While National Newswatch does not keep an archive of external articles for longer than 6 months, we do keep all articles written by contributors who post directly to our site. Here you will find all of the contributed and linked external articles from Robert Benzie.
Premier Doug Ford is poised to send cheques to 16 million Ontarians to offset rising costs as a possible early election looms, the Star has learned.Sources say the premier’s gambit will be announced in Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy’s fall economic statement on Oct. 30.
Is it déjà vu all over again? That’s a loaded question for the half dozen Liberal MPs who were part of the doomed Kathleen Wynne government that lost to Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives in 2018 and now sit in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal caucus facing Pierre Poilievre’s surging Conservatives. Two of those veteran politicians wouldn’t touch it with a 10-foot pole, their silence a telling indication of where things appear to be headed and how history could repeat itself.
Premier Doug Ford appears to be the Teflon Tory.In his lucky seventh summer as Ontario premier, Ford is emerging as a politician to whom little seems to stick.
Justin who?Bonnie Crombie is distancing her provincial party from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s struggling federal Liberals.
Todd Smith’s surprise resignation after just 10 weeks as education minister has forced Premier Doug Ford to shuffle his cabinet, promoting Colleges and Universities Minister Jill Dunlop to that key post.Smith, 53, a Progressive Conservative MPP since 2011, stepped down Friday in a stunning move that will trigger a byelection in the riding of Bay of Quinte within six months.
RCMP detectives investigating the $8.28-billion Greenbelt land swap scandal are interviewing witnesses linked to Premier Doug Ford’s government.As first disclosed by the Star, current and former Progressive Conservative aides are sitting down with the Mounties to discuss Ford’s controversial 2022 decision to open up 7,400 acres of the two-million-acre Greenbelt to housing development.
Two months ago, Premier Doug Ford was talking trade and tossing a football around his Queen’s Park office with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.With Walz now U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’s running-mate atop the Democratic presidential ticket, Ford is hopeful that could be good news for Ontario — and for his “Buy North America” push.
Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives will drink to that.The first strike in LCBO history appears to have boosted the popularity of Ford’s Tories, according to the latest Abacus Data tracking poll for the Star.
Ontarians overwhelmingly support more liberalized alcohol sales even though a majority back the LCBO strikers, according to internal government polling obtained by the Star.The poll commissioned by Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives found 54 per cent support the Ontario Public Service Employees Union’s “decision to go strike” while 32 per cent opposed it and 14 per cent had no opinion.
Nearly half of all Ontarians would be “unhappy” or “very angry” if Premier Doug Ford called an early $150-million election, a new poll suggests.With Ford considering a vote a year before the scheduled June 2026 provincial election, Abacus Data used its monthly tracking survey for the Star to ask how Ontarians would feel about heading to the polls early.“The price tag is a problem,” said Abacus president David Coletto.Indeed, when the cost of the election is factored in, 19 per cent said they would be “very angry” at a snap call while 25 per cent would be “unhappy” — a total of 44 per cent.
Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives began campaigning for the Toronto—St. Paul’s byelection with the goal of rattling the foundations of Fortress Toronto: the governing Liberals have held all of the seats in the 416 for years.They finished having knocked a brick out of the wall: Conservative Don Stewart bested the Liberals’ Leslie Church by 590 votes, a result Poilievre described Tuesday as a “shocking upset.”
Canada’s EV-building strategy will cost Ottawa and provinces about $6 billion more than announced, the federal parliamentary budget watchdog says.A new report released by Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux says a total of $46.1 billion in government spending across the nascent EV supply chain has been announced. But the PBO estimates the total government support for capital and operating expenses to be up to $52.5 billion, which is $6.3 billion or 14 per cent higher than announced.
