Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report November 27, 2019

Quotation of the day

“I don’t know if I’d call myself a unifier, but I’ll tell you, I’m going to do the best I can to cool the waters.”

Premier on CTV’s Power Play. ​ ​ ​ ​

Today at Queen’s Park

On the schedule The house convenes at 9 a.m. The government could call any of the following pieces of business for morning and afternoon debate:

● Bill 116, Foundations for Promoting and Protecting Mental Health and Addictions ​ Services Act; ● Bill 136, Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act; and, ​ ● Bill 138, Plan to Build Together Act. ​

MPPs are expected to vote on second reading of Bill 136 after question period. ​ ​

Cabinet is slated to meet this afternoon.

Tuesday’s debates and proceedings Government house leader put forward a time-allocation motion on Bill 138, ​ ​ ​ ​ which would see the corresponding legislation for the Fall Economic Statement due back to the house by Monday, December 9 following the committee stage. It passed after question period (Ayes 61; Nays 41). Bill 116 was debated in the afternoon. ​ ​

PC MPP introduced a private member’s bill aimed at beefing up election ​ ​ rules for political party nominations, leaders and executives. Among other things, Bill 150, ​ ​ Ensuring Transparency and Integrity in Political Party Elections Act, would force parties to file a post-mortem report to the chief electoral officer that includes a tally of eligible electors, actual voters and the number of ballots cast.

It would also enshrine penalties for people who vote in nomination contests for which they’re not eligible to cast a ballot, mishandle ballot papers, give false or misleading information to an election official or induce an unqualified person to vote.

In an interview with CTV Toronto, Karahalios acknowledged her bill impacts her husband, PC ​ ​ activist Jim Karahalios, who is suing the PC Party over allegations that last year’s executive ​ ​ race was rigged.

NDP MPP Joel Harden tabled Bill 149, Dyslexia Awareness Month, his PMB proclaiming the ​ ​ ​ ​ month of October.

ICYMI the house sat late on Monday night to debate Bill 145, Trust in Real Estate Services Act. ​ ​ After the debate collapsed (a.k.a. no more MPPs rose to speak on the bill), a vote on second-reading stage was called and passed by voice vote without the requisite 6.5 hours of debate.

Bill 145 is now off to be studied by the Standing Committee on General Government. ​

In the park The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition, Scleroderma Society of Ontario and Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association are scheduled to hold their lobby days and receptions.

Rickford cites climate change denial blog when defending cancelling green energy contracts Energy Minister is facing flak from critics for pointing to a climate change denial ​ ​ blog in Tuesday’s question period.

Rickford was boasting about the cancellation of 750-plus renewable energy contracts in response to NDP Leader ’s question about hydro bills, when he cited a recent ​ ​ post on Climate Change Dispatch about wind power in Germany. ​ ​

“I looked through periodicals,” Rickford told the legislature.

“Here I came across the Climate Change Dispatch. I had a quote yesterday: ‘Power grid ​ ​ operators had been struggling to keep the grid stable due to erratic feed-in and the subsidized feed-in of wind energy caused German electricity prices to become among the most expensive worldwide.’ That’s why we led and got rid of those contracts,” he went on to say.

The blog bills itself as a forum for fighting “garbage science” and deconstructing the “man-made global theory propagated by ex-VP-turned-green-activist Al Gore and the highly politicized ​ ​

[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change],” saying it “does not believe in consensus science.”

Green Leader said he was “shocked and disappointed” Rickford admitted to ​ ​ reading Climate Change Dispatch on the regular. ​ ​

“It is very disturbing that the person at the helm of our energy system would look for advice from a website that disputes the urgent need to reduce emissions,” Schreiner said in a statement.

“It is deeply troubling that ministers in the Ford government are relying on climate skeptics, which are often linked to the oil and gas lobby, to justify the continued attack on clean energy and complete inaction on climate change,” he contended.

Meanwhile, Horwath says NDP members on the Standing Committee on Public Accounts will ​ ​ put forward a motion during today’s meeting to compel the AG to investigate the $231-million price tag for cancelling green energy projects.

