Doug Ford News

Doug Ford was dealt another blow on Friday, Global News has learned, after Labour Minister Monte McNaughton told the premier he would leave cabinet and step down as MPP to pursue a position in the private sector.Sources told Global News that McNaughton, who was first elected as the MPP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex in 2011, was considering the shift for months before informing the premier of his decision to step down.Ford released a statement confirming McNaughton’s departure and thanking him for his time in office.“He made this decision based on what is best for him and his family at this point in his life and career,” Ford said.“In the last two years alone, he introduced three separate pieces of legislation focused solely on working for workers. Monte helped build a coalition of private-sector union support that has never existed in the history of the Ontario PC Party.

IA Financial Corp. is cutting jobs in its capital markets business, ending its institutional activities including equity research.

Doug Ford were to look into the province’s transportation infrastructure projects — such as the twinning of highways, widening the 401 and uploading the Toronto subway system — the ministry was also directed to audit projects announced under the former Liberal government.“Review the province’s planned $190 billion of capital investments in infrastructure and ensure that money is being deployed in a proper fashion and on the right projects for Ontario families and businesses,” the mandate letter read.The directives then instructed the minister to work with the province’s housing minister to “evaluate the province’s real estate portfolio” and offload unused properties.“Either sell inefficiently used properties, donate them to municipalities for social housing builds, or repurpose these facilities for more efficient use,” the letter stated, adding that air right above transit stations or provincially owned assets were also to be targeted for sale.Vacant units were to be divested immediately if the sale was “feasible or logical.”That mandate was later passed onto Infrastructure Ontario, the crown agency tasked with managing the contracts and construction for projects in the province ranging from transit to hospitals or bridges.Public documents dating back to 2019 show the Ontario government reviewed and approved the divestment of 243 properties generating between $105 to $135 million as part of a four-year Accelerated Divestment Plan.Meanwhile, the premier’s office also wanted more private sector involvement in the building of public infrastructure.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford took over the reins of the provincial government in 2018, he was determined to expedite a central campaign promise: make government more efficient by shaving four cents of every dollar spent by Queen’s Park.Instead, the Progressive Conservative government’s first budget, delivered by then-finance minister Vic Fedeli in 2019, triggered a firestorm of controversy over the planned cuts in spending and likely led to Fedeli’s removal from the position.Fedeli’s instructions, however, came directly from Premier Ford who set out a three-year timeline to balance the budget, leading to billions of dollars slashed from the fiscal plan.For the first time, Global News can reveal the financial mandates given to the Minister of Finance, Treasury Board president and all cabinet ministers, instructing them to “identify efficiencies and savings” in their individual ministries.The information comes from mandate letters obtained, exclusively, by Global News.Ford’s instructions to his cabinet ministers in 2018 made it clear that his government intended to usher in a culture change, one that was focused on spending restraint and fiscal responsibility all while maintaining services residents rely on.“As we move ahead with our plan to restore a strong economy and to make life more affordable for the great people of this province, we will begin to do so by eliminating wasteful government spending, cutting red tape and by making government more efficient,” Ford said in his mandate letter addressed to all ministers.“This means reviewing all spending within your Ministry to identify efficiencies, program re-design, and savings that can be implemented over the course of our mandate.”To realize maximum efficiencies on a

Steve Clark was first tapped to be Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing in 2018, his directions from Premier Doug Ford were clear: his ministry was not to touch Ontario’s Greenbelt and instead Clark was explicitly instructed to protect the 2-million acres of land around the Greater Toronto Area.Four years later, amid a housing shortage crisis, the Ford government tore up that pledge, throwing itself into a scandal that forced Clark and his chief of staff to resign.Global News obtained the 2018 mandate letters which contain the specific instructions given to the Ontario cabinet ministers by Premier Doug Ford after his inaugural election.For five years, the Ford government has fought to keep these letters private, asserting that they related to internal cabinet deliberations and should be kept confidential.Global News can exclusively reveal, for the first time, the contents of the letters in a new series, ‘Mandated.’Premier Doug Ford’s election in 2018 marked a sea change moment in Ontario politics.The Liberal government, which had been in power for 15 years, was brought to a crippling end, ushering in a people-centric government that was determined to not lose sight of ethics and accountability.In the build-up to the 2018 provincial election, Ford was forced to alter his campaign after touching what could be considered one of the third rails of Ontario politics: the Greenbelt.In February of that year, Ford was recorded on video promising his government would “open up a big chunk” of the Greenbelt for affordable housing developments.“I’ve already talked to some of the biggest developers in this country,” Ford said of his conversation with builders.

After Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives were swept into office in June 2018, ending 15 years of Liberal rule, newly minted Premier Doug Ford provided his cabinet ministers a new north star. He would run a government defined by ethics, accountability and a province that was strictly “for the people.”

Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem reaffirmed the central bank’s independence on Thursday in response to politicians weighing in on the institution’s interest rate decisions over the past week.

Two premiers have sent letters to Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem urging the central bank to halt interest rate hikes ahead of its next rate decision Wednesday.

Doug Ford has become the second Canadian premier to formally express his displeasure with interest rate hikes, calling on the Bank of Canada to end the increases, which he says are “hurting people.”

Steve Clark has resigned after Ontario’s integrity commissioner found he broke ethics rules for his role in the Ford government’s Greenbelt land swap scandal.In a letter published on Monday morning, Clark said he felt his role in the Greenbelt decision and subsequent investigations were “a distraction” from the ministry’s work to solve the housing affordability crisis.“As someone who has given my life to serving the people through our democratic institutions, it is my responsibility to adhere to the principles of Ministerial accountability,” Clark said in a post on social media.In his letter, Clark said he has been reflecting since a damning integrity commissioner report into the Greenbelt land swap decision was released. The report blamed Clark for a lack of oversight over his chief of staff, who both the integrity commissioner and Ontario’s auditor general said spearheaded the removal of 7,400 acres of land from the Greenbelt.Clark said his “first instinct” after reading the integrity commissioner’s report was to stay in post to create a new process that ensured the issues outlined would never be repeated.

Greenbelt land swap controversy after the matter was referred to them by Ontario Provincial Police.The RCMP initially issued a statement which said they were asked to “investigate irregularities in the disposition of the Greenbelt surrounding Toronto” by Ontario Provincial Police.They later issued a second statement to clarify where they stood with regards to the Greenbelt.“At this time, RCMP O Division are beginning our evaluation of the available information as referred by the Ontario Provincial Police,” the second statement said. “After we have conducted a full assessment, we will determine whether to launch an investigation.”On Tuesday morning, provincial police announced that they had referred the matter to their federal counterparts in an effort to avoid any “perceived conflict of interest.”A spokesperson for Ontario Premier Doug Ford told Global News that the decision to hand the investigation over to the RCMP was made independently and also referenced the province’s response to a recent auditor general’s report on the matter.“The government is currently working to implement all 14 recommendations put forward in the report related to process,” Ivana Yelich said in an emailed statement.Auditor general Bonnie Lysyk released an explosive report on Aug.

The government of Canada’s Ontario has obtained an order from the province's Superior Court of Justice that allows freezing some USD 9.4m in funds collected through crowdfunding platform GiveSendGo for the 'trucker protest' -- encouraging calls by some of the protest’s supporters to develop a bitcoin (BTC)-based strategy that could ensure continued funding for the truckers.