Premier Doug Ford is considering an early election call before the scheduled 2026 vote over concerns about cuts a future federal Conservative government might impose, the Star has learned.Sources say Ford is worried that if, as polls suggest, Pierre Poilievre wins an election expected in October 2025, there would be reduced transfer payments to the provinces, a scrapping of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s electric-vehicle strategy that is a cornerstone of Ontario economic policy and other slashed spending that would hurt the Progressive Conservatives.
Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives have dipped slightly in the latest Abacus Data poll, but still enjoy a healthy lead over the Liberals and New Democrats.In the Abacus monthly tracking survey for the Star, Ford’s Tories were at 39 per cent to 26 per cent for Bonnie Crombie’s Liberals, 22 per cent for Marit Stiles’s New Democrats and nine per cent for Mike Schreiner’s Greens.
Premier Doug Ford’s message to Progressive Conservative MPPs was clear.Behind closed doors last week in the second-floor government caucus room at the legislature, Ford implored his colleagues to refrain from weighing in on the Hamas-Israel conflict until after the closely fought May 2 byelection in Milton.
The Progressive Conservatives’ multimillion-dollar advertising blitz is helping Premier Doug Ford and hurting Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie, a new poll suggests.In the Abacus monthly tracking survey for the Star, Ford’s Tories were at 41 per cent to 25 per cent for Crombie’s Liberals, 21 per cent for Marit Stiles’s New Democrats and seven per cent for Mike Schreiner’s Greens.The Liberals dipped by two percentage points from last month’s poll while the other three main parties remained static.
Queen’s Park and Ottawa, which have jointly pledged billions in electric vehicle manufacturing subsidies, were jolted by Ford Canada’s move to delay domestic EV production.Ford Canada announced Thursday it would postpone all electric vehicle production at its Oakville assembly plant by two years until 2027 due to softening demand.
As Premier Doug Ford rails against the "federal carbon tax," he is quietly collecting more than $146 million annually from his provincial levy on industrial greenhouse gas emitters.The Progressive Conservatives government's Emissions Performance Standards (EPS) program charges big polluters $65 per tonne of carbon they emit, rising to $80 a tonne on Jan. 1.
Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's current popularity appears to be having a halo effect on Premier Doug Ford, a new Abacus Data poll suggests.At the same time, embattled Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is proving to be a drag on provincial Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie.
Premier Doug Ford's failure to meet federal affordable housing targets is jeopardizing $357 million in funding from Ottawa, Housing Minister Sean Fraser warns.But Queen's Park counters it is being treated unfairly because its affordable housing stock is the oldest in Canada, meaning repairs to existing units have come at the expense of building new ones.
Crombie, who has pledged to not impose a provincial carbon levy if she defeats Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives in 2026, said consumers are already at their wit's end.
Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie says there will be no provincial carbon tax if she topples Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives in the 2026 election."We will ensure major polluters pay, but we will not have an Ontario carbon tax on consumers," Crombie said Monday as she announced a new panel to develop the party's climate-change policies.
There appears to be no love lost between Premier Doug Ford's governing Progressive Conservatives and Pierre Poilievre's federal opposition Conservatives.Tensions between the two Tory parties, smouldering for months, have flared up in recent weeks.
Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives are riding high at the apparent expense of Marit Stiles' New Democrats, a new poll suggests.The latest Abacus Data tracking poll for the Star had the Tories up three points to 41 per cent while the NDP had dropped four points to 19 per cent.
Call it the Conservatives' Crombie compulsion.Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives have spent the early days of the new legislative session obsessed with rookie Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie.
Blindsided by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre poaching one of his provincial cabinet ministers to run federally, Premier Doug Ford is girding for more departures.As the premier gathers with Progressive Conservatives for a policy convention in Niagara Falls this weekend, he is mindful that Poilievre may pilfer more of his caucus for a federal election expected next year.
