John Bowker

Church where PC cabinet minister was married got $2.8M from Skills Development Fund, ministry Gurdwara that posted Ford endorsement also received SDF grant

Three places of worship have received grants from the Skills Development Fund. All have apparent connections to the PC Party www.thetrillium.ca/news/politic... #onpoli

Electricity rates for households are increasing by nearly 30% starting next month, hidden behind increasing taxpayer-funded subsidies now covering nearly 25% of hydro bills oeb.ca/sites/defaul... #onpoli

Workers in Ontario were shortchanged nearly $200 million in unpaid wages, a new report says: ‘A massive crisis happening in plain sight’ A Workers’ Action Centre report reveals the total of assessments over a decade. Government collection efforts have failed to recover tens of millions.

Doug Ford plays mall cop for Home Depot while letting wage thieves rip off Ontario workers with impunity www.thestar.com/news/gta/wor... #onlab #onpoli

Here’s the most important measure of Ontario’s self proclaimed « working for workers » Conservative government.

They pretend that laws requiring employers to draft policies about this or that is progress.

But real measure is enforcement of labour standards.

www.thestar.com/news/gta/wor...

Ministry of Labour puts hold on proactive workplace inspections, internal memo says Staffing constraints caused by spending freeze have created a backlog of worker complaints, ministry documents say.

Bonus: In 2018 Ontario Ministry of Labour instructed staff not to initiate any new proactive inspections aimed at preventing wage theft ... a day after Doug Ford's gov introduced a bill to significantly roll back recently enacted labour protections.

Wage theft is becoming normalized under the Ford government www.thestar.com/news/gta/wor... #onpoli #onlab

Workers in Ontario were shortchanged nearly $200 million in unpaid wages, a new report says: ‘A massive crisis happening in plain sight’ A Workers’ Action Centre report reveals the total of assessments over a decade. Government collection efforts have failed to recover tens of millions.

Doug Ford plays mall cop for Home Depot while letting wage thieves rip off Ontario workers with impunity www.thestar.com/news/gta/wor... #onlab #onpoli

Company involved in Ontario medical supply shortages received skills development funding | Globalnews.ca Government records show Bayshore Home Care Solutions received more than $18 million through multiple rounds of the Skills Development Fund, a period it was served by lobbyists.

Ford's gravy train

Company that failed to deliver medication to elderly and palliative patients received $18 million from the Skills Development Slush Fund.

When taxes and contracts are given to Conservative donors—patients are left in pain.

#ONpoli #OntHealth

globalnews.ca/news/1148152...

‘Mr. X’ claims Minister David Piccini tipped him off about Greenbelt removals John Mutton made the claim in an interview with the integrity commissioner and then on a podcast. The minister denied it through a spokesperson

NEW: ‘Mr. X’ claims Minister David Piccini tipped him off about Greenbelt removals
John Mutton made the claim in an interview with the integrity commissioner and then on a podcast. The minister denied it through a spokesperson.
www.thetrillium.ca/news/politic...

Ontario NDP calls for probe into lobbyist for Skills Development Fund after inviting labour minister to wedding The leader of Ontario’s official opposition has filed a complaint with the province’s ethics watchdog, alleging a lobbyist may have crossed the line by inviting the province’s labour minister to his w...

“It is extremely unlikely Mr. Piccini would have attended Mr. Rudderham’s destination wedding, at a five-star hotel in Paris during Fashion Week, if they were not close friends,” wrote @maritstilesndp.bsky.social in her letter to the Integrity Commissioner www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/arti... #onpoli

Globe editorial: The shaky foundations of trust in public institutions Journalism and the courts both have roles to play, but real accountability requires action from the institutions themselves

"What damage has been done to the reputation of Ontario’s bidding process? Who should be accountable? If Infrastructure Ontario has tackled these questions, and demanded internal accountability, it has yet to share that information publicly" www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/edit... #onpoli

Ontario full-time college support staff reach tentative agreement after nearly five weeks of strike action After nearly five weeks on strike, full-time college support staff, represented by OPSEU/SEFPO, have reached a tentative agreement for more than 10,000 workers across all 24 Ontario colleges. “After m...

“We’ve won more than a contract. After being out in our communities, day after day, the public now understands that our college system is being deliberately defunded as part of the collateral of Ford’s devastating privatization agenda” opseu.org/news/full-ti... #onpoli

Canadian investor says Ford government ignoring proposal to redevelop Marineland Marc Wade and Knapp Capital Management say they pitched a $4.6-billion complex featuring a hotels, casinos, water park, marine mammal sanctuary and data centre

An inland whale sanctuary, with a casino and 1 GW data centre 🤔 www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... #onpoli

Globe editorial: Doug Ford is not the mayor of Ontario The premier’s continual interventions in municipal affairs diverts attention from pressing provincial issues

Globe and Mail editorial: “Local affairs are not improved by having Mr. Ford blunder into them” www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/edit... #onpoli

… and no thanks to Infrastructure Ontario, which covered up a fraud admission by one of its top executives, then somehow failed to find the mountain of evidence this former executive had conspired to rig the $300M St. Mike’s procurement www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... #onpoli

