Ford is recalling about 350,000 trucks and SUVs in the U.S., Canada and Mexico because they might be in a different gear than the one shown on the shift indicator.
The recall covers the 2018 F-150 pickup and Expedition large SUV with 10-speed automatic transmissions. Also covered are 2018 F-650 and F-750 trucks with six-speed transmissions. The F-150 is the top-selling vehicle in the U.S.
Ford says that on some vehicles, a clip that locks the gear shift cable to the transmission might come loose. The company says a driver might be able to shift into park and remove the key while the transmission is in another gear, allowing unintended movement. That can increase the risk of a crash.
Ford says it knows of one crash and one injury due to the problem.
Owners will be notified the week of April 16. Dealers will make sure the clip was installed correctly and secure it if needed.
Ontario’s Progressive Conservative leader acknowledged Thursday that his company would benefit, although “probably very little,” from his proposal to cut corporate taxes, but said he would not personally stand to gain anything.
Doug Ford, a businessman and former Toronto city councillor whose family owns and operates Deco Labels and Tags, has promised to cut the provincial corporate tax by one percentage point if the Tories are elected to power this spring.
But Ford stressed it would bring him no advantage because he plans to put the company in a blind trust, a step meant to avoid conflicts of interests when business leaders are elected to office.
“I don’t benefit a penny…if anything I’m losing money doing this job,” he said.
“I’m giving up a massive amount, a massive amount, to serve the people of Ontario. That was my choice. The people of Ontario, I’m putting before my company.”
The Tories have said cutting the corporate tax rate from 11.5 per cent to 10.5 per cent would stimulate job growth and lure more businesses to the province.
The governing Liberals said Thursday they would keep the tax rate the same, noting that it is already one of the lowest in Canada. The New Democrats, meanwhile, have said they would raise it to 13 per cent to fund services.
Ontario’s economic development minister said the province has already cut the small business tax rate to help ease the transition to a higher minimum wage, but said Ford’s plan favours those who are already among the most profitable in the province.
“I think it’s a little bit disturbing that one of the first promises he’s making is something that would directly benefit him and the business that his family operates,” Steven Del Duca said.
“But I think more importantly than that, for the people of Ontario, I think this announcement to put more money into the pockets of big business and to deny those who are working hard to get through their day-to-day lives, I think that clearly illustrates what Doug Ford’s values are,” he said. “We see now clearly whose side he’s on.”
Premier Kathleen Wynne said Ford’s promises to cut corporate taxes and halt a planned minimum wage hike set to take effect next year show he doesn’t stand up for the average person, despite what he says.
“Doug Ford is a wealthy man, he has always been a wealthy man, and so he thinks like a wealthy man,” he said.
The premier’s comments came a day after she compared Ford to U.S. President Donald Trump, a move the Tories suggested could compromise delicate NAFTA negotiations.
Wynne brushed off that suggestion Thursday, saying she has worked hard to cultivate ties with the U.S. during her tenure.
“There is no doubt in anyone’s mind in the United States that Ontario is open for business, that we want an open trading relationship. I have made that very very clear,” she said.
Doug Ford’s plan to open a large protected green space around the Toronto region to housing development would make the map of the area look like “Swiss cheese,” Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne said Tuesday, calling the Tory election pledge an environmental setback for the province.
With just over a week before the start of Ontario’s election campaign, Wynne ratcheted up her attacks on the Progressive Conservative leader, calling his plan for the Greenbelt “absolutely wrongheaded.”
“If you open up the Greenbelt and make it into a Swiss cheese map you never get that back,” she said. “You never get that water protection back. You never get that agricultural land protection back.”
The Greenbelt — the world’s largest permanently protected green space —is a 7,200-square-kilometre area that borders the Greater Golden Horseshoe region around Lake Ontario. It was protected from urban development by legislation in 2005.
On Monday, Ford said he supports the Greenbelt “in a big way,” but would allow some development in the region to ease the housing crisis in the Greater Toronto Area.