Premier Doug Ford's governing Progressive Conservatives appear to be holding their own, but there are some potentially ominous signs for the party, a new poll suggests.The latest Abacus Data tracking poll found the Tories at 38 per cent with Bonnie Crombie's Liberals at 27 per cent, Marit Stiles' New Democrats at 23 per cent and Mike Schreiner's Greens at five per cent.While the January findings are virtually the same as the December results, trouble may be lurking for the Tories when undecided voters are factored in, said Abacus president David Coletto.
A recently discovered internal email related to the $8.28-billion Greenbelt scandal suggests Doug Ford's office "was far more involved" in the controversial land swap than the premier has maintained.The missive, obtained by the opposition New Democrats through a freedom of information request, contradicts testimony given under oath to the integrity commissioner last year.
MPP Kaleed Rasheed, ejected from Premier Doug Ford’s cabinet and caucus over the Greenbelt scandal, will be stuck in political limbo until the RCMP completes its investigation.Insisting he did nothing wrong, Rasheed has been banking on Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake to exonerate him so he can return to the Progressive Conservative fold.
Are the days of multibillion-dollar government subsidies over in Canada for international automakers making the hot new thing — electric vehicle batteries?That question lingers as Honda holds talks with federal officials this week on a potential $18.4-billion auto assembly and electric vehicle battery factory at its complex in Alliston, Ont., which now makes piston-powered Civics and CR-Vs.
In the wake of the Greenbelt land swap scandal, Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives are poised to scrap their most lucrative annual fundraiser, the Star has learned.The "leader's dinner" set a record for Canadian political parties last March, bringing in $6 million to PC campaign coffers.
Rookie Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie has eclipsed her target of raising $1 million in a month for the third-place party.Crombie, who won the Liberal crown on Dec. 2, said the Grits brought in more than $1.2 million during her inaugural weeks at the helm.
Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives are comfortably ahead in the latest Abacus Data tracking poll, but a new Liberal leader is exposing some vulnerabilities for the governing party.In the final Abacus provincial political survey of the year, Ford's Tories were at 39 per cent, well ahead of Bonnie Crombie's Liberals at 27 per cent, while Marit Stiles's New Democrats were at 24 per cent, and Mike Schreiner's Greens at six per cent.
Premier Doug Ford is poised to cancel his plan to dissolve Peel Region, breaking his deathbed promise to former Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion, sources told the Star.Amid mounting alarm that taxes may rise and services could suffer if Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon become stand-alone municipalities, Ford is considering a rethink of the dissolution, which is now being examined by a five-member transition board he appointed.
Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives are wasting no time attacking new Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie, claiming the Mississauga mayor is out of touch with "everyday people.""The Liberals have just elected a leader who spends more time on private jets than the prime minister of Canada," Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra chortled in the legislature Monday without elaborating.
Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives are weathering the Greenbelt scandal, but a storm cloud in the form of Bonnie Crombie as Liberal leader is looming, a new poll suggests.The Abacus Data survey for the Star found Ford’s Tories have rebounded to 42 per cent compared to 24 per cent for Marit Stiles’ New Democrats and 23 per cent for the leaderless Liberals. Mike Schreiner’s Greens remained at seven per cent.
Premier Doug Ford’s $8.28-billion Greenbelt land swap scandal — already under criminal investigation by the RCMP — is about to enter a new phase that has Progressive Conservatives worried.Thousands of pages of documents are expected to be released Monday under freedom of information legislation that could shine more light on a controversy preoccupying the government.
The Progressive Conservatives will not pay the legal bills for any ex-staffers caught up in the Greenbelt land swap scandal now being investigated by the RCMP.With Premier Doug Ford’s government roiled by the Mounties’ probe, the opposition Liberals demanded to know if the treasury would be on the hook for the fees of lawyers already being retained.
Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives believed they had weathered the worst of the $8.28-billion Greenbelt land swap scandal.The Royal Canadian Mounted Police had other ideas.Ford had apologized profusely, cancelled the planned opening up of 7,400 acres of environmentally sensitive property to build housing — and promised sweeping legislation to protect the Greenbelt.