Labour minister was in Leafs glass seats with director of company he granted funding to The ‘lower-scoring’ company got $7.5M of tax dollars through David Piccini’s office and is a client of the lobbyist whose Parisian wedding the minister recently attended

Labour minister was in Leafs glass seats with director of company he granted funding to

Labour minister was in Leafs glass seats with director of company he granted funding to The ‘lower-scoring’ company got $7.5M of tax dollars through David Piccini’s office and is a client of the lobbyist whose Parisian wedding the minister recently attended

“The ‘lower-scoring’ company got $7.5 million of tax dollars through David Piccini’s office and is a client of the lobbyist whose Parisian wedding the minister recently attended” www.thetrillium.ca/news/politic... #onpoli

St. Michael’s Hospital fraud surfaced with four brown envelopes sent to Globe and Mail journalists An anonymous tip urged reporters to look into a $300-million contract awarded to Bondfield and triggered a lengthy investigation by The Globe

Anyone who cares about the integrity of infrastructure procurement in Ontario owes a debt of thanks to the Globe & Mail’s Karen Howlett, Greg McArthur and Robyn Doolittle, who first broke the story a decade ago www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... #onpoli

OFL: Workers pay the price as Ford’s Conservatives slash employment law enforcement | The Ontario Federation of Labour The Ontario Federation of Labour issued this media release on GlobeNewswire on Wednesday, October 8, 2025. TORONTO,...

🚨BREAKING: Workers pay the price as Ford’s Conservatives slash employment law enforcement

Full Release: ofl.ca/ofl-workers-...
#OnLab #OnPoli

It sure looks like the Ford government decided to stop enforcing the Employment Standards Act, which is supposed to protect workers from things like wage theft, unpaid overtime and stolen tips tparkin.substack.com/p/ontario-wo... #onpoli

Ontario labour minister attended lobbyist’s wedding after granting his clients millions in training funds Two clients of lobbyist Michael Rudderham have received more than $8.5 million in Skills Development Fund grants, records show

Labour Minister David Piccini attended the Parisian wedding of a lobbyist after his office awarded the lobbyist’s clients millions of dollars through a training fund program the province’s auditor general described as “not fair, transparent or accountable” www.thetrillium.ca/news/politic... #onpoli

Mark Carney Is a Very Demanding Boss - Macleans.ca His elbows-up enthusiasm won him the election. Now he’s governing like a Bay Street exec.

Very good profile of Mark Carney, by @stephenmaher.bsky.social. Jives with what the Ottawa bubble says about him and the shoes memo too macleans.ca/politics/mar...

Aspiring NDP leader who has raised thousands may be breaking party rules, official says Yves Engler, an author who has written several books criticizing Canadian and Western foreign policy, said he has already raised the money for his leadership bid.

Good reporting by @markramzy.bsky.social here:

Avi Lewis campaign website: "Every contribution counts Help Avi Lewis lead an NDP that's proud to fight for transformational change"

Heather McPherson campaign website: "Donate today! Help make Heather McPherson the next leader of the NDP"

Rob Ashton campaign website: "Give working people a voice Help Rob Ashton put workesr and families at the heart of Canadian politics"

Yves Engler campaign website: "Donate by Interac e-Transfer: To donate through Interac, please make the donation through your financial institution to yvesenglerndp@gmail.com. Important: In order for us to accept these funds as required by Elections Canada, you must also complete the form below (the maximum donation amount is $1,750): * Donations are not tax-deductible."

To be clear, every declared NDP leadership candidate is offering prospective donors tax credits

Engler is the only one who is not (albeit he's the only one soliciting funds for a leadership campaign without actually being registered as a leadership candidate)

Yves Engler is explicitly soliciting funds for his NDP leadership campaign citing Elections Canada rules yet includes an asterisk: "*donations are not tax deductible"

Why would funds for a leadership campaign collected under Elections Canada rules *not* be eligible for tax deductions?

YouTube video by The B1M Canada's Guide on How Not to Build a Railway

Metrolinx's Eglinton Crosstown attracts global attention. Via @theb1m.bsky.social #p3fail youtu.be/e8mLZ7EE81I?... #onpoli

Two men convicted of fraud in connection with St. Michael’s Hospital redevelopment Verdict marks the culmination of a process that began in 2015, when Bondfield was awarded the $300-million project

Convicted www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... #onpoli

Ottawa pledges ‘full due diligence’ after audit of Ontario skills fund Auditor-General report found province’s Skills Development Fund was not fair, transparent or accountable

"The federal government’s annual cheque for Ontario’s spending on labour skills training – $923 million this year – comes with elaborate agreements between Queen’s Park and Ottawa that govern how the money is supposed to be used" www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... #onpoli #cdnpoli

‘Something doesn’t smell right’: $100 million in Skills Development Fund grants traced to lobbyists with ties to Ontario premier Clients of lobbyists with ties to Ontario's premier and his office snagged at least $100 million in Skills Development Fund grants, according to an analysis of the data by CTV News.

New investigation from me!

We took a look at who the lobbyists are whose clients are getting those Skills Development Fund grants...

‘Something doesn’t smell right’: $100 million in Skills Development Fund grants traced to lobbyists with ties to Ontario premier

www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/poli...