His comments came after the Liberals accused him of making private deals with developers and pointed to an online video of him — apparently taken in early February when he was a Tory leadership candidate — promising to open up a “big chunk” of the protected region.
Wynne said opening up the Greenbelt for development is unnecessary.
“The fact is there is enough land in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area to build two more cities the size of the Mississauga,” she said. “There is a lot of land that is available.”
Ford has said that for every piece of the Greenbelt opened for development, he would add equivalent land to the protected area to ensure it doesn’t change in size — but he hasn’t said how that would work.
Wynne acknowledged that some areas around the border of the Greenbelt have changed since the protected area it was established over a decade ago, but that was part of the original plan for the region, she said.
“He wants big chunks of the Greenbelt,” she said of Ford’s plan. “That means taking a big hole out of the middle of the Greenbelt, or many holes out the middle of the Greenbelt.”
Tory Parliamentary Leader Vic Fedeli dismissed Wynne’s remarks and said she was using Ford’s comments on the Greenbelt to distract from other issues ahead of the June 7 election.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Ford’s plan is bad policy.
“Newsflash: farms feed cities ? There is no reason whatsoever to even contemplate paving over the Greenbelt unless you’re trying to make a good buck for your friends in the development industry,” she said. “And that’s not what public policy, government and public decision-making should be all about.”
Ontario’s main party leaders used the final day of the provincial election campaign to make a last pitch to those voters still sitting on the fence.
They warned of the economic perils of voting for their rivals, while playing up the social and fiscal advantages of voting for their parties.
True to much of her campaign, the NDP’s Andrea Horwath framed the ballot as a “stark” choice between her positive plan to help families create better lives and the cost-cutting proposals of Doug Ford and his Progressive Conservatives.
“Mr Ford’s plan is one that makes the rich even richer, will cut our public services and cause families to struggle even more,” Horwath said Wednesday in east-end Toronto, where the NDP hopes to nab some seats. “What I would say to folks is this: We can change our province for the better.”
Ford echoed Horwath’s message that voters have clear options in front of them, though he urged Ontarians to opt for his party.
“They’re going to have a very clear choice here,” he said in Burlington, Ont. “They’re either going to vote for the NDP that will destroy our economy, or they will vote for a PC government that will create prosperity in this province.”
The most recent polls suggest Horwath and Ford are running in a virtual tie, although vote distribution could favour the Tories. The Liberals, in office since 2003, have been lagging badly, surveys suggest.
Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne, who has already acknowledged her party won’t return to power, has been urging voters to deny either Horwath or Ford a majority by electing at least some members of her own party.
In an interview with 680 NEWS political affairs specialist John Stall on Wednesday morning, Wynne said she will continue to warn voters against giving either of the other two parties a majority. Stall also asked Wynne if she will resign on Thursday, should things end up bleak for her and her party.
“My hope is, my sincere hope is, that I will retain my seat and that I’ll be able to continue to represent the people of Don Valley West. I’ve worked hard for them and I want to continue to do that. In terms of the leadership, I really need to see the numbers tomorrow, think about the timing, but I will have more to say about that tomorrow night,” Wynne said.
Listen to the full interview below:
Wynne has taken some fierce shots at the NDP by portraying them as rigid left-wing ideologues, and at the Tories for being hell-bent on slashing services while refusing to put out a proper election platform.
“There has been such a disruptive influence by having a leader of the Conservatives that really hasn’t laid out what he would do,” Wynne said. “People are still trying to decide.”
Ford’s lack of platform clarity and the sharp attacks from both Wynne and Horwath on one another has left some voters wondering whether it’s worth even casting a ballot.
Sean Evans, who lives in downtown Toronto, said he might simply abstain from voting. Despite being a life-long Conservative, Evans said he had little time for Ford, but no more time for either Horwath or Wynne.
“(Ford) makes a lot of statements about what he’s going to do without the facts to back it up or a plan to get there without making pretty severe cuts, (but) the NDP are the Liberals in terms of spending their way out of everything,” Evans said.
“I would like to see an option come up where if the majority says, ‘do it over again because we don’t want any of them,’ then that’s what I would select.”
