Torontoist » Ontario

All Haile Ontario’s First Female MPP Candidate

In a time when the right to vote was exclusively male, Margaret Haile was determined to be the first woman to earn a seat at Queen's Park.

The result fails to impress on first glance: Margaret Haile, Ontario Socialist League candidate in a Toronto riding, 74 votes. Sounds like the low end of the typical ballot range for a fringe candidate in a provincial election. But it’s the circumstances that make Haile stand out: the year was 1902, and women wouldn’t be [...]

Catholic Schools: Separate But Equal Funding

As Ontario's Catholic schools continue to oppose gay-straight alliances, many are asking why we're still funding the schools at all. We look into the history of Catholic school funding in Ontario.

At the upcoming rally in Queen’s Park this Sunday to support gay-straight alliances in Roman Catholic schools across Ontario, we easily imagine students holding up signs proclaiming “Equality or Bust.” Forty years ago, placards with that message were also held up by pupils, but at a mass rally at Maple Leaf Gardens to urge the [...]

Queen’s Park Watch: Jobs, Immigration, Tempests, and Teapots

Controversy over subsidizing employers who hire new Canadians exemplifies the pointless pettiness of election politics.

The recent public bickering around a Liberal plan to help overseas professionals gain Ontario credentials isn’t just another trumped-up mediastorm; it’s a pleasing microcosm of the campaign strategies of the three main parties. For those too election-weary to monitor every outrage: the controversy started last week when Premier Dalton McGuinty unveiled a shiny new campaign [...]

Local Filmmaker Tackles Murder, Rural Ontario Style

Director Ed Gass-Donnelly (right) with actor Peter Stormare. If you were to walk up to someone from, say, Hanover or Barry’s Bay or Pelham, Ontario, grab them by the shoulders, and say: “Premise: a person gets killed in a tiny town nobody’s ever heard of, just like this one,” that person would probably tell you [...]

Sound Advice: M I N E by More More

Every Tuesday, Torontoist scours record store shelves in search of the city’s most notable new releases and brings you the best—or sometimes just the biggest—of what we’ve heard in Sound Advice. Pretty soon, when you think London, Ontario, you won’t just think Shad, Ryan Gosling, and the San Diego Chicken Mascot. You’ll also think More [...]

Taxes Due, Ontario Getting Poorer, We’re #51!

Today is tax deadline day, and if the Canada Revenue Agency says you owe money, pay now or get nailed with penalties. If the government owes you, wait for it or head down to the LCBO and take it out in wine coolers (provincial portion only). The debate over legislating TTC workers into essential servitude [...]

Olympic Torch Rally Controversy Continues, Ontario Government Does Suspicious Number Of Good Things, Jays Lose A Barnburner

China vows to continue the international Olympic torch relay despite lots of protests. The International Olympic Committee suggested that they might do away with the international route in upcoming games, because from now on, all Olympic games will be held in authoritarian dictatorships and they “don’t want to look bad” when they award the next [...]

TTC Wants To Redesign; Ontario Budget Released; And Just Wait Till Next Year, Boston!

TTC does end-run around Toronto Preservation Board. The TTC wants the right to redesign 63 of its 69 stations. Heh. We have 69 TTC stations. Never noticed that before. Heh. Ontario budget released. The budget contains small business tax cuts (not as large as Jim Flaherty would like) and small amounts of additional spending on [...]