2025, an election year for Doug Ford?

The rumor started circulating last spring and Doug Ford let it run. Without ever confirming anything, the Prime Minister did not reject the possibility of an early election in 2025.

And the warning signs have multiplied. The parties have confirmed a series of candidates. HAS Queen’s Parkthe Ford government accelerated the adoption of bills on subjects deemed priorities – cycle paths, supervised consumption centers. The Prime Minister has finally completed a file that he has held for a long time, by accelerating plans to liberalize the alcohol market.

There are also these $200 checks that will arrive at the right time in the mailboxes of all Ontarians at the start of the year, a measure seen as a pre-election candy.

We have seen the government and political parties engage in advertising and fundraising activities.

Why go to an election more than a year before the date scheduled on the calendar?

There are several theories.

According to the opposition, Doug Ford would like to appear before the electorate before the GRC does not complete its investigation into the Greenbelt scandal (will there be charges filed?).

He would prefer to organize a vote before the federal election and avoid being associated with the Conservative Party of Pierre Poilievre.

The Prime Minister has also launched long-term infrastructure projects and refuses to risk another government canceling them. In any case, the Progressive Conservatives maintain a comfortable lead in the polls.

Construction sites and the fight against congestion

The Minister of Transport has committed to withdrawing as quickly as possible lanes reserved for bicycles (New window) on the streets Bloor et Yonge and the avenue University in Toronto.

Prabmeet Sarkaria passed, in just a few weeks, a bill that gives the province the power to undertake this demolition work, and a right of veto in the future on municipal bike path projects.

The province repeats that it wants to fight against road congestion, but cyclists, who believe that this law will put lives in danger, have now turned to the courts to challenge it.

To ease traffic flow in the Greater Toronto Area, the Progressive Conservatives also promised the construction of a new highway in the northwest crown, the 413. Minister Sarkaria predicted a groundbreaking in 2025.

Last year, Ontario and Ottawa settled a dispute that delayed the start of work and the Ford government legislated cuts to environmental assessments and consultations. The government has so far refused to quantify the costs of the project.

Doug Ford also launched the idea of ​​building a tunnel under the 401. This proposal, still vague, could well become a campaign promise.

The government is also refusing to rely solely on cars and is promoting major public transport projects that will make travel easier.

However, no entry into service date has been confirmed for the Eglinton Crosstown light rail line, which has been under construction for more than 13 years. It will not be before June 1, estimated the president of the C.A. by the Toronto Transportation Commission.

The provincial agency Metrolinx, criticized for its management of the project, now has a new CEO acting.

Homelessness, mental health, drugs

The Ford government ended the year with the introduction of a bill on homeless encampments. In response to the request of several mayors, the province is offering more tools to municipalities and police officers to help them dismantle encampments.

The text will probably not be adopted any time soon, if the scenario of a hasty election is confirmed and the deputies do not return to the chamber this winter.

The government has for the moment extended the parliamentary recess until March 3. In the meantime, the Progressive Conservatives wanted to mark the occasion by insisting that it is necessary return the parks to our childrenand it will certainly be a campaign theme.

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The opposition parties will have ammunition to respond: the government should have tackled this problem head-on in 2018 by facilitating the construction of affordable housing, they say. Moreover, construction starts are not progressing fast enough to allow Ontario to achieve its objective: 1.5 million new housing units built by 2031.

Finally, on the subject of drugs, Doug Ford was clear: he advocates the harsh method. The ten supervised consumption centers that the province has ordered closed have until March 31 to comply with the province’s requirements. Health professionals and community stakeholders predict an increase in overdoses. The government is, in this matter too, the subject of legal action.

Opposition parties

The head of NPD Marit Stiles had a good time in the bedroom last fall and is trying, with advertisements among other things, to make herself better known to the population. But the party that forms the official opposition to Queen’s Park fails to shake the Progressive Conservatives’ voting intentions.

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Liberal Bonnie Crombie has struggled to find a place on the chessboard since her election to the leadership.

Some of his positions at the end of the year confirmed his intention to refocus, even rightize the party. The Liberals are trying both to distance themselves from their federal cousins ​​and from Justin Trudeau, to distinguish themselves from NPD and to advance on the ground of PCbut have work to do to define themselves to voters.

Reconnect with the United States

Doug Ford and his team are dreading the date of January 20. After threatening to impose tariffs, what does new American President Donald Trump have in store for Canadians and, by extension, Ontarians?

The province launched a charm operation, broadcasting advertisements on American television. These messages will be put forward at the start of the year in the states with which Ontario has the most trade, and even projected during the Super Bowl.

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The Minister of Commerce, Vic Fedeli, was in Washington at the beginning of December to meet elected officials and plans to return for the inauguration of Donald Trump. The Ontario government wants to make it clear to its southern neighbors that they cannot do without the province and its products and is trying, as much as possible, to prepare for the unexpected.