Dear neighbour,
It’s been a bad week for Doug. The Premier had to defend his terrible decision to spend $28.9 million on a private jet while many Ontarians are having difficulty paying food, rent, and making mortgage payments.
Instead of saying sorry, he defended his purchase, whining that other provinces, like Quebec, are allowed private jets so why couldn’t he.
Turns out he was wrong. Quebec has private jets but they don’t deploy them for the premier’s personal travel but for medical evacuations.
Doug’s “Air Ford One” purchase was a smear on his carefully calibrated marketing campaign to present himself as the common man, when he’s actually quite well-off and doesn’t understand the day-to-day reality people are facing.
But the jet saga wasn’t what bothered me most about Doug’s meddling this week.
It was exempting records from the Premier, cabinet ministers, and their offices from Ontario’s Freedom of Information (FOI) rules, effectively making them secret. And the rules are retroactive to 1988. The bill was passed late Wednesday night, without even being sent to public hearings.
FOI rules exposed the Greenbelt scandal. They exposed the government using Skills Development Fund money to give to their Conservative donors. Public scrutiny is a powerful disinfectant to wrongdoing. It’s also a cornerstone of a free, open and well-functioning democratic state. The two are related.
Doug Ford has an authoritarian impulse that must be put in check. He also, clearly, has something to hide. And when it comes out - and it will come out - it’s not going to be good for him.
Sincerely,
Jessica Bell
MPP, University-Rosedale
In this newsletter:
- Fighting for our kids: Join our Education Townhall - May 4
- New survey for renters: we want to hear from you!
- What is the Premier hiding on his phone? Government guts Ontario’s Freedom of Information laws
- Bill 105: Another Conservative omnibus bill, that does little and risks a lot
- Conservatives vote down motion to stop predatory grocery pricing
- Bill 100 gives the province more control over local governments
- Why Expanding the Toronto Island Airport Is a Terrible Idea
- Summer language programs now open for registration
- Changes are on the way for E-Bikes: Have your say
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Fighting for our kids: Join our Education Townhall - May 4
Join myself, MPP Alexa Gilmour, and MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam, alongside parents, experts, and advocates for an Education Townhall - as we fight back against $900 million in cuts, break down what’s happening, and stand up for our kids and public education.
Every child should be given the opportunity to learn in a safe and welcoming public school.
But, the Conservative government is determined to take away our say on schools, and make it harder than ever to stand up to terrible budget cuts that will have a real impact on kids in the classroom.
The government and their appointed TDSB supervisor are currently:
- Cutting $900 million from Education in the next three years
- Axing more than 600 staff, from teachers, to educational assistants, to support roles, across the TDSB
- Shifting power away from elected trustees and towards the Minister of Education
- Forcing the TDSB to cut nearly half of its local, elected trustees
- Converting school boards' Directors of Education into Chief Executive Officers (CEOs)
- Giving the Minister of Education broad new powers to approve school board budgets, override board decisions, determine how grades are calculated, and set rules around classroom materials and communications.
I know that like me, you won't back down from fighting for our kids and public education - join us.
When: Monday, May 4 at 7:30 PM
Where: Online (Zoom) - RSVP for Link
Who: Everyone is welcome!
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New survey for renters: we want to hear from you!
Rent is too high, and many people are struggling to keep up.
I’m hearing from renters who are cutting back on groceries, working extra hours, and worrying about being priced out of their homes. Some are even putting off asking for badly-needed repairs because they’re afraid speaking up could lead to a rent increase or eviction.
The Conservatives are falling short on fixing the housing crisis. Rent is too expensive, homelessness is rising, and we need a real plan to build more affordable housing.
At the same time, renters need immediate relief. That is why I am introducing a motion to freeze rent for two years on all rent-controlled homes in Ontario, including Above Guideline Increases.
A rent freeze would give renters stability while we work on longer-term solutions like building the housing we need.
We are collecting information from renters across Ontario to better understand how high rents are affecting people’s lives. Your experience will help strengthen the case for action at Queen’s Park.
Please take a few minutes to complete the survey. Your answers can be anonymous and you are welcome to share this survey with other renters.
Click on the link here.
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What is the Premier hiding on his phone? Government guts Ontario’s Freedom of Information laws
Adding to the Premier’s week to forget, his government rushed through their far-reaching changes to Ontario’s Freedom of Information (FOI) laws in the legislature.
Doug Ford, his cabinet, their decisions, their emails - and crucially their phone records - are now off limits and out of access. And it’s not just going forward from today.
The Conservatives' new FOI laws stop anyone - including the public, journalists, and Opposition parties - from requesting access to these sorts of files, all the way back to 1988 - covering the last 40 years and six separate Ontario governments.
