OPP investigating former Liberal MP involved in million dollar backroom deals while sister was mayor 

The number of Ontario residents requiring food banks while employed has significantly increased over the last three years.

According to a new report by Feed Ontario, formerly the Ontario Association of Food Banks, there has been a 27 percent increase in the number of individuals with employment income accessing food banks over the last three years.

This includes one in every ten Ontarians who have insufficient income to afford a basic standard of living.

The 2019 Hunger Report reveals that more than five hundred thousand individuals accessed a food bank last year, visiting more than three million times. The report furthermore found a growing trend where the number of individuals with employment income still requiring food banks has increased.

“Over the last three years, Ontario’s food banks have seen a 27 percent increase in the number of adults with employment income accessing their services,” says Carolyn Stewart, Executive Director of Feed Ontario. “This tells us that, while these individuals are working in a full or part-time position, they have not been able to secure sufficient income to afford all of their basic necessities each month, like rent, heat, hydro, or food.”

Provincially, Feed Ontario is calling on the Ford government to make significant improvements to Ontario’s social assistance programs, including increases to social assistance rates, an inclusive definition of ‘disability’ under the Ontario Disability Support Program, and the development of a portable housing benefit.

“Feed Ontario believes that its vision of ending poverty and hunger is shared by all levels of government, and that there has never been a greater need for collective action than there is today,” says Stewart. “Through improvements to Ontario’s social assistance programs and government benefits, investments in affordable housing, and the development of quality employment opportunities for Ontarians, we believe that we can reduce poverty while building a future where no one goes hungry.”

A&W is once again leading the charge when it comes to plant-based foods.

Following the success of its Beyond Meat Burger, A&W is set to test out plant-based chicken nuggets in Canada starting today.

While plant-based, A&W does note on its website that the Nuggets will be cooked with vegetable oil using the same fryers as it’s chicken items’

The nuggets will be provided through a partnership with Lightlife, a meatless product producer, for a limited in stores across Ontario and British Columbia. Should sales go well; A&W has said it would be happy to retain the item after its promotional period.

“We can’t resist our new Plant-Based Nuggets and we can’t wait for guests to taste our delicious new nuggets for themselves,” Susan Senecal, President, and CEO at A&W Canada, said, according to VegNews. 

“Nuggets are fun to eat and fun to share and we think Canadians will be very impressed with our new plant-based nuggets for lunch, dinner, or any time in between.”

The nuggets will be made from peas, wheat flour, and fava beans. They will be sold for $5.99 for a six-piece or $8.99 for a 10-piece. 

This weekend, winter is back with a vengeance. A weather advisory has been put in place for Toronto and basically all of Southern Ontario.

The icy effects are already being felt. Many have taken to Twitter to document their own frozen nightmares.

The Weather Network reports that thousands are already without power in the Kitchener area, and as the icestorm continues, it could get worse for many: “Strong winds through the late morning and afternoon will pose a risk to power lines for parts of the southwest that saw ice accumulation through the morning.”

CBC’s Natasha Fatah tweets, “Toronto friends, a weather advisory in place as Sunday is going to bring a lot of messy, wintry, rainy, freezy weather.

Check on your neighbours, the elderly, those with mobility issues, the homeless, be good to each other and stay warm.”

Good advice, indeed. The mixture of snow, rain and ice is expected to continue through until Monday morning in most of Southern Ontario.

Stay safe and warm, Ontario!

The province of Ontario is in for another potential teachers strike.

According to the President of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation(OSSTF) which represents 60,000 members, public high school teachers will hold a one-day strike Wednesday unless a tentative deal is reached.

In the case of a walkout, the Toronto District School Board has said the board “would have no option, but to close all secondary schools to students as there would not be sufficient supervision to ensure safety.”

In response, Education Minister Stephan Lecce has said he finds it troubling that the teacher unions turn their backs on the children.

According to the Minister, the two percent increase in wages and benefits requested by the Teachers’ Federation would cost $1.5 billion.

“Educators in Ontario are the second-highest remunerated in the country — we pay them well and we value their work,” Lecce said. “We’re offering a $750 million increase and the people of this province overwhelmingly, who I’ve spoken to, have said to me that they want us to be reasonable when it comes to compensation at one percent.”

While a walkout has been tentatively set for Wednesday, the OSSTF and the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) began some job action Tuesday, by withdrawing largely administrative work such as EQAO preparation.