love the truth and evidence-informed medical practice more.  The issue is what is called deep sedation, where the patient is under general anaesthetic administered by an anaesthesiologist, opposed to light or medium sedation where the patient is still awake (usually fentanyl and midazolam).  Chris Selley wrote an informative article with several useful links.  

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/chris-selley-colonoscopy-freakout-a-bad...

One of the links is to a meta-analysis of deep sedation during colonoscopies. Here are the key points.

KEY POINTS

• The increasing use of deep sedation for routine colonoscopy in North America is a trend that should be curtailed.
• Deep sedation is of marginal benefit.
• Deep sedation costs more than traditional procedural sedation.
• Use of deep sedation may negatively affect safety and quality.

http://www.cmaj.ca/content/190/6/E153

 

Good spin but the point is that this is not a question of value for money or what the best practices might be as some pretend. This is about a hunt for cuts to reduce money in healthcare despite a larger older population.

The motive is to save money rather than do what is best to manage pain.

The spin will be to deflect from what the objective of this really is.

The reduction in health costs including pain management is not limited to this one procedure.

I prefer the doctor rather than the budget making the decision.

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Good spin but the point is that this is not a question of value for money or what the best practices might be as some pretend. This is about a hunt for cuts to reduce money in healthcare despite a larger older population.

I'd say a journal publication is more than just "spin".

Why does it have to be one or the other?  Of course Doug wants to cut costs, but if he's going to anyway, I'd rather it be services that we don't actually need.

Thousands attend 'Rally for Education' outside Queen's Park

Thousands of educators from across the province gathered at Queen’s Park on Saturday to protest the planned elimination of more than 3,000 teaching jobs over the next four years and call on the province to boost funding for education.

The province has indicated that it intends to cut 3,475 full-time equivalent teaching positions through attrition, starting with 1,558 positions this fall.

The elimination of the positions is expected to result in a savings of $851 million over four years; however the plan has drawn the ire of both teachers and students.

Today’s rally, which got underway at 12 p.m., was jointly organized by five unions that represent public school teachers in the province.

It came just days after thousands of students at more than 600 schools across the province participated in walkouts to protest changes to the education system.

“They are talking about taking thousands of teachers out of the education system and that is going to result in enormously enlarged class sizes, large class sizes where kids can’t get the individual attention that they get right now. But it also means taking away class choices,” Ontario Secondary Schools Teachers Federation President Harvey Bischof told CP24 ahead of the rally. “Every teacher who is cut out of the system leaves with six class options that they could otherwise give, so kids are not going to have the choice of the arts, the music, the technology that they have access to right now and that lead them to futures that they want to select for themselves.”.....

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