Asked whether the campaign has been nastier than usual, Horwath side-stepped by insisting her NDP is offering a message of hope to Ontario families, better health care, better child care, better prospects for working people.
“There’s been a lot of lies, there’s been that negative, negative tone, lots of accusations being flung my way,” said the veteran Hamilton politician now on her third campaign as NDP leader. “I’m trying to stay focused on people … I’m a tough cookie, a Steeltown Scrapper, so I can handle it.”
Wynne called elections partisan by nature. But even as she has denounced her rivals, she said she hoped the province would pull together after what has been a divisive campaign. However, she conceded that might prove difficult.
“Some of the tone and tenor of this campaign, which has been pretty negative at many points, makes it harder to get to that place where in between elections we actually think about the broader issues,” Wynne said.
Kevin Lee, another Toronto resident, said he definitely planned on voting but would likely make his choice at the polling station.
“I’ll make up my mind by then for sure”
– with files from Nicole Thompson, Paola Loriggio and Shawn Jeffords.
Under pressure from U.S. safety regulators, Ford is recalling about two million F-150 pickup trucks in North America, including nearly 340,000 in Canada, because the seat belts can spark and cause fires when they deploy during a crash.
The recall of F-150 pickup trucks from the 2015 through 2018 model years comes about one month after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began investigating fires, including three that destroyed trucks.
Ford said Thursday that it has reports of smoke or fire in 17 U.S. trucks and six Canadian trucks, but it’s not aware of any injuries.
According to Ford, seat belt pretensioners can generate excessive sparks when they tighten before a crash. That can ignite gases inside a support pillar between the front and rear seats, causing insulation and carpet to catch fire.
The vehicles affected are:
2015-18 Ford F-150 vehicles built at Dearborn Assembly Plant, March 12, 2014 through Aug. 23, 2018
2015-18 Ford F-150 vehicles built at Kansas City Assembly Plant, Aug. 20, 2014 through Aug. 23, 2018
There are 339,884 of the vehicles in Canada, 1,619,112 in the U.S. and 36,780 in Mexico.
The seat belt pretensioners were made by ZF-TRW and Takata, the now-defunct air bag and seat belt maker that was purchased by Joyson, another auto parts supplier.
Dealers will remove insulation and install heat-resistant tape to repair the trucks. They also will remove remnants of wiring tape and modify interior panels in Regular Cab trucks. Owners will be notified starting Sept. 24.
In one of the complaints filed with the U.S. government, an owner in Grand Rapids, Michigan, told NHTSA that on July 7, a deer ran into the driver’s side of a pickup, causing minor damage. The side air bags inflated, and after five to 10 minutes, a passenger noticed a fire on the bottom of the post between the front and rear doors where the seat belts are located. “The truck went up in complete flames in a matter of minutes and is a complete loss,” the owner wrote.
People who file complaints are not identified in the NHTSA database.
Ford said in a filing Thursday with U.S. securities regulators that the recall will cost about $140 million and will be counted in third-quarter results.
Ford has more details on the recall on its website.
Toronto police are preparing to subpoena Mayor Rob Ford to testify in the extortion trial against his friend and accused drug dealer Sandro Lisi, Ford’s lawyer told the Toronto Star.
According to the newspaper, a meeting was arranged on Thursday to serve the mayor but was postponed when the media got wind of the meeting.
Ford’s lawyer told the Star it’s not a matter of if the mayor will get notice, but when.
Lisi’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 2.
He is facing extortion charges in connection to his alleged attempts to retrieve the video of Mayor Ford smoking crack with alleged gang members.
Lisi is also facing drug charges in a separate trial.
If the Crown decides to call Ford to the witness stand, he is obligated to testify under oath.
Toronto police are preparing to subpoena Mayor Rob Ford to testify in the extortion trial against his friend and accused drug dealer Sandro Lisi, Ford’s lawyer told the Toronto Star.
According to the newspaper, a meeting was arranged on Thursday to serve the mayor but was postponed when the media got wind of the meeting.
