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Articles by Charles Cirtwill
OPINION: On rural and northern immigration, Ontario should be bold
In a bold move, Ontario has paused the skilled trades stream of its Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP). At a time when immigration is under attack from multiple sides this is a good thing. Ontarians must have absolute confidence in the integrity of their province’s immigration programs. At the same time, the province needs to move rapidly to address the potential harm this pause will have on honest applicants and the good Ontario businesses looking to employ them.
OPINION: On rural and northern immigration, Ontario should be bold
In a bold move, Ontario has paused the skilled trades stream of its Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP). At a time when immigration is under attack from multiple sides this is a good thing. Ontarians must have absolute confidence in the integrity of their province’s immigration programs. At the same time, the province needs to move rapidly to address the potential harm this pause will have on honest applicants and the good Ontario businesses looking to employ them.
OPINION: On rural and northern immigration, Ontario should be bold
In a bold move, Ontario has paused the skilled trades stream of its Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP). At a time when immigration is under attack from multiple sides this is a good thing. Ontarians must have absolute confidence in the integrity of their province’s immigration programs. At the same time, the province needs to move rapidly to address the potential harm this pause will have on honest applicants and the good Ontario businesses looking to employ them.
OPINION: What Northern Ontario should want for Valentine’s Day
The Northern Ontario Leaders' Debate will be held on Valentine’s Day in North Bay. Here are five things the party leaders should bring on this date with Northern Ontario voters. More immigrants. The federal Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) brought over 4,000 newcomers to our communities over the last five years. During that same time, the Ontario Provincial Nominee Program (OINP) brought 800.
OPINION: It is time for an Ontario rural and northern immigration program
The federal Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) has proven highly successful in attracting new people to rural and northern Canada. RNIP has been so successful that the federal government is moving to make it a permanent program. Could Ontario learn from and mirror this success? Absolutely.
OPINION: Want to socialize? Do it in public.
Are you desperate this holiday season to see Grandma? Then go meet her at a local restaurant. Have you not seen your brother and his kids for months? Then meet them at the food court or go to a local park. Are you and mom missing out on that quality bonding time? Then take a page from an '80s sitcom and meet your mom at the local spa or beauty salon. Travel separately or at least “separated” ("Driving Miss Daisy" style), wear masks, follow the rules, and you will be safe.
OPINION: There is no he-covery that solves a she-cession
Childcare is the answer to non-traditional stimulus of the economy, post-COVID-19. Sorry, but refurbishing that bridge will not get the women in your town back into the economy. And it is women, especially women with young children, that have been hardest hit by the economic downturn driven by the COVID-19 virus. Economist Armine Yalnizyan even coined the phrase “she-cession” to highlight just how different this downturn is compared to those that have come before it.
OPINION: Youth internships - a Northern advantage
The kids are not fine, folks. But we have the tools in hand to help, now. Ontario’s Northern regions are ideally situated to respond to one of the biggest impacts of the COVID-19 crisis: the disproportionate impact of this downturn on youth. Both FedNor and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. (NOHFC) have funded up-and-running and effective internship programs. Those programs could easily be expanded or adjusted to increase their impact during this crisis.
OPINION: What’s next? Stimulating the recovery
Whatever we do, we should be planning it now and be ready to not just announce it, but roll it out, just as soon as the dark clouds begin to lighten. On March 18, the federal government announced a set of measures that many commentators are still incorrectly referring to as a stimulus package. Prof. Kevin Milligan from the University of British Columbia sees the package differently. He has called it a bridging exercise and I, for one, think that is a much better term.
OPINION: Reclaiming the middle ground with the Red Tory
I, for one, would welcome the return of the Red Tory to a prominent role as the conscience of our public debate. Frankly, you should, too We have been treated recently to a slew of articles about the return of the Red Tory, written by people who are most definitely not Red Tories. “Liberal-lite” and “Laurentian elites in blue vests” are just two of the slurs used in those pieces. So, I offer here a defense of Red Toryism from a Red Tory.
