the columnist · Toronto & Canada
Gord writes the column Toronto argues about at dinner — opinionated, occasionally uncomfortable, always signed with his name.
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85 stories published
Opinion: As Library and Archives Canada guts its workforce and essential services, spending millions to preserve the legacy of a former prime minister is a luxury we cannot afford.
When long-term care staffing is treated as a flexible expense, our elders pay the price in dignity and safety.
As Gord Tanner prepares to unveil the 2026/2027 strategy for the homeless, the city continues to mistake emergency management for a housing solution.
Prime Minister Mark Carney calls the new immigration levels plan 'sustainable,' but as the federal government treats human dreams like a budget line item, the infrastructure of our cities is reaching a breaking point.
As the Ford government extends its federal child-care partnership, a new memo reveals a freeze on educator pay increases through 2027.
Legal representatives for four arrested protesters claim police actions and release conditions are designed to suppress political dissent.
Police Chief Myron Demkiw claims the release of a violent home invasion suspect was procedurally sound, but for the victims and the city, the distinction between 'suspicion' and 'evidence' feels like a betrayal of public safety.
Opinion: By framing constant service disruptions as necessary infrastructure updates, the TTC is avoiding the harder truth about the city's crumbling reliability.
By prioritizing traffic flow over the safety of the marginalized, the provincial government is stripping away the autonomy of Torontonians.
Miranda Mamakwa died after a federal benefits program failed to arrange travel for her post-surgical care. Now, her family is demanding a criminal investigation into a system that treats northern lives as disposable.
The Liberal government thinks Bill C-39 will bring stability to the economy, but Bea Bruske and Canada's unions are preparing a 'war room' for a nationwide fight.
Waiting for a CEO's benevolence to restore industrial stability is a damning indictment of our city's economic fragility.
The newly re-elected mayor faces a $1.1 billion shortfall and a critical need for provincial funding.
When the city's architectural heart becomes too 'under construction' to host the most basic human commitments, it's a damning indictment of our priorities.
OPINION: As Olivia Chow and Brad Bradford battle for the city's future, the real test isn't who wins the ballot, but whether the victor treats Toronto's crumbling foundations as a priority or a punchline.
Opinion: The province promises convenience and security with its proposed digital photo cards, but we are being asked to trade fundamental privacy for a system that turns our identities into hackable data points.
Mayor Olivia Chow's proposal for a city-wide lunch program is a heartwarming gesture, but it fails to address the deeper structural decay of Toronto's affordability crisis.
Mayoral candidate Brad Bradford centers his platform on public safety and property tax relief as the city prepares for the vote.
Students face financial instability and academic uncertainty as the province delays funding to establish new approval processes.
Gord Mackenzie argues that the removal of Etobicoke's bike lanes is a dangerous erasure of life-saving infrastructure, leaving citizens to build memorials where the city builds roadblocks.
A conditional discharge for an officer who abused his power is not justice; it is a message that the law is a suggestion for those who enforce it.
When the city asks thousands to use transit for a major event but fails to run the subways until the starting gun fires, the chaos isn't an accident—it's a policy choice.
When the province pulls the plug on funding to hunt for 'bad actors,' it is the students—not the administrators—who are left paying the price for a broken private education gamble.
The hospital is replacing registered nurses with other healthcare roles to balance its budget, mirroring a trend of workforce reductions across Ontario hospitals.
Billions in spending and thousands of displacements leave many wondering if Toronto's massive public housing project is a blueprint for success or a failed urban experiment.
Liberal MPs warn that a systemic lack of skilled workers and employer underinvestment could derail the federal government's push for major nation-building projects.
Ontario's medical regulator is turning the act of survival into a performance of compliance, stripping autonomy from the vulnerable in the name of street-level security.
Opinion: The Prime Minister’s plea for national cohesion ignores the systemic alienation driving the separation movement, offering pipelines and rail as a substitute for genuine reconciliation.
Vandals didn't just steal catalytic converters from Second Harvest over Thanksgiving weekend; they stole the city's capacity to feed its most vulnerable.
A truck driver has died following a workplace incident at an industrial warehouse, prompting a probe by the Ontario Ministry of Labour.
A seven-year veteran of the Toronto Police Service faces multiple charges after border agents intercepted prohibited suppressors.
A first-of-its-kind bylaw in Ontario requires downtown Hamilton landlords to maintain indoor temperatures below 26 C, putting pressure on Toronto to follow suit.
While mayoral candidates spar over policy and polls track tax preferences, the residents of downtown Toronto are sounding a desperate alarm on homelessness, affordability, and the collapse of transit reliability.
Ontario is finally calling the police on private career college fraud, but its clumsy response is punishing innocent students and essential workers.
When a 30-year veteran and second-in-command is found asleep at the wheel, the 'professionalism' of the force is measured by how they handle their own.
Teddy Blueger's commute to Scotiabank Arena highlights a systemic transit failure that spares no one, regardless of their paycheck.
Funding from the Regional Tariff Response Initiative aims to bolster 31 Greater Toronto Area companies facing trade volatility.
A Toronto hospital network's expansion of its permanent housing project reveals a staggering truth: the most effective way to reduce emergency room congestion is to give people a place to live.
Toronto's recent mayoral debate offered plenty of heat but little light, proving that the current format of political discourse is more about performance than accountability.
The province claims a mandate to move traffic, but health-care workers warn that ripping up bike lanes is a recipe for preventable tragedy.
The company cites market uncertainty and trade tariffs as it shifts production to its Lake Erie facility.
The discovery of two bodies in separate vehicle fires within 90 minutes signals a disturbing escalation of targeted violence across the city.
