While National Newswatch does not keep an archive of external articles for longer than 6 months, we do keep all articles written by contributors who post directly to our site. Here you will find all of the contributed and linked external articles from Mike Crawley.
Sweeping legislation would fast-track approvals of major projects, exempt some from provincial laws. The most significant legislation from Ontario's Progressive Conservatives since winning their third straight majority is a sweeping bill that Premier Doug Ford says will protect the economy from tariffs, but which critics say will gut environmental protection.
Former city councillor, ex-MP and longtime critic of Doug Ford calls waterfront project 'incredible.' Former city councillor and ex-MP Adam Vaughan, long one of the sharpest critics of Doug Ford's plans for Toronto's waterfront, is now working for Therme Canada, the company developing a luxury spa at Ontario Place. In an interview with CBC News, Vaughan revealed that he has...
Ford becomes first Ontario premier since the 1950s to win 3 successive majorities. Doug Ford and his Progressive Conservatives' victory in Thursday's Ontario election came as the result of a campaign that focused ruthlessly on the one issue capturing the minds of Canadians right now, a leader who worked relentlessly to make the most of his opportunity, and perfect political...
Donald Trump's threat of whopping tariffs on Canadian exports and his trolling of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are key tactics in a negotiating strategy to extract the best trade terms for the U.S., according to people who have worked with or closely observed him over the years. Trump is promising to slap a 25 per cent tariff on all goods...
Two of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's top cabinet ministers met Friday with two of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks in an attempt to stave off the looming prospect of tariffs on Canadian exports. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc flew to Florida to brief the presidential transition team on the government's plan for improving border...
One of Doug Ford's first acts as premier of Ontario, just days after taking office in 2018, was cancelling more than 750 renewable energy projects, including a large wind farm that was already partially built. Fast forward to today, and Ford's Progressive Conservative government is poised to oversee the biggest expansion of green energy that the province has seen in...
Developers are among the biggest beneficiaries of red-tape reduction measures brought in by Premier Doug Ford's government, saving hundreds of millions of dollars a year in costs, CBC News has learned. Since taking office in 2018, Ford's Ontario PCs have brought in 12 bills focused on cutting what they describe as red tape. Their most recent legislation – the Cutting...
Premier Doug Ford's Ontario PCs have built up a $9 million surplus in party coffers, dwarfing their rivals amid the possibility of an early provincial election call. The parties have just filed their annual financial statements to Elections Ontario and the documents show the Progressive Conservatives in far better financial shape than either the NDP or Liberals.
If Premier Doug Ford decides to call an early election, political strategists say he'll need to give Ontario voters a compelling reason for why he's sending them to the polls ahead of schedule. Over the past week, Ford has repeatedly declined to rule out calling an election before his government's four-year mandate expires in June 2026. Multiple sources close to...
Bonnie Crombie calls deal a 'billion dollar booze boondoggle,' but government disputes her math. Premier Doug Ford's push to get beer and wine into convenience stores ahead of schedule will cost Ontario taxpayers at least $225 million, but there's evidence the full price tag actually adds up to hundreds of millions more. When the Ford government announced that it will...
Nearly 800,000 international students got permits to study business, far more than health care or trades. Canada's recruitment of international students has tilted strongly toward filling spots in business programs, while doing little to meet the demand for workers in health care and the skilled trades, according to a CBC News analysis of federal data.
Publicly funded ads from Doug Ford's government aired during Super Bowl, Oscars, Emmy Awards. An advertising campaign by Premier Doug Ford's government that has been criticized as partisan self-promotion is costing taxpayers about $8 million, CBC News has learned. Government officials previously refused to share the cost of the high-profile "It's Happening Here" ads, which have aired in such choice...
The new year brings new opportunities for Premier Doug Ford to try to move past the controversies that plagued his government in 2023. The Greenbelt scandal dominated Ontario politics for much of last year. Although Ford's government has reversed its move to give select developers the right to build housing in the protected area (potentially boosting their land values by...
Premier Doug Ford's government is set to reveal its plan for changing how alcohol is sold in Ontario, including allowing all supermarkets, convenience stores and gas stations to sell beer, wine and canned mixed drinks starting in 2026, industry sources told CBC News. The plan goes to cabinet on Tuesday and the announcement is to be made on Thursday, multiple...
There's fresh scrutiny of how Premier Doug Ford's government issued dozens of fast-track approvals to rezone select properties, some of them owned by developers who also stood to benefit from Greenbelt land swaps. Minister's zoning orders (MZOs) are a powerful tool the province can use to expedite development on a specific parcel of land. At the stroke of a pen...
Premier Doug Ford's climbdown on removing land from Ontario's protected Greenbelt for housing is expected to go into legislation on Monday. Ford's Progressive Conservative government is set to table a bill that will reverse its 2022 move to give the owners of certain Greenbelt properties the right to build housing, boosting their land values by an amount the auditor general...