Ford’s lawyer told the Star it’s not a matter of if the mayor will get notice, but when.
Lisi’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 2.
He is facing extortion charges in connection to his alleged attempts to retrieve the video of Mayor Ford smoking crack with alleged gang members.
Lisi is also facing drug charges in a separate trial.
If the Crown decides to call Ford to the witness stand, he is obligated to testify under oath.
Toronto police are preparing to subpoena Mayor Rob Ford to testify in the extortion trial against his friend and accused drug dealer Sandro Lisi, Ford’s lawyer told the Toronto Star.
According to the newspaper, a meeting was arranged on Thursday to serve the mayor but was postponed when the media got wind of the meeting.
Ford’s lawyer told the Star it’s not a matter of if the mayor will get notice, but when.
Lisi’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 2.
He is facing extortion charges in connection to his alleged attempts to retrieve the video of Mayor Ford smoking crack with alleged gang members.
Lisi is also facing drug charges in a separate trial.
If the Crown decides to call Ford to the witness stand, he is obligated to testify under oath.
Toronto police are preparing to subpoena Mayor Rob Ford to testify in the extortion trial against his friend and accused drug dealer Sandro Lisi, Ford’s lawyer told the Toronto Star.
According to the newspaper, a meeting was arranged on Thursday to serve the mayor but was postponed when the media got wind of the meeting.
Ford’s lawyer told the Star it’s not a matter of if the mayor will get notice, but when.
Lisi’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 2.
He is facing extortion charges in connection to his alleged attempts to retrieve the video of Mayor Ford smoking crack with alleged gang members.
Lisi is also facing drug charges in a separate trial.
If the Crown decides to call Ford to the witness stand, he is obligated to testify under oath.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is recommending his principal secretary for a full-time position at the Ontario Energy Board.
In a statement on Friday, Ford said he is putting Jenni Byrne’s name in for an appointment to a two-year term.
“I am pleased to put Jenni’s name forward to join the OEB,” the statement read.
“I know Jenni would work with her future colleagues on the Board, and the professionals at the OEB, to bring utility rates under control and make life more affordable for Ontario families and businesses.”
Byrne is one of Ford’s most seasoned advisors and previously worked under Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
“Jenni has been an invaluable resource not only to me and the staff in the Premier’s Office, but indeed to all members of the Government of the People,” the statement continued.
“I wish to sincerely thank her for dedication in working in the best interests of the people of Ontario.”
There has been no word on who would replace Byrne, should the appointment be approved.
Ford is recalling more than 550,000 trucks and SUVs in North America because seat backs may not properly restrain people in a crash.
The recall covers certain 2018 through 2020 F-150 pickups, 2019 and 2020 Super Duty trucks, 2018 and 2019 Explorer SUVs, and 2019 and 2020 Expedition SUVs. All have manual driver or front passenger seat-back recliner mechanisms.
Also included are some 2020 Explorer and Lincoln Aviator SUVs with rear seats with manual seat-back mechanisms.
Ford says the trucks may not have a third pawl needed for seat strength, increasing the risk of injury in a crash. Ford says it doesn’t know of any crashes or injuries.
Dealers will inspect seat structures and replace them if needed. Most are expected to pass. Owners will be notified starting Oct. 7.
The Ford Motor Co. has announced that it will be temporarily suspending production at its plants in the United States, Canada, and Mexico in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
The suspension will begin after Thursday evening’s shifts and last until March 30.
“We’re continuing to work closely with union leaders, especially the United Auto Workers, to find ways to help keep our workforce healthy and safe – even as we look at solutions for continuing to provide the vehicles customers really want and need,” Kumar Galhotra, Ford’s president of North America, said in a statement.
“In these unprecedented times, we’re exploring unique and creative solutions to support our workforce, customers, dealers, suppliers and communities.”
While production is stopped the plants will be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized.
Ford temporarily closed its Michigan Assembly Plant final assembly building Wednesday morning after an employee tested positive for the COVID-19.
The motor giant said it’s working with workers’ unions to figure out the best way the plants can use social distancing and explore additional protocols and procedures to help prevent the spread of the virus.
Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott are being tested for COVID-19 after it was learned Education Minister Stephen Lecce had come into contact with someone who tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Lecce has since announced he has tested negative for COVID-19.
All three were present at Tuesday’s provincial press conference.
Ford and Elliott were scheduled to appear at Wednesday’s press conference, but “out of an abundance of caution,” decided not to participate.
Lecce was tested yesterday and Ford and Elliott will be tested today as they monitor for symptoms.
Public health officials have not recommended getting a COVID-19 test immediately after possible exposure.
“If you are worried about possible exposure to a person with or under investigation for COVID-19, based on evidence and the incubation period of the virus, we suggest individuals get tested 4 to 8 days after potential exposure,” Toronto’s Michael Garron Hospital writes on its website.
The Premier’s Office says they will notify the public when they receive their tests results.
A government spokesperson also downplayed suggestions that Leece’s test was somehow fasttracked.
“Most people receive their test results in 24 hours. Minister Lecce’s test wasn’t prioritized or favoured in any way.”
Neither the premier’s office nor a spokeswoman for Lecce would say how he came into contact with a positive case, or why his possible exposure wasn’t made public sooner.
The premier’s office would also not confirm if Ford was in self-isolation while awaiting Lecce’s test results
Ford’s nephew, Toronto City Councillor Michael Ford, also announced Tuesday he had tested positive for COVID-19, but Premier Ford hadn’t seen his nephew in more than two weeks, a spokeswoman said.
Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott have both tested negative for COVID-19 after Education Minister Stephen Lecce came into close contact with someone who had tested positive.
Lecce announced Wednesday his test results had also come back negative.
All three attended a press conference on Tuesday. Ford and Elliott were expected to attend on Wednesday, but declined to participate “out of an abundance of caution.
A statement from the Premier’s office says both Ford and Elliott will not be self-isolating as they have had no known contact with someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus
Ford’s nephew, Toronto City Councillor Michael Ford, also announced Tuesday he had tested positive for COVID-19, but Premier Ford hadn’t seen his nephew in more than two weeks, a spokeswoman said.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford vowed Wednesday to make air conditioning mandatory in the province’s long-term care homes, though critics say any change will come too late for many residents already suffering in the stifling heat.
Ford’s announcement came the same day that opposition leaders called for concrete action from Ford, and a day after the premier criticized homes without air conditioning.
“We’re going to move forward with this. We’re going to move forward rapidly,” Ford told a news conference Wednesday. “I can’t imagine sitting there in 27-, 28-degree heat in a room. It’s just unacceptable.”
Ford said he and Long-Term Care Minister Merrilee Fullerton are already looking at how the relevant legislation can be changed, and exploring the option of providing money to make it possible. But Ford stopped short of providing an exact timeline for when the government would make those changes.
All three opposition parties said they would support such a bill.
As it stands, the province’s Long-Term Care Act does not mandate air conditioning, but says homes without it must have a “cooling plan” in place.
The Long-Term Care Association, an industry group, said its members follow all provincial legislation, and it hopes the province will offer funding to retrofit facilities without air conditioning – or rebuild them, if necessary.
Wednesday’s announcement offered no comfort to Jeanette Abrahams, whose 90-year-old mother has lived at Midland Gardens Care Community in east Toronto since early March, following the death of her husband.
“Without a timeline, it’s just hot air coming out of his mouth,” Abrahams said of Ford’s announcement.
Midland Gardens does not have air conditioning, Abrahams said, and the already-difficult conditions have been worsened by a recent heat wave.
Abrahams said her mother contracted COVID-19 a few months after moving in to the long-term care home, becoming one of 89 residents and 48 staff members diagnosed with the novel coronavirus.
She’s since recovered, Abrahams said, but was left with damaged lungs and is now on oxygen therapy.
“She always looks very sweaty and listless,” Abrahams said. “We were told that the weakness and the listlessness is because of having had COVID-19, but it’s also because of the horrendous heat that they are living in.”
