Musician has OHIP revoked

Toronto musician Owen Pallett aka Final Fantasy has been stripped of his Ontario health benefits after the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care found Pallett to be ineligible for OHIP coverage on grounds that his time in Ontario didn't meet the minimum requirement of 153 days in any 12-month period. Pallet spends the majority of his time touring and recording outside of Ontario.

On the morning of February 26, Trinity-Spadina Member of Provincial Parliament Rosario Marchese and NDP Critic for Health and Long-Term Care, France Gelinas, sent a letter to George Smitherman, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, urging "immediate intervention to help Owen Pallett."

Pointing out that Pallett should be exempt from the 153 day requirement according to Regulation 552 of the Health Insurance Act because his Ontario absences were for employment purposes, Marchese and Gelinas call the Ministry's hasty decision to revoke the award-winning musician's health insurance "inappropriate and unnecessary,"

Yeah, no shit!

Read the story from Exclaim! here

Ontario Government to take over the TTC?

Apparently a 12-year, $17.5 billion transit expansion plan for the Greater Toronto Area announced on February 14 said the province of Ontario would like to eventually integrate the Toronto Transit Commission into the fledgling Metrolinx regional authority, and could do so without additional funding.

Formerly known as the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority, Metrolinx's ideal plan is a system of efficient transit across the region that would let commuters travel effortlessly across municipal boundaries without the hassle of separate fare and route systems.

"If you look around at most large urban centres, there tends to be a larger regional body that takes responsibility for these kinds of things," Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty told reporters.

But it isn't clear why Mr. McGuinty floated an idea that municipal and transit leaders vehemently oppose. An independent panel appointed by Toronto Mayor David Miller to examine the city's finances apparently makes no such recommendation.

Miller said a provincial takeover of the TTC would "destroy transit in Toronto," leaving the city at the mercy of politicians at Queen's Park.

The mayor said the TTC needs money, not a takeover. The new plan is set to put new buses and streetcars out to ease overcrowding on routes across the city, with some of the improvements starting with in a week of the announcement.

I have always been in the opinion that finding and expansion for the TTC is critical to aptly service the fifth largest metropolitan area in North America. While I agree that the TTC needs major funding, as well as synergy with municipal transit bodies -- I think anyone who depends on public transit in the GTA does -- ultimately, I believe that the city of Toronto must still be in charge of operating the system.

Click here to read the story form the Toronto Star.

Click here to read the story from the Globe and Mail.