May 19, 2026 Newsletter

Dear friend,

Ontario might have the hardest-working Auditor General in the country. I am so grateful to Shelley Spence for leading her team and sharing the truth of what is happening in the Ontario government. I am excited to tell you all about her findings, but first I want you to audit this newsletter! 

Unlike the Ford government, I love receiving feedback and acting upon it! And right now, I am looking for feedback on my newsletter. 

I am planning to change up the frequency, format, and day this newsletter is sent out. In order to make these changes in a way that works best for my beloved readers, I need your input! 

Please click here to fill out my two minute survey and share it with any other readers that you know. I am excited to bring you a newsletter that is even more relevant to your daily life. 

Last week, the Auditor General published four new reports taking a frank look at the use of AI in the Ontario government, commercial truck driver training, supports for students with special education needs, and Ontario’s Family Responsibility Office. All four were damning, though not surprising. Watch my video to understand what's in all four reports in under four minutes, click here.

Artificial Intelligence Policy Fails Workers, Patients

The Ontario Government lacks clear and actionable policies on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) in their work. I have raised this issue numerous times, particularly after the government published their controversial report on Intimate Partner Violence, which was rife with AI-style errors like hallucinated citations. It is a shame that the AG did not reference this issue in her report. AI is a powerful new technology, but it is also incredibly fallible and cannot be used without strict checks and balances. Unfortunately but not surprisingly, the necessary checks and guardrails are not in place. 

Ford’s AI policy is not grounded in reality. It imagines a world in which the only AI platform government staff use is Microsoft Co-Pilot, and that their default web browser is Microsoft Edge. This world does not, to my knowledge, exist. These assumptions meant that the government’s data protection features were not active on Chrome or Firefox (the browsers most staff understandably use by default), and staff use of other AI products, such as ChatGPT, also proceeded without safeguards. Ford’s AI strategy is not realistically grounded in how people actually use technology. Its rollout is an absolute failure and another government scandal in-waiting. 

Even more disturbingly, the AI audit also found that AI scribe software used in health care was approved after evaluators found inaccurate medical notes created by the AI's mis-transcribing and hallucinating of health information. The scribes routinely mistranscribed medications prescribed and made other critical errors. Many of Ford’s approved vendors failed to submit audits about their data threats and security vulnerabilities, putting our privacy and personal health information at risk. 

Commercial Truck Driver Licensing Fraud

The AG’s reports include jarring findings of likely fraud in truck driver licensing and training programs offered by private career colleges. This is not new information, but it should be a wake-up call for the Ford government. For years, they have been warned about rampant fraud in commercial truck driver training and licensing, including graduating drivers who have not been taught basic skills such as emergency stopping, backing up, mastering wide turns or using air brakes. Under this failed government, people with high-risk driving histories still got licenses. Some colleges even committed fraud and falsified training records.

We have heard heartbreaking stories from families about losing loved ones on northern highways connected to unsafe commercial truck operations. And yet, this government continues to ignore reality. We urgently need to bring commercial truck driver training and licensing under the Ministry of Transportation.

Family Responsibility Office Delays Hurt Spouses and Children

The Family Responsibility Office (FRO) collects court-ordered child and spousal support and distributes it to families. They usually get involved when a parent or spouse is not making their payments reliably.  The AG found that it took an average of 8.5 months for the FRO to register these court orders, missing the 4-month target a whopping 92% of the time. 

These are not just numbers. Every single one of these cases represents a single parent or ex-spouse who is just trying to pay their bills and put food on the table for their kids. These delays only enable deadbeat parents and spouses who have already shirked their legal obligations for months, if not years. 

Special Education Students Excluded From Learning

The AG found that students with special needs are being informally excluded from classrooms because their support needs are not being met. This often results in students with additional support needs being sent home early or asked not to attend school because staff are not resourced to meet their needs. The AG reported these students’ absences are not being tracked and their support needs are not being documented. This is happening to 22,000 students across the province, who cannot attend school regularly due to the lack of special education support services.

We all know that special education is being gutted in Ontario due to Ford’s chronic underfunding of our education system, but this report shines a light on the human rights and safety issues that special education students and their families face every day. 

I am grateful to the Auditor General and her staff for their thorough investigation into these four service areas of the Ontario government. It is critical that we have an independent auditor keeping this government accountable. However, I am also dismayed, if not surprised, that the AG found egregious dereliction of duty, mismanagement, and lack of urgency across all four files that she investigated. Ontarians deserve so much more from their government. 

To read the reports for yourself, click here. 

