Category: Columns

Serious MTO woes need immediate attention

By Bobbi Ann Brady As I get older, my appreciation for adages like “Those were the days” and “It didn’t used to be that way” grow stronger. No where is this truer than my experience over the past 23-plus years dealing with the Ministry of Transportation (MTO). Transportation was once considered a sleeper ministry, one

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The tangled web of contradictions:  international students

By MPP Bobbi Ann Brady The subjects of immigration and international students have been delicate issues for quite some time. I’ve been talking about it since the election.  Some people don’t like it, but we are at a crossroads where the discussion is vital. Therefore, I’m heartened to see over the past few weeks, these subjects have

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Keeping it real at ROMA

By MPP Bobbi Ann Brady Last week, I had the pleasure of joining my municipal partners in Toronto at the Rural Ontario Municipal Association Conference (ROMA). The ROMA conference is a good opportunity for municipal politicians to meet with provincial government political leaders and key bureaucrats to discuss the issues and challenges facing their municipalities. 

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My carbon tax petition inspired by butter and Saskatchewan

By Bobbi Ann Brady MPP As I was grocery shopping the other day, I noticed a sign, Everyday Essentials, above a refrigerator case of butter, which was selling for $8.99 a pound. Who is paying this price?  The word “essential” stuck in my craw, and I had a great discussion with my kids around the supper

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So begins the countdown to New Year’s Day 2026

By Bobbi Ann Brady With the Christmas and New Year’s holiday season behind us and hopefully any hangovers as well, I found it interesting that the Ontario government announced mid-December that effective New Year’s Day 2026, folks will be able to buy beer, wine, cider, coolers, seltzers, and other low-alcohol ready-to-drink beverages at all participating

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Keeping Haldimand-Norfolk front and centre in 2023: Part 2

By MPP Bobbi Ann Brady Building on my previous column outlining the first six months of 2023, this column covers the second part of the year.   As much as I want to always be in the riding listening to you, I must also take your concerns to Toronto to voice them at the Ontario

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Keeping Haldimand-Norfolk front and centre in 2023: Part 1

By MPP Bobbi Ann Brady The Ontario Legislature rose a week earlier than expected for Christmas, but as your lone truly Independent member of provincial parliament, it sure didn’t stop me from an action-packed 2023 at Queen’s Park and in Haldimand-Norfolk.   Any MPP’s riding is where the real work lies, and that’s where you find

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Make this Christmas one of magic and memories

By MPP Bobbi Ann Brady “At Christmas play and make good cheer, for Christmas comes but once a year” – a phrase coined by 16th-century English poet and farmer Thomas Tusser. While we pace our shopping based on our paycheques and the status of our bank accounts, we are all financially thankful Christmas comes, but

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Keep the joy in Christmas, don’t drive impaired

By MPP Bobbi Ann Brady Christmas is a time of family, joy, and celebration. If alcohol is going to be part of your celebrations, make sure you have a plan to get home safely.  What people may not know, is the police have some new tools at their disposal to make the roads safer, and

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New deal for Toronto, bad deal for rural Ontario

By MPP Bobbi Ann Brady While we await all the details, at first blush the New Deal for Toronto Act is a bad deal for rural Ontario. For those not following the hubbub, this legislation enables the deal made between Toronto and the province worth $1.2 billion. The lynch pin of the deal is the

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