Looking Back on 2025

by: John Vanthof, MPP (Plain text below picture)

As the Legislature of Ontario wrapped up for 2025, the Ford government passed a motion to return to work March 23^rd, 2026, a month later than normal. This was not unexpected since this government has spent less time in the legislature than almost any previous government.  Even when it comes to passing bills, the Ford government and their majority changes rules so that legislation can be tabled and fully passed within 7 days. As a result, this eliminates committee scrutiny and limits debate time for their bills which has resulted in poorly drafted, ineffective and sometimes illegal legislation which is later struck down by the courts.  

The Ford government won the election last February with a promise to protect Ontarians from President Trump. With over 700,000 people unemployed, over 1 million people using food banks, 80,000 people without shelter, and every Ontarian feeling the pinch at the checkout counter, the government spent over 112 million of your tax dollars, in 2025 on advertising to promote themselves.

The government passed some very controversial legislation in the past year. Most notably, Bill 5 which gives cabinet the power to suspend provincial and municipal laws in areas they deem of economic significance, Bill 33 which gives the Minister of Education the ability to suspend school boards, and Bill 60 which makes significant changes to tenants and landlords rights, to the detriment of both.  

The NDP put forward motions to help Ontarians by using only Ontario lumber to build affordable housing, to buy Ontario products, to deal with gouging at grocery stores, and others. The government used their majority to defeat all of them without offering any real solutions.

My NDP colleagues and I also put forward Bill 49, The Northern Highway 11 and 17 Safety Act to make our northern highways safer. It was also defeated by the government. Despite this, we will keep pushing for highway safety, which continues to be an issue throughout the North. The Minister of Transportation didn’t have an adequate response when I made the house aware that Hwy 11 between North Bay and Cochrane was closed for 32 days between Jan and Sept 2025, and many more times since then. 

Although I put a lot of focus on highways, my office deals with many issues, the ongoing lack of access to doctors and specialists, the lack of housing and social services, and many others. On a positive note, it looks like this will be the year for the return of the Northlander which has been a long fight for all of us. 

It is an honour to be your voice at Queen’s Park. Although I have profound differences with the government on some of their policies, as the Opposition House Leader, I have a good relationship with all members, and I try to work with them on issues which impact Timiskaming Cochrane. Please contact our office if you think we may be able to help, and feel free to talk to me about them if you see me at an event around the riding. 

For more information contact www.jvanthof-co@ndp.on.ca