The question I, and so many people in our province are left with is: why?
A government that doesn’t have something to hide, doesn’t go this far to obscure the truth.
The impact of these FOI changes will be huge. If these new laws had been in place previously, we never would have found out about the Greenbelt scandal, the Las Vegas trips and massages, the misuse of the Skills Development Fund, or the preferential treatment given to a foreign-owned mega spa at Ontario Place.
And demonstrating the lengths the Conservatives were willing to go to get this controversial law passed, they first buried the changes inside their proposed budget bill - and then refused to take the proposed law to committee.
That means the public had no chance to weigh in or have their say, and Opposition MPPs such as myself had no opportunity to go through the bill, amend it, or suggest changes.
The government avoiding public hearings on a law that restricts public access to government documents isn’t a good look.
We will continue to fight to hold the Premier accountable in the legislature, and won’t stop searching for the secrets this government is so desperate to hold onto.
Clearly there is a lot more to uncover.
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Bill 105: Another Conservative omnibus bill, that does little and risks a lot
Earlier this week, the government introduced the omnibus Bill 105 - the Protecting Ontario’s Workers and Economic Resilience Act, 2026.
Here is what’s in the bill:
- Expanded WSIB protections for workers in the residential care and group home sectors
This is a positive step forward, however other key groups, such as childcare workers have been left out - and it’s unclear why. Overall one in four Ontario workers - about 1.5 million people - still don’t have universal coverage for injury or illness in the workplace, and this bill won’t fix that.
- Measures designed to save costs for workers, such as preventing employers from requiring workers to purchase or self-launder uniforms for their job
While on paper this seems like a helpful change, it actually won’t change things for many workers.
Only large corporations and the biggest businesses will be made to comply, and the government has indicated that medium and small-sized businesses would be largely exempt. That means hundreds of thousands of Ontario workers could still be on the hook for costs such as washing or purchasing mandatory work clothes.
- Removing the requirement for Ministers to carry out or publish reviews of environmental assessments, or provide the chance for the public to comment on projects and their impact.
- No longer allowing the public to request that Ministers send environmental assessments to the Ontario Land Tribunal, if they would like to challenge these studies and their findings.
These changes are particularly concerning, as they hollow out the Environmental Assessment Act and make it harder for the public to hold the government’s feet to the fire on the environmental impact of major projects.
It certainly indicates that the government will continue to not prioritize environmental protections in Ontario, or put together a credible plan to fight and prepare our province for the impacts of climate change.
Additional proposals in the bill include:
- Allowing employees to apply for unions to be decertified if collective agreements aren’t reached within 6 months of negotiations
- Putting internationally-trained doctors who’ve lived in Ontario for at least 24 weeks, or attended two years of high school or university in Ontario, first in line when applying to practice
The first change would in practice make it harder for unionization for workplaces to succeed, even after a successful vote and the beginning of a collective bargaining process. Especially for newly unionized workplaces, initial negotiations can take time - and often more than six months, with this proposal putting the delicate early stages of unionization at risk.
The second change sounds on paper like a step forwards to enabling internationally-trained doctors to practice in Ontario.
However, according to the Ontario Medical Association, it could deter and make it harder for internationally-trained family doctors to apply to practice and actually begin treating and supporting patients, as many do not have prior Canadian-based education - and especially as newcomers.
This won’t get the 2.5 million Ontarians without a family doctor closer to one in the short-term, and it could provide another hurdle for experienced, internationally-trained doctors from being able to apply and certify their qualifications to practice.
The big picture of Bill 105 is this: it does little to tackle the issues workers are facing, and it risks key environmental safeguards that can protect our province for the future. That’s not good enough.
If this bill impacts you, or if you have feedback, please contact our team at [email protected]
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Conservatives vote down motion to stop predatory grocery pricing
On Monday, April 20, we debated an opposition motion introduced by Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles to ban predatory grocery pricing — and the Conservatives voted it down.
Predatory pricing, also known as surveillance pricing, is when companies use your personal data to charge you different prices based on what they think you can afford. They track what you search, what you buy, and even where you live to squeeze the most money out of you.
This is already happening. We see it with flights, ride shares, and hotels and it’s now expanding into groceries, rent, and everyday essentials.
At a time when people are already struggling with the cost of living, this kind of pricing is deeply concerning. Prices are rising across the board. Coffee is up 41%, ground beef is up 17%, and fresh fruit and vegetables are up by 8%.
Meanwhile, Canada’s largest grocery chain, Loblaws, made $2.7 billion in profit in 2025.