Yours in community service, 

Kristyn Wong-Tam

MPP, Toronto Centre

• Ford Refuses to Pay Back $190K in Private Jet Costs
• Support Youth Summer Jobs!
• Legislation to Create Buddhist Heritage Month
• Moose Hide Campaign Day
• Pride Toronto Youth Conference
• Walrus Gala
• Street Haven Spring Social
• Paprika Festival 2026
• This Week’s Meetings
• What’s Making Headlines
• Local Community Events

Newly released documents show Ontario taxpayers are still on the hook for nearly $200,000 in aviation-related costs connected to the purchase and resale of Ford’s private jet — including maintenance, storage, legal fees, and outside aviation support.

Last week, Marit Stiles, the Leader of the Ontario NDP, moved a Unanimous Consent Motion to have Ford personally pay for these costs instead of burdening Ontarians with them. Ford’s PCs voted the motion down. 

At a time when Ontarians are struggling to afford groceries, rent, and gas, the Premier chose to buy himself a luxury private jet with taxpayer dollars.

These kinds of luxury purchases undermine public trust in government at a time when people are struggling to pay the bills and access the services they rely on. This action was unacceptable, and it is egregious that Ford won’t take personal responsibility for these choices. 

Youth in Ontario deserve a summer job plan!

I was thrilled to join leader Marit Stiles and my colleagues to unveil the Ontario NDP’s Summer Jobs Plan last week

The Ford Government is leaving young people behind, cutting OSAP grants while providing the lowest per-student funding in the country. These cuts are preventing youth from reaching their full potential and simultaneously failing to create new employment opportunities. 

Ford is fond of telling young people to get a job, but the reality facing most youth is that there aren’t any jobs to be had.

The youth unemployment rate in this province is over 14%, and the average time to find a job is more than five months. To tell youth that they are simply not looking hard enough is condescending, tone-deaf and untrue. Employment prospects are even worse for young people who do not have or cannot pursue a university degree.

The NDP’s Youth Summer Jobs Plan promises all Ontarians under the age of thirty 6-12 weeks of paid work. These jobs would include paid training and a placement pathway or a subsidized employer placement with supports for certification and licensing. If implemented, this plan would allow millions of young people to gain the skills needed for employment and to meaningfully contribute to Ontario’s economy.

Despite youth crying out for a plan like this, Ford and his government voted down our motion to move the plan forward, once again denying youth the opportunity to access a better future. Ford clearly does not care whether or not young people get jobs – he simply wants to moralize on the merits of hard work to deflect accountability for the youth unemployment crisis he has created.

The Ontario NDP and I believe youth deserve more, and that the government owes it to our next generation to do better. I will continue to fight every day for more opportunities for young people in this province. 

Buddhist Ontarians bring so much to our province, sharing their teachings of non-violence and compassion with their wider communities. 

I am so pleased to be working with Buddhist community leaders and my MPP colleagues Alexa Gilmour and Tom Rakocevic in leading the campaign to have May officially recognized as Buddhist Heritage Month in Ontario.

Recognizing days of significance helps us to see one another across our differences and celebrate our shared contributions to our province. 

Over half of the 300,000 Buddhists in Canada live in Ontario, and many have served as community leaders here for over 100 years. They have shared their teachings in sectors such as mental health, social services, inter-faith dialogue, education, and cultural preservation. They have made our communities more vibrant and are fully deserving of this recognition.

Last Thursday, we marked Moose Hide Campaign Day on the lawn of Queen’s Park and the ceremony, speeches, and performances were beyond moving. 

Founded by grassroots Indigenous activists Raven & Paul Lacerte, the Moose Hide Campaign honours the memory of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and challenges us all to act to combat intimate partner violence wherever it shows up in our communities. 

The campaign distributes moose hide pins and asks everyone to wear them in order to spark conversations about the disproportionate impact of intimate partner violence on women, especially Indigenous women. In Canada, a woman or girl is killed every 2.5 days. Indigenous women are three times more likely to experience spousal abuse and six times more likely than other women to be killed.

My sincere congratulations to the Moose Hide Campaign on their ceremony at Queen’s Park. I heard powerful testimonies from keynote speakers and enjoyed the wonderful performances by dancers, singers, and drummers. I am so thankful for their relentless advocacy and education efforts to address intimate partner and gender-based violence. 

To learn more about this beautiful campaign, visit their website.

As you can see from the joyful photo above, I had a blast at the 4th Annual Youth Conference hosted by Pride Toronto and the MLSE Launchpad.

This year’s theme was “We Won’t Stop,” and the youth really took it to heart!  I am confident that spaces like this conference will inspire participants to celebrate and empower 2SLGBTQIA+ youth in sports. There is so much work to be done to break down barriers for queer visibility and pride in sports, but I know that this team is ready to take on that work!

