John Michael McGrath
@jm_mcgrath
Ontario policy and politics, TVO | [email protected] | jm_mcgrath.01 on signal 'JM will do all the nerdy public policy stuff' -@spaikin
Here’s the story that’s consumed me and @CharliePinkerto for the last couple of months.
Meet the bagman: the Ontario PC fundraising chief and his developer ties thetrillium.ca/news/the-trill…
Surprised at people applauding Robertson for this. A six month extension to a deadline the city already missed, that itself was extended by a year before that, is not serious. The feds have decided not to be serious about their own housing policy.
Federal Housing Minister Gregor Robertson said Toronto has six months to get back on track with the terms of its Housing Accelerator Fund agreement or risk a financial penalty of 25 % cut in Toronto’s annual payment, roughly $30 million this year #cdnpoli ipolitics.ca/2025/07/23/tor…
It's important to pick an FBI Director who loves to gossip
"FBI Director Kash Patel has privately told other government officials that Trump’s name appeared in the files." wsj.com/politics/justi…
A social safety net that transfers resources from working-age people to non-workers makes sense, but within the category of non-workers we are massively overweight on "old people" relative to "kids and their caretakers."
It basically happens in every sector that requires manufacturing - China gets in game, prices plummet, market share dominance achieved
Zhengzhou makes your iPhone. Now the central Chinese city is churning out cheap lab-grown diamonds for your engagement ring. The prices for synthetic diamonds have plummeted, falling by nearly 90% over the past five years. It is cheaper than ever to buy sparkling stones that…
Followup to this member motion from Councillor Myers. Today, @MayorOliviaChow gave notice that she will be seeking a friendly amendment to the motion to extend it city-wide and exempt all 6 units from DCs and park levy!
Councillor Myers in Ward 23 continues to impress on housing. He was the first to want 6plexes in his ward, and now he has a motion to help make them more viable by ensuring they get a DC reduction the same as 4plexes. Big cost savings. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
Hershey last week informed its retail customers of a roughly **double-digit** percentage increase, the company official said Tuesday.
Hershey is raising prices on its candy, a company official said, in response to continued high cocoa costs on.wsj.com/4kSkLKr
New from me at TVO, on how the politics around Crombie's leadership review have gotten more interesting in recent weeks. tvo.org/article/analys…
Oh how interesting. Some folks inside the OLP are kicking the tires on a leadership bid by Jeff Lehman, reports @sabrinananji. qpobserver.ca/p/exclusive-je…
Absolutely brutal numbers in @mikepmoffatt's latest. missingmiddleinitiative.ca/p/why-lower-co…
Oh how interesting. Some folks inside the OLP are kicking the tires on a leadership bid by Jeff Lehman, reports @sabrinananji. qpobserver.ca/p/exclusive-je…
Trying times for Canada's auto-assembly factories. Canada's share of North American vehicle production falls to 3-decade low. On WSJ wires:
Globe and Mail reporter targeted by online campaign, photographed surreptitiously in public settings #cdnpoli theglobeandmail.com/canada/article…
truly if ever I wanted studio executives to listen to a siren song
Christopher Nolan’s ‘THE ODYSSEY’ has already earned around $1.5M due to the IMAX 70mm pre-sales. The film releases in 1 year from today. (Source: hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-n…)
uh 5000 kg of gold is a pretty valuable coproduct
Congrats to the team at @MarathonFusion for identifying a plausible, scalable process for transmuting mercury into gold. This is something that drove Isaac Newton insane.
So @beynate makes it more or less official: "renewal starts at the top." Bonnie Crombie v. Nate Erskine-Smith, Round 2 <Mortal Kombat voice> FIGHT uncommons.ca/p/the-future-o…
Lots of room for Toronto to improve housing policy in important ways.
Big Housing News🚨🚨 Councillors @CllrJamaalMyers and @JoshMatlow have introduced a motion to the Planning and Housing Committee (PHC) that seeks to: 1. Remove DCs for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th units in multplexes up to 6 units. Previously, there was a policy cliff where if you…
"your honour of course what my client MEANT to say was that he would never make violent threats against anyone, he's a gentle soul"
NEW: Our own @ConsumerSOS caught up with the man accused of threatening Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown after he was released on bail. He tried to ask him questions. The man replied, telling Seán he would "stomp on our face." globalnews.ca/news/11291590/…
This one is a doozie. In Toronto that might well scupper the Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival, Luminato, NXNE ...
Eglinton Crosstown LRT may be facing yet another delay thestar.com/news/gta/eglin… via @torontostar #ONpoli #topoli