And while families are being squeezed, this government focused on purchasing a $28.9 million private jet.
Other provinces are taking action. Manitoba has already moved to ban this kind of pricing to protect consumers.
Our motion would have banned companies from using personal data to unfairly inflate prices and ensured people pay a fair price at the checkout.
Instead, the government chose to side with big corporations like Galen Weston and Loblaws over Ontarians.
We will keep pushing for action to bring fairness back to pricing and make life more affordable.
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Bill 100 gives the province more control over local governments
This week, we debated Bill 100, the Better Regional Governance Act, 2026, at second reading.
At its core, this bill gives the provincial government more power over how regional municipalities are run including who leads them and how key decisions are made.
Under the bill, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing would be able to appoint and remove regional chairs in Durham, Halton, Muskoka, Niagara, Peel, Waterloo, and York, as well as the warden of Simcoe County.
Currently, most of these positions are elected in some form regionally.
Those appointed leaders would also be given “strong mayor” powers, including the ability to set budgets, hire and fire senior staff, and pass bylaws with support from just one-third of council.
The bill also opens the door to weighted voting at regional councils, meaning some members could be given more votes than others. The rules for how this works would be set by the Minister.
The government says these changes will make decision-making faster, but they also mean less local input and less accountability. Regional governments control a large portion of property taxes, and under this model, key decisions, including tax increases, could be made by people who are not elected or accountable.
Doug Ford has an authoritarian impulse. He is centralizing power at Queen’s Park and weakening local decision-making.
Hearings on this Bill take place on Tuesday April 28. You can sign up to have you say here.
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Why Expanding the Toronto Island Airport Is a Terrible Idea
This week, I attended a town hall on the Conservative government’s threat to expand the Toronto Island Airport and permit larger jets.
More than 200 people packed the gym at the new community centre at Queens Quay East. There was a feeling of deep anger towards Doug Ford’s Conservative government for, once again, messing with Toronto’s waterfront; and betrayal by the Federal Government for failing to stop it.
I oppose allowing jets at the Toronto Island Airport.
Until I attended this meeting, however, I did not fully grasp just how breathtakingly stupid this expansion would be. Expanding the airport to accommodate jets is not a minor tweak—it is a massive industrial project.
The runway would have to be extended by 336 metres. Approach lighting would need to be installed up to 750 metres beyond the runway in both directions. Wall-like jet blast deflectors would be required to prevent boats from being overturned by engine thrust. Beaches on the Toronto Islands would be reduced.
Much of what we know has been uncovered by citizen’s group Waterfront for All through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests—laws the government has also hollowed out this week.
Even with these disclosures, there is still a great deal we don’t know. What we do know is the expansion will be significant, permanent, and deeply damaging to our quality of life.
Now, the Conservatives have introduced a bill - the Billy Bishop Airport Act, 2026 - that takes this Billy Bishop takeover one step further - and another step too far.
This latest legislation would:
- Force the City of Toronto to give up it’s ⅓ share in Billy Bishop Airport (the airport is currently governed equally between the Municipal and Federal governments, and the Toronto Port Authority)
- Allow the province to expropriate city-owned land at Bathurst Quay, Toronto Island, and Little Norway Park - potentially evicting thousands of people from their homes,and closing a school and a community centre in the surrounding area
We’re still looking into this the full impact of this bill, but the fundamental question is this:
Who is the waterfront for?
Years ago, our city made a choice to prioritize people over industry. That’s why 800 hectares at the mouth of the Don River are being redeveloped for housing. It’s why the Toronto waterfront has become one of the densest residential neighbourhoods in North America.
The waterfront belongs to the people who live there, work there, and visit—not to big jets. Let’s protect it.
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Summer language programs now open for registration
The TDSB’s 2026 Summer International Languages Elementary & African Heritage Program is now open for registration. This program gives children the opportunity to learn new languages and explore diverse cultures in a fun, supportive environment.
Classes run July 6 to July 30 at locations across the city. For more information check out their website here.
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Changes are on the way for E-bikes: Have your say.
In Ontario, E-bikes or ‘power-assisted’ bicycles have been included under the Highway Traffic Act since 2009, and today they’re more common than ever before in our city.
In the last 15 years, our streets have changed - and E-bikes have changed with them. The government is currently launching a consultation, aimed at updating and expanding the regulation of e-bikes under the Highway Traffic Act, to bring the rules around them up to speed.
Keeping pedestrians, cyclists, drivers and other road users safe must always be the priority, so everyone in our city can get from A to B.
As the government looks to update Ontario’s rules for E-bikes, you can review the latest proposals and submit comments to the Ministry of Transportation. Have your say by clicking here.