Independent media play an integral part in a healthy Canadian journalism landscape, informing us with the news and stories people want to see, and producing investigative journalism that mainstream media can sometimes miss. The Walrus Gala is a celebration of this independent journalism, bringing together leaders and engaged community advocates who care deeply about democracy, strengthen thoughtful political discourse, and ask the hard but necessary questions that challenge how we think.

I am so proud to support The Walrus and was thrilled to attend their gala!

It was a joy to join Street Haven for their Spring Social to celebrate the hard work and incredible efforts of all the staff, donors, and community partners who make Street Haven’s services possible.

As many of you may already know, Street Haven is a women’s shelter here in Toronto Centre that provides integrated and trauma-informed supports for women in our communities; from mental health and addiction services to employment and food support programs, they help clients navigate their journeys and thrive.

Last year alone, Street Haven was one of Toronto's Integrated Employment Service Program’s top providers, delivering over 28,000 nights of shelter and serving more than 500,000 meals annually. Beyond these numbers, the impact they have on vulnerable women in our neighbourhoods is immeasurable. We are incredibly lucky to have partners like this supporting our communities every single day.

It was my pleasure to open the Paprika Festival in Regent Park! The Paprika Festival is a youth-led professional performing arts organization which provides a stage for many emerging artists and art administrators. It takes place every year at Daniels Spectrum. This year, the festival featured works by diverse youth from across Toronto and beyond. They have been working hard since January 2026 to create new plays, dance pieces, projection design, and fully-realized play excerpts. 

I am extending a hearty congratulations to all these artists on their productions. You should be proud of your work!

• Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada
• Daily Bread Food Bank
• Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association

The Ontario government blamed this mentally ill victim for his own fatal Toronto jail beating. Video evidence appears to contradict ministry claims

Ontario's more restrictive transparency law nixes request for health minister records

$900 Million in Education Cuts Stir Concern at Urgent Townhall for Toronto Communities

TDSB says 300 staff cuts won't impact classrooms. But educators warn "students will pay" as cuts hit systems around them - outdoor learning mental health supports even cafeterias: "it's a dangerous dismantling of systems supporting student well-being."

Ontario education minister says he can't interfere in Catholic board's Pride flag ban

Toronto World Cup tickets listed for $64,000 despite Ontario’s new anti-scalping law

Ontario’s child support system failing families to the tune of $2.1 billion, auditor general says

Tenants and Tenant Association leaders in Toronto are welcome to come to the Tenant School on May 30, 2026. 

Join the Federation of Metro Tenants Associations to learn about your rights under the law, meet other tenant leaders and strategize to take action against bad landlords!

This is an intensive training with classes taught by lawyers and community advocates.

The school is hybrid: there are both Zoom and in-person workshops.

Date: May 30, 2026

Time: 10 AM - 4 PM

Location: Physical location to be announced (downtown Toronto); Zoom

Learn more and register here: torontotenants.org/may2026

Join the City of Toronto for Toronto Newcomer day, a city-wide celebration recognizing the contributions and experiences of newcomers across Toronto. The event will include community information, activities and opportunities to connect with organizations and services from across the city.

Event Details

Date: Friday, May 29, 2026

Time: 10 AM - 3 PM

Location: Nathan Phillips Square

Learn more here: Toronto.ca/NewcomerDay

Save the date for Riverdale Farm's Spring Celebration!

Date: Saturday, May 23, 2026

Time: 10 AM - 3 PM

Location: Riverdale Farm, 201 Winchester Street

There will be sheep shearing, carding, spinning, and weaving demonstrations, as well as crafts, a playroom, and refreshments. 

The event is from 10 AM - 3 PM, but the farm will be open from 9 AM to 5 PM.

Join Dr. Lawrence Loh to explore what it takes to write your own story and build a personal and professional brand that is true to yourself.

Date: May 26, 2026. 

Time: 6-8 PM

Location: Rotman School of Management, 105 Saint George Street, Toronto

Click here to buy tickets and learn more.

The future of public healthcare is at a turning point in Ontario and across Canada. Well-financed and politically connected companies are trying to privatize our public healthcare system.

Private healthcare creates a two-tier system where those with less would suffer more. That is not the healthcare system Canadians fought for and won decades ago - equitable and accessible to all.

Join the Ontario Health Coalition for a mass rally on Thursday May 28 beginning at 12pm at Union Station, where public healthcare supporters from across Ontario will arrive by train.

Date: Thursday, May 28, 2026

Time: 12 PM

Location: Outside Union Station, marching to Queen’s Park

Learn more here.

Join Don’t Mess with the Don for the largest annual clean-up in Toronto. Every year, hundreds of Torontonians come out to clean the Don Valley and the DVP. 

From the lakefront to the 401 we clean it all! 5 locations to choose from and Don’t Mess With The Don has everything you need – gloves, bags, pickers, snacks and new friends. Families, companies, groups and everyone is welcome to join this important environmental event.

