At the start of the week, TVO.org provides a primer on what to expect in Ontario politics, and features some stories making news now.
Here’s what we’ve got our eye on:
“Back to basics”:The Toronto Star reports that the recently-passed Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act will impose a series of new accountability measures on school boards.
Measures include mandatory reporting to the government and parents about what specifically educators are learning and doing during their professional activity (PA) days, attendance rates, the number of students studying science in Grades 11 and 12 and math in Grade 12, and the number of students who graduate within five years of starting high school.
Pot: Ontario is lowering its markups on cannabis to help a struggling legal weed market.
The Ontario Cannabis Store, the provincial agency charged with regulating the pot market, is lowering what it charges retailers for cannabis products starting in September. The hope is these lower costs will help legal cannabis companies, many of whom are finding it hard to turn a profit in the face of cheaper product offered by the illicit market.
Mental health: Lisa MacLeod, MPP for Nepean and a former cabinet minister, is sharing with the public her struggles with mental health.
Bonus podcast:The #onpoli podcast will return briefly from its summer hiatus this week, as Steve Paikin and John Michael McGrath discuss last week’s Liberal byelection victories, plus other recent developments and scandals in Ontario politics. The new episode drops Tuesday.
Conservation: Environment Minister David Piccini announced this morning that the province is creating Ontario's first new conservation reserve in more than 10 years.
According to a government press release, the Monarch Point Conservation Reserve will protect nearly 4,000 acres along the south shores of Prince Edward County – an area nearly five times the size of the Toronto Islands.
"This new protected area will not only safeguard important habitat for the iconic monarch butterfly, but also for countless other species that call this area home," Piccini said in the release.
This article was updated at 11:40 a.m.
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