John Bowker

Ex-Toronto construction CEO handed 7-year sentence in $300M St. Mike’s fraud; former hospital exec. gets 5 years Lawyers for John Aquino and Vas Georgiou acknowledged their clients broke rules — but insisted it was not worth serious prison time.

Update: Ex-Toronto construction CEO handed 7-year sentence in $300M St. Mike’s fraud; former hospital exec. gets 5 years www.thestar.com/news/gta/ex-... #onpoli

$300M St. Mike’s fraud ‘a big nothing,’ defence argues as judge set to sentence Toronto construction CEO, hospital exec. Defence lawyers for Former Bondfield CEO John Aquino and ex-St. Michael’s Hospital executive Vas Georgiou acknowledge their clients broke rules — but insist that’s not worth serious prison time.

A former hospital exec & the former CEO of one of Ontario’s biggest P3 contractors are set to be sentenced today for the massive $300 million St. Mike’s hospital fraud. The defence has argued their conduct was normal for the industry www.thestar.com/news/gta/300... #onpoli

Large portions of Hurontario LRT track still not laid, intersections unfinished | Globalnews.ca Construction on the 18-kilometre, 19-stop light rail route between Port Credit and Steeles Avenue began in 2020 and was originally scheduled to be completed in 2024.

Mobilinx has completed only 45% of the track work for the Hazel McCallion LRT, which was supposed to be finished by fall 2024. A year ago the P3 consortium’s credit rating was downgraded (again) to BBB-, the lowest before junk status #p3fail globalnews.ca/news/1166970... #onpoli

Ontario universities still most expensive despite PCs' cut and cap Skyrocketing average tuition under the Ontario Liberals helped Ford PCs win in 2018.

Ontario still has the highest tuition fees, despite a multi-year freeze, which the Ford PCs ended last week

open.substack.com/pub/tparkin/...

“In three known cases, palliative patients died without pain medications and one patient died without nutrition because supplies were delayed” #onpoli

Last year, ACTO released an important report on how Ontario’s housing policies, including the Residential Tenancies Act, are failing the survivors of gender based violence www.acto.ca/production/w... #onpoli

Major Legal Victory At The Divisional Court for Survivor Tenant - Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario - ACTO FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Toronto, ON – February 6th 2026 – The Advocacy Centre for Tenants…

Reaction from ACTO, which represented the mom: “The Court’s decision sets a crucial precedent for survivors of domestic violence, reinforcing that they and their families should not be penalized or displaced because of violence they have experienced” www.acto.ca/major-legal-... #onpoli

Richard Warnica: How deep does the rot go in the Toronto police? Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw says the allegations against the eight officers are not representative of the forces more than 8,000 members. The onus is on the police to prove

“Demkiw’s challenge is not just to find and prosecute officers who committed actual crimes. He needs to go hunting for anyone who looked the other way.”

The question I have after yesterday’s stunning news: How deep does the rot go in the Toronto Police?

www.thestar.com/opinion/star...

Woman facing eviction after husband ended tenancy wins case against landlord Divisional Court found the Toronto woman is a tenant despite the lease only being signed by her husband, who was removed from the home for domestic violence.

Landlord & Tenant Board ordered a mom & her two kids evicted after her husband, the sole name on the lease, was removed from home by the police. Landlord had told her to pay twice the rent or move out. A court has overturned this cruel & legally flawed order www.thestar.com/news/gta/wom... #onpoli

Star Editorial Board: An ‘orgy of buck-passing, blame-shifting, money-blowing incompetence:’ Why we still need to get to the bottom of the Crosstown LRT We need to know everything that went wrong with the Crosstown LRT. More importantly, we need to ensure it can never happen again.

Toronto Star editorial on Metrolinx: “What McGuinty & his team built—and what Ford & his government have kept in place—is an agency that allows full provincial control with zero political responsibility. It’s a recipe for unaccountable, inefficient operations” www.thestar.com/opinion/edit... #onpoli

Hallway health care metric one of several 'to be retired' from health agency’s public report The metric was not included in the latest Ontario Health annual report, with one emergency physician calling it ‘utter malpractice’ to not release the data publicly

The Ford government has stopped reporting on hallway health care. “I think that's complete and utter malpractice in terms of public accountability and transparency,” said ER doctor Raghu Venugopal www.thetrillium.ca/news/health/... #onpoli #ONhealth

9 Toronto police officers facing charges related to tow-truck violence: source | CBC News Nine Toronto police officers are facing charges related to violent incidents involving tow trucks and operators across the Greater Toronto Area, multiple sources tell CBC News.

"Officers are accused of trafficking, leaking addresses to hitmen, and leaking police officer addresses, the sources said.

The investigation also uncovered a conspiracy to kill a unit commander at the Toronto South Detention Centre, the sources said."

Holy Christ. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

NDP government uses health system expropriation powers for first time, seizes care home The provincial government has taken control of a personal care home in south Winnipeg, marking the first time since taking power in 2023 that it has used expropriation within the health-care system to...

“The precedent for this decision is clear: we will not leave seniors without a home, Manitoba health-care workers without jobs, or allow publicly funded personal care home beds to disappear at a time when demand for long-term care is high across the province” www.ctvnews.ca/winnipeg/art... #mbpoli

Canada builds at near-record pace, but one province remains a drag: TD Rental construction and federal support are driving the gains, for now at least.