Sienna Living, which operates the facility where Abrahams’ mother lives, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Abrahams said the promise to mandate air conditioning in long-term care homes is a good thing, but is ultimately unlikely to come into effect soon enough to help her mom.
Glen Kenny, a University of Ottawa physiology professor, has studied how the body responds to heat over time and said the situation is particularly dire for the elderly.
“As we age there’s deterioration in how the body can actually lose heat,” he said, noting that when older people are exposed to temperatures up to 40 C, they store that heat rather than shedding it.
He said heat can exacerbate underlying conditions and can affect blood pressure, making people more likely to fall over – which is particularly dangerous for seniors.
That’s why it’s so important that long-term care homes have appropriate temperature controls, said Jane Meadus, a lawyer and institutional advocate with the Toronto-based Advocacy Centre for the Elderly.
But she’s concerned that the changes won’t happen fast enough.
“Some of the older homes, I don’t believe are going to be able to be retrofitted for air conditioning,” she said.
In those cases, the facilities would have to be totally rebuilt.
“That’s a lengthy process,” Meadus said. “It’s not happening very quickly.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s frustration with a perceived lack of COVID-19 recovery funds flowing from the federal government turned to praise on Thursday as he learned the province would be receiving a $7 billion portion of a national aid package.
Ford announced the province’s share of the $19-billion deal from a farm outside of Chatham, Ont., as he toured parts of Southwestern Ontario still grappling with the global pandemic.
He said the money will help the province provide critical services, including financial relief to municipalities who have said help from both governments could stave off local tax hikes and service cuts.
“This funding will support us as we get the economy going over the next six to eight months,” Ford said. “My friends … it’s a great deal for Ontario.”
The federal funding is expected to help provinces pay for initiatives such as child care, contact tracing and personal protective equipment.
Last month, Ford said the province’s pandemic-related expenses have reached $23 billion and that he wouldn’t agree to a “bad deal” with the federal government. But he had changed his tone considerably on Thursday, offering praise for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“At the end of the day, the prime minister had the final say in this,” Ford said. “And he pulled through in my opinion with spades. He came up, he stepped up. True leadership. When you’re negotiating within the family … things get a little bumpy.”
Toronto Mayor John Tory said earlier this summer that the city faced $1.5 billion in pandemic-related costs and needed help to avoid serious cutbacks and even loss of local transit services.
He said Thursday the deal will have a positive impact on the city’s finances, but said he is still waiting for details on how Ontario’s portion will be allocated.
“I know Premier Ford is mindful of … the tremendous damage that has been inflicted upon transit systems by the pandemic,” he said.
Meanwhile, the top doctor for Ontario’s Windsor-Essex region said Thursday progress is being made to bring COVID-19 outbreaks on local farms under control.
Dr. Wajid Ahmed said approximately 150 workers in the region have active cases of the virus, down from more than 300 weeks earlier. The health unit reported that another 11 agri-food workers tested positive for the virus on Thursday.
“I think that’s definitely an improvement from where we were,” he said. “But the challenge is the unique nature of the industry … and the congregate living setting that we are talking about.”
Farms in Windsor-Essex have been hit hard by COVID-19, with five currently in outbreak. Two local workers have died from the illness.
Migrant workers spend their days and nights in close quarters, which advocates say makes physical distancing hard and has led to the rapid spread of the virus on farms.
The farm outbreaks delayed the economic reopening in the Windsor-Essex region, particularly in the towns of Leamington and Kingsville, which were the final two communities to reach Stage 2 last week. The region will be one of 10 left behind as the rest of the province advances to Stage 3 on Friday.
Ford toured the area Thursday morning, stopping in to get his first haircut in months at a barbershop in Leamington, Ont.
Late last week, local leaders called on either the provincial or federal government to take charge of the response to the farm outbreaks.
They outlined their concerns in a formal request to the province last week, but Ford wouldn’t say Thursday if the government had responded.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath criticized the premier for focusing too much of his time on photo ops in the region instead of providing leadership on the farm outbreak issue.