Date: May 31, 2026.

Time: 8-10:30 AM 

Locations: Queen st. Danforth, Don Mills, Rainbow Tunnel and York Mills! Click here to find a cleanup location near you.

Ookwemin Minising (oh-kway-min min-nih-sing) is Toronto’s new island, meaning “place of the black cherry trees” in Ojibwemowin, and a once-in-a-generation opportunity to imagine a different kind of waterfront neighbourhood.

On Wednesday, May 20 from 6 PM – 9 PM at T3 Bayside (251 Queens Quay East), the community is gathering for an in-person public workshop to explore the future of Ookwemin Minising’s streets together. This evening is designed to spark creativity, conversation, and excitement, bringing together voices and perspectives from across the community.

This workshop is for anyone! Whether this is your first time hearing about Ookwemin Minising or you’ve been following the project closely, you’ll have the chance to reflect, ask questions, share what matters to you, and hear from others.

Date: Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Time: 6 PM – 9 PM

Location: T3 Bayside (251 Queens Quay East)

RSVP here!

Steps Public Art is pleased to share that the Call for Artists to animate construction hoarding at Ontario Line stations is now live. This pilot, delivered in partnership with Ontario Transit Group and STEPS Public Art, will animate construction hoarding with artwork at four stations: King West, Chinatown, Moss Park and Distillery District.

Call for Artists details:

• Application deadline: June 15, 2026
• Eligibility: Open to professional artists based in Toronto who have a connection to one of the four pilot site communities: Chinatown/Queen West, King West, Moss Park, or Distillery District/Old Town Toronto.
• Award: Up to four (4) awards of $5,000 CAD
• Call for Artists link and more information 

Selected artworks are expected to be installed in fall 2026.

Learn4Life provides engaging and affordable courses for adults 18+, including:

• Language classes, 
• Arts and fitness
• Technology
• Professional development
• General interest courses

Classes are designed to support lifelong learning, skill building, and community connection in a welcoming environment.

Please note: Seniors receive a 20% discount on course fees

Subsidy learners receive an 80% discount on course fees

Registration Opened: May 13, 2026

Browse Courses & Register: TDSB Learn4Life

Wildfire smoke has made a lot of Torontonians think differently about air quality. What's actually floating around — and what can you do about it? This webinar covers how to monitor and improve your home’s air quality, so you can make a healthier home for you and your family.

Date: Tuesday, May 26, 2026

Time: 6:30-7:30 PM

Location: Virtual

See more and register here

The Toronto District School Board’s Summer International Languages Elementary & African Heritage Programs are open for registration!

Languages include Amharic, Somali, Cantonese, simplified and traditional Mandarin, Ukrainian, Spanish, Arabic, Tamil, and more!

Click here for more information and to sign up.

Are you looking to honour human rights heroes in your community?

Nominations are now open for the 2026 Daniel G. Hill Human Rights Awards, presented by the Ontario Human Rights Commission during its 65th anniversary year.

The Daniel G. Hill Human Rights Awards commemorate the legacy of human rights trailblazers by honouring them in the name of the organization’s first Black Director and Black Chairperson.

The awards are an opportunity for the OHRC to share, recognize, and celebrate achievements that advance and foster human rights in Ontario.

In 2026, the OHRC will present the Daniel G. Hill Awards in three categories:

• Young Leaders: to be awarded to a person under age 30 (as of December 31, 2025) for their outstanding contribution to advancing human rights in Ontario.
• Distinguished Service: to be awarded to an individual for outstanding contribution to advancing human rights in Ontario.
• Lifetime Achievement: to be awarded to an individual for significant contributions over their lifetime to advance human rights in Ontario.

If you or someone you know is doing great work to support human rights, please consider a nomination. Nominations are open until May 29, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. EST. Find out more here.

Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Toronto provides mentorship and positive relationships for young people in our communities. In addition to brothers and sisters, they are recruiting Big Siblings to mentor 2SLGBTQIA+ youth, Big Couples (couples over 25 years old in stable relationships), and Big Gs (retirees aged 55+). There are so many ways to get involved! 

450 children and youth in Toronto are waiting to be matched with a mentor! Sign up today!

Learn about their programs and sign up here.

Join Grassy Narrows youth and community members to show that you are with them on their path to achieve mercury justice and freedom! 

Grassy Narrows people are powerful leaders in the movement for Indigenous sovereignty and environmental justice. They have shown that together we can fight for justice against all odds and make real gains. But so much is still needed to right the wrong of mercury poisoning in Grassy Narrows.

RSVP to say that you will show up in solidarity and walk with them in their fight for justice on Wednesday September 23, 2026 in downtown Toronto.