NoneSuspended Bev Priestman makes first public comments in wake of drone-spying scandalAs small and Northern rural municipalities levy hefty property-tax increases to cover basic services, the amount of hefty grants they receive from the province each year is also going up. The province announced on Friday it’s hiking the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund by $100 million over the next two years, bringing the total amount to be expended to $600 million by the end of 2026. “We have heard from small, Northern, and rural municipalities that they need more support to meet the financial challenges they face,” Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy, a Toronto-area MPP, said in a news release. Northern municipalities have come to rely on the fund heavily. The Municipality of Shuniah, for example, received nearly $880,000 from the program this year, an amount that wouldn’t cover the amount its spends on social and family services. Shuniah’s amount is expected to rise by just over $100,000 next year, its municipal chief administrator, Paul Greenwood, noted. Though the provincial fund amounts are due to rise in 2025 and 2026, individual municipalities have watched them go down slightly in other years. On Friday, the province claimed the overall amount allocated to municipal programs has spiked. According to a provincial backgrounder, “key provincial support to municipalities grew by over 45 per cent” between 2019 and 2023. “In 2023 alone, the government provided almost $10 billion to Ontario municipalities through key transfers,” the backgrounder said, to help municipalities cope with worsening problems, such as homelessness. Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association president Wendy Landry said the association “has been a long-time advocate for a permanent increase,” to the municipal partnership fund. Landry, who is also Shuniah’s mayor, said small municipalities like hers “greatly rely on this funding.” As rumours continue to swirl about a possible provincial election a year ahead of schedule in 2025, the Doug Ford government has committed to sitting down with municipalities to hold discussions about the partnership fund early next year. “We can work together to guarantee (the) fund meets the needs of small and rural municipalities across Northern Ontario,” Landry said.
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‘American Idol’ Alum Caleb Kennedy Pleads Guilty, Gets 8 Years in Prison After Fatal DUI CrashStrong climate policies, slow implementation; what are the solutions?AP News Summary at 5:51 p.m. EST
NoneRomania's far-right candidate Calin Georgescu on Saturday urged voters to go to polling stations despite the country's top court having scrapped the presidential elections over alleged irregularities amid claims of Russian interference. The court's shock ruling, coming just before the presidential run-off which had been due Sunday, opens the way for a new electoral process starting from scratch in the EU and NATO member state bordering war-torn Ukraine. The annulment follows a spate of intelligence documents declassified by the presidency this week detailing allegations against Georgescu and Russia, including claims of "massive" social media promotion and cyberattacks. Georgescu -- who unexpectedly topped last month's first round of voting -- called for voters on Sunday "to wait to be welcomed, to wait for democracy to win through their power", said a statement from his team. "Mr. Calin Georgescu believes that voting is an earned right," said the statement. "That is why he believes that Romanians have the right to be in front of the polling stations tomorrow." Georgescu himself would go to a polling station near Bucharest at 0600 GMT, said his team. Earlier Saturday, police raided three houses in Brasov city in central Romania as part of the investigation "in connection with crimes of voter corruption, money laundering, computer forgery". Among the houses searched was that of businessman Bogdan Peschir, a TikTok user who according to the declassified documents allegedly paid $381,000 to those involved in the promotion of Georgescu, Romanian media reported. Peschir has compared his support for Georgescu to the world's richest man Elon Musk's backing of US president-elect Donald Trump. Little-known outsider Georgescu, a 62-year-old former senior civil servant, was favourite to win the second round on Sunday against centrist pro-EU mayor Elena Lasconi, 52, according to several polls. But the constitutional court on Friday unanimously decided to annul the entire electoral process as it was "marred... by multiple irregularities and violations of electoral legislation". President Klaus Iohannis said on Saturday that he had discussed with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, and they agreed on the "need to strengthen the security of social media". The European Commission announced earlier this week that it had stepped up monitoring TikTok after Romania's authorities alleged "preferential treatment" of Georgescu on the platform -- a claim the company has denied. Following the court's decision, the United States said it had faith in Romania's institutions and called for a "peaceful democratic process". Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., on X branded the vote's cancellation an "attempt at rigging the outcome" and "denying the will of the people". Georgescu called it "a formalised coup d'etat" and said democracy was "under attack". His team on Saturday declined to comment on the raids, saying they "will not comment or provide answers until we have exact data". Georgescu and another far-right party, the AUR, have said they plan to appeal the decision to stop the voting to the High Court of Cassation and Justice. A past admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Georgescu, an EU and NATO sceptic, in recent days had reframed himself as "ultra pro-Trump," vowing to put Romania "on the world map" and cut aid for neighbouring Ukraine. In an interview with US broadcaster Sky News on Saturday, Georgescu said there were no links between him and Russia. Political scientist Costin Ciobanu told AFP that the annulment has "further polarised Romanian society". With trust in institutions and the ruling class already low, the vote's cancellation poses a "major danger that Romanians will think that it doesn't matter how they vote", Ciobanu added. Elsewhere in the EU, Austria annulled presidential elections in 2016 because of procedural irregularities. In Romania, a new government is expected to set another date for the presidential vote. In last weekend's legislative elections, the ruling Social Democrats came top. But far-right parties made big gains, securing an unprecedented third of the ballots on mounting anger over soaring inflation and fears over Russia's war in Ukraine. In a joint appeal on Wednesday, the Social Democrats and three other pro-EU parties -- together making up an absolute majority in parliament -- signed an agreement to form a coalition, promising "stability". bur-jza/jjHarry Kane becomes the fastest player to score 50 goals in the BundesligaPolice deny sitting on evidence as Netflix doc brings renewed attention to JonBenet Ramsey’s killing