Category Archives: Carbon Tax

08.02.25
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Andrew Lawton uses the occasion of the MP-MPP luncheon to announce the launch of his business advisory roundtables

Normally, events like the MP-MPP Luncheon and Mayor’s Luncheon, hosted each year by the St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce, are fairly subdued gatherings.
There was a luncheon a couple of years ago, following the significant land acquisition by the City of St. Thomas, where former Central Elgin Mayor Sally Martyn dominated the Q&A period, targeting Mayor Joe Preston.
But despite the stifling heat inside the Elgin County Railway Museum this past Monday (July 28), this MP-MPP get-together did have its moments, no doubt the result of the Trump tariffs impacting almost every facet of life as we know it.
The answer to literally all questions directed toward the two participants ultimately referenced the tariffs in some form.

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04.05.25
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‘You have to put your constituency first, always’ and that in a nutshell explains the lack of endorsement from former MP Karen Vecchio

If you’ve known Karen Vecchio for even the shortest time she served as MP for Elgin-Middlesex-London (EML), you would have sensed that community comes first.
She was elected by members of the community to serve all members of the community.
EML PC MPP Rob Flack summed it up best at Vecchio’s retirement party last month.
One of the attributes that Flack most admires in Vecchio is that she is ecumenical.
“Not in the religious sense, but in terms of working across party lines, working across issues throughout this community that maybe have no partisan or political colours.

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08.03.24
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‘It all comes down to giving back to the community’ – MP Karen Vecchio in announcing she will not seek re-election

MP Karen Vecchio called a week ago yesterday (Friday) wanting to talk.
It seems it had something to do with expiration dates, which caught my attention.
So, we agreed to meet in the myFM studio at which point she laid this one on us.
“I made my decision and that is to not run in the next election.
That would be the 45th election that we are expecting in October of 2025.
“And unfortunately, my name will not be on the ballot. And, next year when the federal election occurs, I will have been at it (sitting as an MP) for 10 years.
“I believe everybody has an expiry date and I know it’s time for me to be home.”
Now, there’s a world of difference between an expiry date and a best-before date and Vecchio has many productive years in front of her before reaching the latter time stamp.

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06.15.24
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A key partnership aims to address the lack of affordable housing in St. Thomas

Editor’s note: City Scope has a new Facebook page at http://facebook.com/St.ThomasCityScope

They have become the second largest housing provider in Elgin county by continuing to build affordable housing units. Something they have done over the past four decades.
And now, Eastwood Housing Corporation and Doug Tarry Homes are partnering to expand the stock of affordable and safe housing in St. Thomas.
According to St. Thomas Elgin Social Services, the wait time to access social housing is anywhere from two to nine years.
Highview Hideaway, to rise at 220 Highview Drive, will ease that backlog somewhat through the addition of 82 affordable housing units.
Jon McCurry, Eastwood’s Director of Operations details the scope of Eastwood’s existing projects.
“There are 325 units across Elgin county. There are 11 properties, one of which is in Aylmer (Elkview Gardens). That is our newest acquisition.

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06.08.24
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Going from trying to get houses built to helping farmers produce food for those who will live in those houses, the impact of a cabinet shuffle on MPP Rob Flack

Editor’s note: City Scope has a new Facebook page at http://facebook.com/St.ThomasCityScope

 

You could say Rob Flack is going back to his roots.
His agricultural roots, that is.
Late Thursday afternoon in the Doug Ford cabinet shuffle, the Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP found himself part of the major shake-up, becoming Minister of Farming, Agriculture and Agribusiness.
He had been Associate Minister of Housing as a member of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, a posting that was part of a cabinet shuffle last fall.
Flack was given a specific mandate on attainable housing and modular homes reporting to Paul Calandra, the new Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
It’s a return of sorts to his early days following his election in 2022.
Flack had been appointed one of two parliamentary assistants to Lisa Thompson, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in July of that year.

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04.16.22
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‘People should be able to assess their own risk and make their own decisions’ – Matt Millar, New Blue Party of Ontario

city_scope_logo-cmykFounded in 2020, the New Blue Party of Ontario is led by Jim Karahalios, the husband of Belinda Karahalios, former PC MPP for Cambridge and now the party’s first MPP.
She was turfed from the PC caucus after voting against Bill 195, the Reopening Ontario Act, which she described as “an unnecessary overreach on our parliamentary democracy.”
New Blue identifies itself as “an anti-establishment centre-right political party.”
The party aims to field candidates in all ridings for the June 2 provincial election.
It has put forward Matt Millar, a life-long Lambeth resident, as its prospective candidate for Elgin-Middlesex-London.
A third-generation fruit farmer who also operates a small tech support company, Millar advises the party is all about less government involvement.
“The reason I got into this is I just want people to have more control over their own lives. I don’t want the government to be overbearing and forcing people to do things they don’t want.”

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11.02.19
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The Provincial Animal Welfare System: Providing protection for the canary in the coal mine?

city_scope_logo-cmykWith a pair of high-profile St. Thomas court cases in the past couple of years dealing with abuse and neglect, this week’s announcement the province is proposing a new animal welfare system is encouraging news for animal advocates.
The legislation was introduced Tuesday (Oct. 29) by Solicitor General Sylvia Jones and, according to a release from MPP Jeff Yurek, “includes the strongest penalties ever in Canada for people who violate animal welfare laws and a more robust enforcement system.”
No specifics, however, are contained in the release introducing the Provincial Animal Welfare System (PAWS) Act as to what those penalties may be.
“Ontarians can be confident that the government is proposing a system that will protect animals,” assured Jones.

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06.29.19
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Change of environment accompanied by a climate of controversy for MPP Jeff Yurek

city_scope_logo-cmykCan’t imagine Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP would immediately suggest enjoyable to describe his first week as the province’s head of the environment, conservation and parks ministry.
Just days after the cabinet shuffle that moved Yurek out of the transportation portfolio, he found himself in Halifax this past Thursday (June 27) at a meeting of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment.
The gathering allowed ministers the opportunity to brainstorm on such issues as plastic waste, climate change, air quality, and wastewater.
In a release issued following the discussions, Yurek noted “we are deeply disappointed that (federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine) Minister McKenna continues to focus on her tax plan, disguised as a climate change measure, and refuses to respect the legitimate ways provinces and territories, including Ontario, are tackling climate change in their own unique jurisdictions.”

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06.20.09
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If it walks and squawks like a carbon tax, it is a carbon tax

frontier
By Ben Eisen
Policy Analyst
Frontier Centre for Public Policy

During the last federal election, the Conservatives skewered then Liberal leader Stephan Dion’s proposed carbon tax as a “tax on everything.” The Tories argued such a policy would place a significant strain on household budgets, curb economic growth, and contribute almost nothing towards the stated goal of the policy – to combat global warming.

In all this, the Conservatives were correct. Unfortunately, their alternative of a “carbon market,” some details of which were given recently, will produce all of the same negative consequences as a carbon tax, with a few additional problems on top.
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