“It’s really tone deaf to the problems that folks are facing,” she said. “It’s just unbelievable that the government isn’t stepping up on the co-ordination piece that they’re being asked to do.”
Ontario reported 111 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday and five new deaths related to the virus.
Meanwhile, Ontario extended pandemic emergency orders until July 29. The orders cover the redeployment of health-care workers and temporary management of long-term care homes. They also prohibit price-gouging.
An emergency order permitting curbside delivery of cannabis has also been extended.
A former Progressive Conservative legislator ousted from the party caucus for voting against a sweeping new law that extends pandemic emergency orders said she opposed the measure because it gives Premier Doug Ford’s government too much power.
Karahalios said Bill 195 removes key checks and balances imbedded in the legislative process. The legislator said her internal attempts to change the bill failed, prompting her to break ranks with her party on Tuesday and vote against the new law.
Premier Doug Ford defended the bill and his decision to oust Karahalios from the caucus on Wednesday, saying he could not tolerate her voting against the law.
Watch: Ford defends removing MPP from caucus
Ford said the emergency measures need to remain available to his government in case of a surge of COVID-19 cases.
“This is one of the single most important pieces of legislation to protect the people of Ontario, bottom line, full stop,” Ford said. “It’s about making sure that we protect people in long term care, making sure our hospital system keeps moving.”
Ford says he spent two days with Karahalios last week and she never voiced any disapproval.
Karahalios told 680 NEWS there was no time to speak about it while he was in Cambridge, but had asked him to call her at the end of the trip, and when he did not, she reached out to the Premier’s office and let them know she wanted to discuss the bill.
“I wasn’t given that time to speak with him, but I did, however, make my discomfort with the bill known to many of my colleagues,” she said. “I asked for two briefings on the bill … and it was still very vague for me. I was given talking points rather than a really good explanation.”
Karahalios said her job was to make sure the voices of my constituents are heard at the legislature.
“It was a resounding no from my constituents. I voted the way they wanted me to vote,” said Karahalios “I was removed from caucus for doing my job.”
“People before party … At the end of the day, politicians of all stripes need to step back and remember who put you in your role, who can take you out of that role and the amount of trust you are given in a role like this.”
Karahalios called the bill an “unnecessary overreach” on parliamentary democracy shortly after the vote.
She said she was most concerned that there was no voting on the decisions being made by the Premier.
Karahalios said the new law permits the government to lock down regions again with very little debate or oversight from the legislature.
“I understand the need to be able to be flexible … but if you’re going to, for example, lock us down again, I need to be able to have a say at that table on behalf of the people of Cambridge,” she said. “Every (legislator) should have a say in that because our communities are going to feel very differently about a second lockdown.”
Karahalios said some of her colleagues were concerned that the bill went too far and were warned that they would be kicked out of caucus if they voted against it.
“I know a lot of my colleagues are very uncomfortable, but voted yes because they feared retribution and we saw what happened to me for voting no,” she said.
Karahalios added she was glad she voted the way she did.
Ford denied that the bill has caused any internal rifts within his party.
“Within a caucus we have some good comments, good heated discussions,” Ford said at his daily news conference. “But at the end of the day, you come out united. This is about working for the people and making sure you represent the people. But when you get into politics you’re part of a team.”
Bill 195 allows the government to extend emergency orders originally enacted to allow the province to better respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill empowers the government to keep measures in place for one month at a time for as long as two years.
Ford said the bill will allow the government to react swiftly in the event that the number of provincial COVID-19 cases begins to surge again.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath praised Karahalios for standing up for her principles and voting against her own government’s bill.
“Mr. Ford simply cannot tolerate a difference of opinion, and he punishes people severely when they dare to stand up to him,” she said.
Green party Leader Mike Schreiner said he admired Karahalios for sticking to her values and voting against the government law.
“Doug Ford previously stated that his MPPs would be allowed to vote freely on non-spending bills,” Schreiner said in a statement. “Now he has ejected … Karahalios for doing exactly that. You don’t get a healthy democracy by dictating votes and punishing free expression.”