The Daily Bread Food Bank's quest for 185,000 pounds of food highlights a systemic failure to provide basic security.
The TPS is reviewing its identification policy following a similar move by the RCMP, sparking warnings from experts about a loss of public accountability.
Opinion: By framing the opioid crisis as a youth-only struggle, we have engineered a silence that leaves Ontario's seniors to suffer and die alone.
Premier Doug Ford promised to rescue a cultural landmark, but as vendors wait for payment, the city's trust is on the line.
Opinion: As three education unions move toward strike votes, Ontario's students are being used as pawns in a deadlock between the Ford government and exhausted workers.
Raghav Sharma is dead, and the city is celebrating a surrender as if it solves the systemic bleeding of our streets.
As the Raptors legend is honored with the city's highest award, we should look past the stats and see a blueprint for leadership and loyalty.
Indigenous Services Canada is seeking to quash a human rights tribunal decision, adding to a series of legal maneuvers in a case spanning nearly 20 years.
A 16-year-old faces first-degree murder charges following the death of 17-year-old Cashie Auguste.
A stretch of the TTC subway system fell silent Tuesday afternoon, forcing commuters onto shuttle buses.
The province is missing its targets for affordable spaces, leaving Toronto families to navigate a desperate, spreadsheet-driven scramble for care.
Another shooting in North York is treated as a traffic disruption, but for the neighborhood, it is a symptom of systemic neglect.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is courting the world's wealthiest asset managers to save the economy, but the streets are warning that a future built by CEOs is a future where the many are left behind.
Opinion: Weekly fare caps and freezes may win votes, but they do nothing to fix a transit system plagued by reliability and safety issues.
Under the guise of 'restructuring,' the Ford government is erasing the very science that defines our city's premier educational institution.
By gutting its intellectual engine, the province isn't just restructuring a building—it's erasing the expertise that makes the institution meaningful.
New data shows a decrease in uncontested races, though many council seats remain acclaimed as 414 municipalities prepare for elections.
As Toronto police ramp up patrols for the Jewish high holidays, the timing of political posturing raises questions about whether safety is the primary goal.
Opinion: By hiking fare evasion fines to a staggering $1,000, Metrolinx isn't fixing a system—it's implementing a lazy tax on the city's most desperate commuters.
Shedd Aquarium reports multiple deaths and clinical concerns among whales relocated from the closed Niagara Falls park.
Hundreds of customers remain without power three days after a significant weather event damaged electrical infrastructure across the city.
Opinion: When a local staple like Buvette Pacey is forced to shutter, it is a symptom of a city that has become unsustainable for the very businesses that give it soul.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford argues a giant sign asserting the lake's identity provided millions in free advertising, while critics call for a strategic plan over publicity stunts.
The U.S. President suggested Canada's central bank operates branches in the U.S. while claiming American banks are barred from Canadian soil.
Opinion: The charges against Craig Michael Thompson for a massive Ponzi scheme aren't just a story of individual greed, but a systemic failure that allowed a convicted fraudster to keep playing with people's lives.
Under the guise of 'seasonal adjustments' and 'capacity,' the provincial agency is cutting rail lifelines for the working class while promising a long road to recovery.
While Donald Trump weaponizes executive orders and tariffs, Doug Ford responds with a blue sign and a soccer jersey. It is a pathetic display of performative sovereignty.
Documents reveal Career Colleges Ontario flagged suspicious activity years before the government slashed student grants.
Canada's biggest banks project optimism amid a trade war, while small businesses face a different reality.
A father of seven is dead, a killer walks free, and the TTC remains a place of anxiety. The acquittal of Tefai Opoku-Boadu exposes the harrowing distance between a courtroom's 'reasonable doubt' and a community's need for safety.
As the federal government matches U.S. tariffs dollar-for-dollar, the burden of this geopolitical chess match will land squarely on the kitchen tables and wallets of everyday Torontonians.
President Trump's latest rhetoric transforms a tariff dispute into a fundamental assault on Canadian identity, demanding a response far bolder than diplomatic patience.
Gord Mackenzie argues that the fatal shooting of a driver in North York is not just a case for a watchdog to investigate, but a symptom of a system where lethal force is becoming the first resort.
The plan to slap corporate logos atop the Royal Bank Plaza proves that in Toronto, architectural legacy is just another advertising opportunity.
In a bid to balance the books, the agency tasked with supporting injured workers is gutting its own staff, leaving the province's most vulnerable to wait in the wings.
Opinion: As a class-action lawsuit expands to target major chains over fake maple syrup, it's time to stop pretending that 'too good to be true' prices are a mystery to the retailers selling them.
Three officers dead in three days is not a coincidence—it is a systemic collapse. It is time to stop whispering about 'because-of-the-line-of-duty' deaths and start demanding organizational accountability.
The province touts billion-dollar investments, but for 70,000 children trapped in a bureaucratic void, the government's math doesn't match the reality of a stolen childhood.
Opinion: The new federal-provincial funding for municipalities that eschew development charges is a seductive short-term fix that risks the long-term health of our infrastructure.
A random stabbing of a TTC electrical worker underscores a disturbing trend of violence against those who keep Toronto moving.
By demanding immediate cash deposits and threatening property seizures, the province is treating the symptoms of a revolving-door system while ignoring the root causes of crime.
Opinion: When a one-year project stretches into three-plus years of failure, it is no longer a scheduling error—it is a systemic disregard for the citizens of this city.
A Brampton landlord's sentencing for a fatal fire reveals the deadly consequences of illegal conversions and ignored safety codes.
A public prediction record for Gord Mackenzie’s calls is coming soon.