Polly Ticks

Springwater stands firm as Barrie seeks new lands

News, Politics /

Plans for new housing and medical centres along Bayfield Street have become the latest battleground in the contest over municipal boundaries between Barrie and Springwater. A single council decision has shifted the trajectory of regional growth—and put annexation squarely on the agenda. When Springwater Township council withdrew support for the minister’s zoning orders (MZOs) linked […]

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School Board Takeover: What’s the Real Price for Students?

Op-ed / Rant, Politics /

Voters in Toronto may have cast their ballots three years ago, but with a stroke of provincial authority this summer, the voices behind nearly 400,000 votes fell silent. As Queen’s Park installed financial supervisors to oversee the Toronto District School Board, one question echoes: when governance shifts, who hears the students? The move, announced on

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The consequences for families as Ottawa stumbles on $10-a-day care

News, Politics /

It should have been a breakthrough for families in Ottawa: the $10-a-day child care dream, just within reach, suddenly slipping from their grasp. With the clock ticking down to the 2026 deadline, the city’s stumble isn’t just another missed mark. It’s a promise deferred, landing squarely on the shoulders of parents now left searching for

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Shops see Canadian pride surge as U.S. trade tensions bite

Business, News, Politics /

Not long ago, an ordinary trip to the grocery store in Barrie was just that: ordinary. Now, with each careful selection of maple-leaf-branded goods and locally roasted coffee beans, residents signal a subtle act of defiance shaped by forces well beyond city limits. The spark? A trade war ignited by U.S. President Donald Trump, whose

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Purdys’ grocery leap proves buy Canadian is more than a slogan

Politics /

Chocolate rarely takes centre stage in international trade disputes, but the story unfolding on Canadian grocery shelves suggests even dessert can become a battleground for economic identity. Purdys Chocolatier’s unlikely pivot, driven by a groundswell of buy Canadian sentiment, offers a telling case study—one made possible, paradoxically, by an American president’s penchant for tariffs. For

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Ontario’s bold move to oust city councillors faces tough questions

News /

Ontario’s latest attempt to hold city councillors to account sharpens a question that echoes through town halls across the province: is this plan realistic, or just theatre in legislative attire? The provincial government has introduced a bill designed to make it easier to remove municipal politicians found guilty of misconduct. The mechanism, at first glance,

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Why Ontario’s Correctional Complaints Are Sounding the Alarm

News, Politics /

Thunder rumbles through institutional corridors rarely heard by the public, but the Ombudsman’s latest call for action has made certain the storm within Ontario’s correctional system will not go unnoticed. The Ombudsman, a figure tasked with holding public institutions to account, has delivered an uncompromising message: the volume of complaints pouring in from provincial jails

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