DETROIT — The union that represents Canadian auto workers has extended its contract with Ford beyond its original Monday night deadline, a sign that progress is being made toward an agreement.
The Unifor union has scheduled a news conference for 11 a.m. Tuesday to discuss the talks. It picked Ford as a potential strike target on Sept. 8.
Union President Jerry Dias said in a statement late Monday that the bargaining committee is willing to work through the night to get a fair contract and avoid a strike at Ford’s Canadian factories.
The union wants product commitments for Ford’s assembly plant in Oakville, Ontario, near Toronto in a new three-year contract. Production of the Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus SUVs ends at the plant in 2023. Dias has said the union is looking for electric vehicle commitments.
Ford also has two engine plants in Windsor, Ontario. Together the three plants employ about 5,300 workers.
“We will continue to work collaboratively with Unifor to negotiate a globally competitive collective agreement,” Ford said late Monday.
After settling with Ford, Unifor will start negotiations with General Motors and Fiat Chrysler.
Unifor went on a month-long strike in 2017 at a GM plant that makes the Chevrolet Equinox small SUV. The union wanted to be named the lead producer of the SUV, which also is made in Mexico. While Unifor didn’t get that, the union said it won provisions giving added benefits to workers who are near retirement if the plant closes, production moves or a shift is ended.
The union also fought with GM last year over plans to stop auto production at a factory in Oshawa, Ontario.
DETROIT — Ford is recalling more than 700,000 vehicles in North America because the backup cameras can show distorted images or suddenly go dark.
The recall covers most 2020 versions of Ford’s F-Series trucks, as well as the 2020 Explorer, Mustang, Transit, Expedition, Escape, Ranger and Edge. Also included are the Lincoln Nautilus and Corsair. F-Series trucks are the top-selling vehicle in the U.S.
The company says in documents posted Wednesday by the U.S. government’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that a poor electrical connection is causing the problem.
Dealers will replace the rearview camera at no cost to owners. The recall is expected to start Nov. 7.
The Ford government tells 680 NEWS that it is planning to recall the legislature to sit Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday in order to enact the controversial notwithstanding clause.
The marathon session will also include an overnight sitting Saturday from midnight to 7:00 a.m.
The notwithstanding clause, which has never been used in Ontario, allows federal or provincial governments to override sections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The provincial government plans to invoke it in order to overturn a court decision this week that ruled certain parts of the Elections Finances Act are unconstitutional for limiting third party advertising.
Enacted under the Wynne Liberal government, the Elections Finances Act stated that third party advertisers, individuals or groups, could spend $600,000 in the six months before an election, the Ford government expanded it to $600,000 in the 12 months preceding an election.
However, Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Morgan declared the recent changes by the province were unconstitutional. The premier plans to enact the notwithstanding clause to overturn that ruling.
Government House leader Paul Calandra told 680 NEWS Thursday that he will use “every tool at my disposal” in order to overturn the ruling.
“I think protecting the fairness of an election is exactly what this was designed for,” said Callandra. “We are doing it to protect a fair election in Ontario”
“Right now there is no law in the province of Ontario so we are back to really a Wild West situation in the province of Ontario where there are no limits or accountabilities on 3rd party spending so that’s why you were moving very quickly to bring back the legislature”
Calandra says that there will be a question period on Monday and perhaps one on Saturday as well and that he believes the government could pass the notwithstanding act by Monday afternoon.
Duff Conacher with Democracy Watch tells 680 NEWS he thinks Fords use of the notwithstanding clause could get overturned in court.
“I predict that you will see this decision by Ford challenged in court as an unconstitutional use of the notwithstanding clause”
“It’s undemocratic and dictatorial and illegal for Doug Ford to invoke the notwithstanding clause to impose his arbitrary excessive and unconstitutional spending restrictions on advertising that go much further than any government has tried to do in Canada. Several constitutional experts believe that the notwithstanding clause cannot be used anytime the premier or Prime Minister wants to for whatever reason they want and I predict that you will see this decision by Ford challenged in court as an unconstitutional move an unconstitutional use of the notwithstanding clause “