Welcome back to the Inside Ontario blog. Every Monday this blog will provide you with the top stories about the changing face of Ontario.
Ontario’s Minister of Health and Long Term Care David Caplan called on the federal government to fast-track the approval process for the H1N1 vaccine. An increasing number of H1N1 cases in Ontario during the past few weeks suggest that a second wave of the virus has come to the province.
As of Oct. 3rd, fifteen of Canada’s recent H1N1 outbreaks occurred in schools. The provincial government has announced that Ontario schools will not close early into a second wave of the H1N1 virus, as recommended by the World Health Organization as a way to slow the spread of the disease.
On Wednesday, the Ontario Power Authority announced that a gas-fired power plant capable of producing 900 megawatts of electricity will be built in Oakville. The OPA says the new facility is needed due to the demolition of the Lakeview coal-fired power plant in Mississauga in 2007. Oakville was one of four possible locations for the new plant (the other three were in Mississauga). On Monday Sept. 28 thirty Mississauga residents, including Mayor Hazel McCallion, were present during Question Period to protest the possibility of the plant coming to Clarkson (a community in Mississauga). During that session, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath questioned the Minister of Environment John Gerretsen on the environmental repercussions of this new plant. The Minister replied that the plant would not compromise local air quality and that Ontario needs the electricity the plant will generate.
Amnesty International Canada released the report, "No More Stolen Sisters," this week. It argues that Canada’s aboriginal women are 3.5 times more likely to be the victims of violence than non-aboriginal women. The report calls for a national plan to address violence against aboriginal women.
The 2006 census reports that there are more than 242,000 aboriginal Ontarians (that’s more than any other province in pure numbers). In 2007, Premier Dalton McGuinty created Ontario’s first stand-alone Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, which is currently the responsibility of Minister Brad Duguid.
Jill Mahoney reports in the Globe and Mail that the Government of Ontario has filed a $50 billion lawsuit against tobacco companies to recoup smoking-related health care expenditures. Some are speculating that the provinces may band together to create a national effort to receive compensation from tobacco companies (British Columbia and New Brunswick have already filed lawsuits against tobacco manufacturers). In 1998, tobacco companies agreed to pay the American state governments $246 billion over 25 years.
The Ottawa Citizen reported that four large Ontario Government-owned casinos lost $94 million last year. Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, who is responsible for these casinos, said the entire Canadian casino industry is facing difficult times, partially due to new border policies.
Opposition MPPs used these figures to question the Government’s decision to expand Windsor casino, Caesars Windsor. The province spent $519 million to add a 5,000-seat theatre, a larger hotel, and an $81 million power plant to Caesars Windsor. Dwight Duncan is also the MPP for Windsor-Tecumseh where Caesars Windsor is located.
