Queen's Park Politics

[vid]

STOODIS!!!

I get that they want to use UTC-4 (aka Eastern Daylight Time, aka Atlantic Standard Time) because it will create more evening daylight, but if that's the main goal, why not go all the way and just use UTC-0?

I do appreciate that the law maintained the separate time zone in Kenora and Rainy River, but they're going to get stranded in that time zone over the winter when Manitoba falls back into UTC-6.

[Djeffery]

I think it will cause a wider conversation across the rest of the continent to ask "why do we do this again?"

[Dengler Avenue]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d8Ik3IXjpsw
$300M for fixed costs for affected small businesses

[Blitz]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

Private members bill has passed second reading to pass a law to keep Ontario on daylight savings time year round. The government supports the bill. If passed, it would only take effect if Quebec and New York passed similar laws. Watch Quebec decide to stay on standard time year round lol. I wonder if those jurisdictions are actually looking at this? I can't imagine New York only looks at Ontario or Quebec on this. I would have to think that a large chunk of other states around them would have to agree as well. But I also think that if they do go for it, it will lead to a cascade of other eastern time zone states going along as well.

Ah yes, another wacky idea with a total lack of consideration for people in Southwestern Ontario. Why is New York included in this but not Michigan? There is obviously no way Windsor should be in a different time zone than Detroit. Further, if Ontario were in daylight time year-round then the sun wouldn't even rise in Windsor in December until after 9:00. If Michigan were to agree to this, then in Western Michigan it wouldn't rise until 9:30. Hence, they will never agree to it anyway. Discussion closed. I'm sure this no-name MPP from Ottawa never bothered to research how this could impact the other parts of the province.

[jamincan]

From what I've read elsewhere, the reason for coordinating with New York is to keep the TSX and NYSE in the same time zone as there are a lot of companies listed on both exchanges.

Does anyone know if this is something that New York is even considering?

[vid]

Back in September there was a US senate bill backed by the two Florida senators to cancel the return to standard time at the end of the month so that there would be more evening daylight over the winter this year to "cope with the pandemic", but it failed. It would have, kind of ironically, put Michigan an hour ahead of Windsor. Since time in Canada is managed only at the provincial levels, it would require 13 separate bills being passed in all provinces and territories to get the country in sync with the US, but two provinces are currently having elections so they can't accomplish that in time.

Apparently quite a few states have already passed similar laws:

Florida’s legislature passed a year-round daylight saving time bill in 2018, when Scott was governor and supported the measure. But the change cannot take effect without federal authorization, which Rubio has been pushing for since last year.

Delaware, Maine, South Carolina and eight other states have passed similar bills and several others, including New York, are looking to join the group.

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/pol...4oy-story.html

I suppose we're not as far off from 10am sunrises as we thought? I can't wait to spend the first three hours at work in total darkness, just so I can get a half hour of daylight after work! What joy! Already finding it hard enough to wake up in total darkness every day, but to spend the first 4 waking hours of it in darkness too?? We'll definitely have to reconsider time zone boundaries if we follow through with this utter malarkey.

[Dengler Avenue]

The dumbness of the PC government is showing, after all...

[Dengler Avenue]

https://www.change.org/p/residents-o...6343-en-ca%3A1

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by vid

I suppose we're not as far off from 10am sunrises as we thought? I can't wait to spend the first three hours at work in total darkness, just so I can get a half hour of daylight after work! What joy! Already finding it hard enough to wake up in total darkness every day, but to spend the first 4 waking hours of it in darkness too?? We'll definitely have to reconsider time zone boundaries if we follow through with this utter malarkey.

That works out to an approximately 9AM sunrise / 6PM sunset at the winter solstice for most of the province. Makes more sense for more people than the current 8AM-5PM daylight hours.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

https://www.change.org/p/residents-o...6343-en-ca%3A1

I've signed that one.

[Dengler Avenue]

Minimum wage will go up by 10 cents/hour...

[Djeffery]

Well, the feds are out of the way, so up next is the Ontario general election. And yesterday, I started to hear the PC's new set of attack ads.

In one, Doug Ford calls his party the party of yes. Yes he will spend on infrastructure and health care.

Another calls Andrea Horvath a person who says one thing and does another. Claims that everything costs too much but also plans to raise taxes.

The third I heard "Steven Del Duca was Kathleen Wynne's right hand. Ontario crumbled under Wynne and Del Duca, let's not go back".

I guess we see what we are in for for the next 8 months.

