Articles by Robert Benzie

Jun 8 2021 — Robert Benzie — Peterborough Examiner — An Ontario Superior Court judge has ruled Premier Doug Ford’s election finance changes that limited labour unions’ campaign spending are unconstitutional. In a setback for Ford’s Progressive Conservatives less than a year from the next Ontario vote, Justice Ed Morgan ruled the Charter rights of Working Families, a coalition of unions, were “infringed” by curbs […]

May 31 2021 — Robert Benzie — Toronto Star — Premier Doug Ford is considering a major revamp of his cabinet as the one-year countdown begins to the June 2, 2022 election, the Star has learned. After the legislature rises Thursday for the summer, high-ranking Progressive Conservative sources say the premier will turn his eye toward a significant shuffle of ministers. While some advisers have […]

May 25 2021 — Robert Benzie — Toronto Star — The next Ontario election is still one year away, but Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives are accelerating their political fundraising as the pandemic begins to subside. On the Friday before the Victoria Day long weekend, Ford sent out an email blast to supporters touting his new reopening blueprint for the economy that will take effect […]

Mar 31 2021 — Robert Benzie — Toronto Star — It’s official — Liberal MPP Michael Coteau is making the leap to national politics. After weeks of speculation, Coteau confirmed Wednesday he will seek the federal Liberal nomination in Don Valley East, a riding he has represented provincially for a decade. “I would like to be the first person who grew up in Flemingdon Park […]

Mar 18 2021 — Robert Benzie — Toronto Star — Ousted former Progressive Conservative MPP Roman Baber is suing the province over Premier Doug Ford’s COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, the Star has learned. Baber (York Centre) has launched a lawsuit to strike down some regulations in Ford’s Reopening Ontario Act as unconstitutional. “I am suing the attorney general of Ontario for our right to protest, pray […]

Feb 15 2021 — Robert Benzie — Toronto Star — As Ontario MPPs return to Queen’s Park after the winter break, they can expect a subdued session — at least at first. Government house leader Paul Calandra, who met last week with his counterparts in the opposition parties, said the proceedings that begin Tuesday after a two-month recess should be low-key and methodical due to […]

Nov 23 2020 — Robert Benzie — Toronto Star — The former head of the Canadian military will lead Ontario’s charge to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine, the Star has learned. Retired Gen. Rick Hillier has been enlisted to chair the province’s new task force on the vaccine. Hillier, who was chief of the defence staff of the Canadian Armed Forces from 2005 to 2008, was […]

Nov 19 2020 — Robert Benzie — Toronto Star — Pressure is mounting on Progressive Conservatives to distance themselves from Premier Doug Ford’s controversial evangelist friend Charles McVety. McVety — who has been accused of intolerance toward gays, lesbians, transgender people and Muslims — is currently trying to get the provincial government to upgrade his Canada Christian College to a university. “Each day brings more […]

Oct 27 2020 — Robert Benzie — Toronto Star — Tue., Oct. 27, 2020timer3 min. read Premier Doug Ford is being accused of making “a backroom deal” to reward his controversial friend Charles McVety with the right to hand out university degrees at his evangelical college. “There’s no doubt that the fix is in,” NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Tuesday. “This is Taverner Two and […]

Oct 19 2020 — Robert Benzie — Niagara Falls Review — Former Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne will not seek re-election in the next campaign. Wynne, who governed the province from 2013 until 2018, has informed her Don Valley West riding association that she will be not be a candidate in the 2022 provincial election. “I’m going to stay till 2022. To go early and to put […]

Oct 4 2020 — Robert Benzie — Toronto Star — As MPPs debate a Liberal motion designed to thwart the possibility of Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives calling a snap election, a new poll suggests most Ontarians do not want a campaign before the scheduled 2022 vote. The Campaign Research survey for the Toronto Star comes on the eve of Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter’s motion […]

Oct 1 2020 — Robert Benzie — Toronto Star — Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives are sticking it to their own controversial gas-pump decals that a court ruled were unconstitutional. Ford’s cabinet decided late Wednesday against appealing a Sept. 4 Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision that found the mandatory stickers violated business owners’ freedom of expression. Energy Minister Greg Rickford’s office confirmed the government […]

Sep 25 2020 — Robert Benzie — Toronto Star — Premier Doug Ford is slamming the brakes on any snap election call even as his Progressive Conservative party is accelerating candidate nominations for incumbent MPPs. “We want to get our folks prepared for the election and have said before we aren’t going to be calling it in the spring. We’ll be calling it the regular […]

Sep 16 2020 — Robert Benzie — St. Catharines Standard — Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives are set to officially nominate the party’s 72 sitting MPPs to run as candidates in the next election, the Star has learned. In a move that fuels speculation about a snap election call in the spring — more than one year before the scheduled 2022 vote — the Tories want […]

Aug 18 2020 — Robert Benzie — Toronto Star — The Progressive Conservative premier of Ontario is hailing the new federal Liberal finance minister. “I absolutely love Chrystia Freeland. She’s amazing. I’ll have her back, I’ll help her any way we can,” an elated Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday. As first revealed by the Star’s Susan Delacourt in April, the COVID-19 pandemic has forged a […]