“Residential home construction is moving at a brisk pace across Canada by historical standards but the results are uneven, with Ontario emerging as the clear laggard, according to a TD Economics report” ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/canada-... #onpoli

Matt Elliott: When the Eglinton Crosstown LRT finally opens, they should offer us an apology, not a party Due to Metrolinx’s veil of secrecy, there are still too many unanswered questions about why everything related to this project has been so slow.

My @thestar.com column: The Eglinton Crosstown is finally opening this Sunday, but please, spare us the celebration. We don’t want a party — we want an apology, an explanation, and a reason to believe a bungled project like this won’t ever happen again. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Watchdog leans into ‘firmer enforcement’ over Ford government personal devices | Globalnews.ca The Information and Privacy Commissioner is engaged in multiple, escalating battles with current and former members of the Progressive Conservative administration.

Ontario’s transparency watchdog says she is beginning to use “firmer enforcement powers” in an effort to get ahead of the Ford government’s consistent use of personal devices for government business — a trend that’s being called “worrying” globalnews.ca/news/1164208... #onpoli

It's time the government got serious about building affordable homes.

I was at the Village Soho in London. It’s the first project of its kind in Canada. Multiple non-profit developers came together to build affordable housing that actually works for people.

Fortress Real Developments co-founders sentenced to five years in prison, to pay $12.2-million each Prosecutors in the case involving the former syndicated mortgage company had been seeking 10 years of jail time and a $26-million forfeiture

BREAKING: Fortress Real Developments co-founders sentenced to five years in prison, to pay $12.2-million each www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Lease for Ontario Place music venue illustrates ‘sweetheart deal’ for Therme, critics say Keep it tidy, no racist merchandise and no criminal performers—or at least, no performers who committed criminal acts while on stage.

Under a “sweetheart deal,” Ontario taxpayers will owe Therme millions of dollars in annual penalties if the Ford government does not build a parking garage at Ontario Place before the spa opens. This deal was given ONLY to Therme, and not LiveNation www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/arti... #onpoli

Off the rails: The inside story of how the Eglinton Crosstown LRT went from transit dream to cautionary tale Over the past decade and a half, the Crosstown has cast a shadow on a swath of Toronto and becoming, to many, a symbol of the city’s inability to fulfil its potential.

Off the rails: The inside story of how the Eglinton Crosstown LRT went from transit dream to cautionary tale

Twenty January 31, 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of this blog. Over the years, we have covered a lot of territory in transit discussions. I say “we” not as the royal plural, but to recognize…

Reflections on twenty years of blogging. stevemunro.ca/2026/01/31/t...

Opinion: It is the right time – socially and economically – to scale back extended health benefits for refugees It’s one small step toward rebuilding trust in Canada’s immigration system

Disgusting take and policy. I met a refugee in downtown Toronto with trench foot — a WWI disease — that he contracted while living unsheltered in the rain. Refugees are not why the system is failing; they're the people we have failed and are now scapegoating. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

In Ontario, it’s a time of plenty for private health care while public hospitals starve - CCPA Ontario public hospitals face large deficits even as the provincial government doles out more cash to for-profit providers.

Ontario has the lowest per-capita hospital spending in the country. Expanding private care will worsen access. By @alonghurst.bsky.social @policyalternatives.ca #onpoli www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Housing is a provincial responsibility! If the political will was there, we could end chronic homelessness.

We know the solutions needed, we just need a government that will step up and implement them.

#onpoli #housing #homelessness

OPP investigating another group given millions by Ford government Ontario cut funding to Jake’s House after ‘years’ of managing ‘issues and risks,’ including related to the disability charity’s ‘governance … and fiscal responsibility’

New: The OPP's anti-rackets branch is investigating Jake's House, another group given millions by the Ford government, including through the Skills Development Fund.

#onpoli

www.thetrillium.ca/news/the-tri...

Most Finch West LRT delays are due to equipment failures Metrolinx & its P3 contractor are responsible for: “There are a lot of issues there and some of them seem more fundamental than just, ‘Oh we haven’t quite got a few of the kinks worked out yet’” www.thestar.com/news/gta/tor... #onpoli #TOpoli

How Privatized Cataract Surgery Helped Ontario’s Wealthiest—and Left Others Behind | The Local Why a routine surgery offers a window into the possible future of care in this province.

"Ford’s cash transfer did not improve access to cataract surgery for Ontarians overall — only the richest Ontarians got improved access to cataract care” thelocal.to/cataract-sur... #onpoli #ONhealth

TTC has published the delay data for 6 Finch for December 2025. Overwhelmingly the problems lie with equipment and infrastructure failures, not with TTC operations. stevemunro.ca/2026/01/21/6...

Ontario saw double digit housing dip in 2025, housing minister promises more measures to come | Globalnews.ca The slump in housing starts – 62,561 in 2025 – is also an all-time low since the Ford government promised to build 1.5 million homes during the 2022 provincial election

NEW: The stats for 2025 are in - and Ontario had the worst housing construction rate in the country.

The province saw just 62,561 housing starts last year. Its target was 150,000 for this year and next year that will rise to 175,000. #OnPoli
globalnews.ca/news/1162248...

I think some Toronto YIMBYs who find Chow insufficiently to their liking have been talking themselves into fanfiction where Bradford is the viable alternative and I really need folks to understand it's gonna be Chow v. Unrepentant Suburban NIMBYism, that's the ballot.