[Loco101]

And Doug Ford was in Timmins yesterday to announce that our current mayor will be the PC candidate in next year's election. The PCs must be moving a fair bit to the left if they think that they can win Timmins.

[thewave46]

Originally Posted by Loco101

And Doug Ford was in Timmins yesterday to announce that our current mayor will be the PC candidate in next year's election. The PCs must be moving a fair bit to the left if they think that they can win Timmins.

I'm surprised Doug actually even bothered.

A star candidate might move the needle a bit for the PCs, but Timmins-James Bay (and previously Cochrane South) has been NDP since 1990. It survived the NDP implosion in 1995. Gilles Bisson basically cakewalks to 50%+ wins, so unless he's planning on retiring I'm not sure what the PCs are hoping to gain here.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by thewave46

I'm surprised Doug actually even bothered.

A star candidate might move the needle a bit for the PCs, but Timmins-James Bay (and previously Cochrane South) has been NDP since 1990. It survived the NDP implosion in 1995. Gilles Bisson basically cakewalks to 50%+ wins, so unless he's planning on retiring I'm not sure what the PCs are hoping to gain here.

Maybe trying to copy what O’Toole was trying to do, except on a provincial level

[Dengler Avenue]

I just came upon an attack ad against Steven Del Duca on Facebook.

[SteelTown]

Whoa, this is surprising, which I fully support. I would have never expected this to come from Premier Ford.

Buried in after-hours emails? Ontario to propose ‘right-to-disconnect’ laws

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/202...=&utm_content=

Ontario employers will soon be required to create right-to-disconnect policies for their workplaces, in an effort to address the ills of “hyper-connectivity.”

Legislation expected to be introduced this week will, if passed, require workplaces with more than 25 employees to develop internal right-to-disconnect standards. The move would make Ontario the first province in Canada to implement such a measure.

“This is a small change that is going to help make a big difference for workers in Ontario,” Labour Minister Monte McNaughton said in an interview.

“We all have family members and friends that struggle with mental health, and I think this is the one of the biggest ways we can help solve some of those challenges.”

It comes as the pandemic increasingly blurred lines between professional and personal lives for those able to work from home, accelerating long hours and what some call “availability creep.”

Existing research suggests the issue particularly affects women, who take on an estimated 33 per cent more unpaid labour through household chores and caregiving responsibilities.

In 2017, France became the first country to legislate the right to disconnect, directing employers to create a “charter of good conduct” that specifies hours when employees shouldn’t write or respond to email.

A recent study by the World Health Organization and International Labour Organization found long working hours are leading to a growing number of deaths from heart disease and stroke. But not everyone agrees that right-to-disconnect laws alone are a strong enough answer.

....

McNaughton said Ontario’s changes will make it a legal requirement for workplaces to have a right-to-disconnect policy, but the details will be “tailored to each individual workplace.”

“It’s important that we have policies to protect family time, workers’ mental health and to just really make these lines clear between when people are working and when they should be on personal time.”

Asked how issues such as unpaid overtime will be tackled, McNaughton said people “deserve to be paid when they’re working” and said his government’s reforms are intended to “rebalance the scales to ensure that workers are protected.”

While technology has changed the volume and pace of e-communication in many sectors, some workers — particularly those in app-based jobs — have long said they struggle to disconnect because their earnings are too low to turn down work.

The Ministry of Labour is expected to announce gig economy reforms in the coming weeks, following a round of consultations this summer.

That process faced criticism for its short time frame, and prompted fears that the ministry would adopt recent proposals by Uber that would cement workers’ status as independent contractors — a category of worker with no protection under labour laws.

But in an interview with the Star, McNaughton said has “made a conscious decision to go in a different direction” than the Uber proposal.

“The pandemic has just highlighted changes that need to be made for all workers to ensure bigger paycheques and better protections. We’re going to make some moves on that in the time ahead.”

[Dengler Avenue]

I was thinking the same too. It sure gets the attention of suburban voters.
Though, given his inflammatory remark about immigrants earlier on, if I’m to put 2 and 2 together, he’s probably trying to make up for that without apologizing.

[swimmer_spe]

I am going to bump this thread.

We have a provincial election this spring. What are your thoughts?

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

I am going to bump this thread.

We have a provincial election this spring. What are your thoughts?

Status quo. I can't see much changing. Current polls say Douggie will win again. The most of a shakeup we will get is a PC minority.

Regardless of who is in power, I much prefer minority governments. Keeps them in check, and if they screw up badly... well it could be election time again.

I don't really see the Libs or NDP as legit challengers. I hope the Greens get a couple more seats however.