OPINION: Evidence-based policy: so close, and yet so far
Once again, it seems policymakers in Ottawa and Toronto are blind to the sheer geographic distances involved here in the centre of Canada. I received an early Christmas present on Dec. 20, 2019. Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced that day that they were launching two new data initiatives. With all the exciting policy changes at the federal and provincial levels in relation to immigration, more and better data is essential to understanding if any of this stuff is working.
OPINION: Is your community welcoming?
Welcoming means being accepting and supportive of new arrivals from everywhere, and anywhere, else. Population decline and aging is a real problem across the globe. It is bad here in Ontario’s northern regions and getting worse. Morden, Man., and other rural communities have reversed similar trends by being opening and welcoming to new arrivals. Is your community welcoming enough to reverse the aging trend?
OPINION: The Ring of Fire bulldozer is here. Will it work?
It is possible, after all, to see the Ring of Fire as the only option for a new future for many communities. During the provincial election, then candidate (now Premier) Doug Ford famously promised to come to the Ring of Fire and drive a bulldozer if that was what was needed to get the development moving. With the abandonment of the Framework Agreement and the return to individual nation-to-nation arrangements, he has done just that.
OPINION: When government screws up
If we want good, evidence-based policy decisions, we need to applaud loudly when government admits a mistake and takes real steps to fix it There are numerous lessons to be learned from the mishandling of the autism file here in Ontario over the past year. Most of them of the “what not to do” kind. But there is one huge lesson that risks getting lost in the (fully justified) anger and frustration. Ultimately, the government did the right thing.
OPINION: A carbon tax in Ontario is coming
Opponents of a carbon tax in Ontario, especially those holding elected office, are in a pretty sweet spot right now. Simply put, there will be a carbon tax in Ontario come the first of January, 2019, and they can blame someone else for it. So, if it is a dismal failure, they win, big. A carbon tax that jacks up government revenues and increases spending on ministerial pet projects will be a failure, let’s be clear on that.
Cirtwill: The new Ontario government is different, better get used to it
There is no question that the new government of Ontario is very different from the old one. Whether different means better or worse is an argument for those still fighting the last election or preparing to fight the next. For those of us looking to get things done in Ontario’s Northern regions over the next four years, that debate is a luxury we cannot afford. Speaking of being able to afford things, we better get used to talking about that, a lot.
OPINION: The Northern to-do list of the next government
Well, by the time this gets to the print edition, the provincial election will be either over or just about over. There will have been millions, nay billions, of dollars’ worth of promises made. In the coming weeks, the harsh reality of governing, as opposed to campaigning, will start the slow process of whittling those promises down. The items that get pursued will be those that are most easily achievable or those to which the new government, of whatever stripe, is most committed.
OPINION: Government is always unfair to someone - it has to be
You win some, you lose some. This is the lesson Ontario small-business people have been reminded of over the past months in dealing with costs driven by decisions made by politicians. First, we had the federal government deciding that it was going to increase taxes on (well, really reduce the exemption for) passive investment holdings inside a corporation. There were howls of outrage from small businesses and small-business lobby groups (yes, doctors are, in Canada, largely small businesses).
OPINION: Does urban Canada hate us?
The urban-rural divide is deeper than ever in Canada. My question is simple: why is this? Do “they” (urban dwellers) hate “us” (rural and small-town Canadians)? I think the question needs to be posed in this way due to the venom that is being directed at rural communities, especially those involved in natural resource extraction. Reading national headlines, and social media, one can find very little sincere interest in understanding why rural Canada is gravely concerned.
Column: How many school boards does one province need? How about none?
Once again, the calls for amalgamating the Catholic and secular school boards in Ontario are starting to be heard. The arguments are familiar. Economies of scale at the administrative level. Reduction in duplication of core services (busing, payroll, purchasing). Eliminating wasteful duplication of facilities (gyms, cafeterias, libraries) and, as enrolments keep falling, getting rid of increasingly underutilized classroom space.
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