It isn’t likely to pass without support from the PCs, who have a majority on the committee; the government shot down an earlier attempt at unanimous consent for a probe in the house.

Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk told CTV Toronto she already scrutinized the cost of the ​ ​ ​ ​ cancellations as part of her review of last year’s public accounts and deemed it reasonable.

The Toronto Star is also reporting $1.1 million has been divvied up between 13 renewable ​ ​ ​ ​ energy firms thus far. The Independent Electricity System Operator told the Star it has received ​ ​ 215 applications from firms seeking reimbursement. Another 500 could apply.

Today’s events

November 27 at 9:00 a.m. – Toronto ​ Health Minister will deliver remarks at the Ontario Nurses' Association biennial ​ ​ convention at the Westin Harbourfront Hotel.

November 27 at 9:30 a.m. – Toronto ​ Education Minister will make an announcement at Ogden Junior Public School. ​ ​ PC MPPs , and will be on hand. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

Topics of conversation

● Ontario Premier Doug Ford is headed to Montreal for a closed-door meeting with ​ ​ Quebec Premier François Legault on Friday, the weekend before their fellow first ​ ​ ​ ​ ministers touch down in Toronto for the Council of the Federation meeting on Monday. ○ The pair aren’t planning to take questions from reporters. ○ Ford also isn’t planning on bringing up Quebec’s controversial Bill 21, which ​ ​ ​ NDP Leader Andrea Horwath urged him to do when her party’s motion calling ​ ​ on Legault to repeal it and committing Ontario to intervening in any Supreme Court challenge passed with all-party support this week. ○ Ford will attend a breakfast event at the Mississauga Board of Trade Friday morning before departing for Quebec.

● The Ford government is staring down another lawsuit over what a group of young Ontarians perceives to be inaction on climate change, mirroring an earlier case launched ​ ​ against the federal government last month. The kids in Ontario, supported by Ecojustice and Stockwoods LLP, argue that policy moves such as the cancellation of the Liberal-era cap-and-trade program and easing up on greenhouse gas emissions reductions targets violate their charter rights to protection of life, liberty and security.

● Bargaining is back in session this week with the unions representing high school teachers and elementary teachers, which began a work-to-rule campaign on Tuesday amid scant progress in contract negotiations. ○ Harvey Bischof, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ ​ Federation, hasn’t ruled out ramping up labour action if the union, province and school boards remain at odds by the end of the week. “Our patience is limited,” he said. ○ Meanwhile, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario said launching phase 1 of its work-to-rule campaign was “intended to put the government’s feet to the fire” because its members are growing “impatient.”

● Weed woes may soon be over for some Toronto consumers as the Ontario Cannabis Store rolls out its same- and next-day delivery pilot program this week. ​ ​ ○ The OCS was the most-complained about entity in Ontario Ombudsman Paul ​ Dubé’s latest report, garnering more than 2,400 grievances that mainly had to do ​ with delivery problems and poor customer service.

● Job seekers, rejoice! The provincial government is overhauling Employment Ontario, which the auditor general has blasted for not being effective in linking wannabe workers with full-time gigs, the Toronto Star reports. ​ ​ ​ ​ ○ However, the move has non-profits worrying the entry of U.S. multinational employment services companies like Maximus and ResCare — which bid on pilot contracts in Peel, Durham, and Muskoka — could dilute services and send taxpayer dollars south of the border.

● NDP Transit critic Jessica Bell is calling on Transportation Minister ​ ​ ​ and the head of Metrolinx to publicize the cost of paying Instagram influencers to pump the forthcoming Ontario Line. ○ “Ontarians deserve fast, reliable and affordable new transit. What they don’t need is a flashy marketing campaign for a subway that won’t exist for years,” Bell said in a statement.

● Ex-Ontario premier and cross-partisan political darling Bill Davis was given a key to the ​ ​ ​ ​ city of Brampton, his hometown, by Mayor Patrick Brown (who, like Davis, is also a ​ ​ former leader of Ontario’s Tories).

Appointments and employments Ontario Federation of Labour ● Patty Coates has been elected president of the OFL, solidifying her title as the first ​ woman to take the helm of the labour organization, according to Equal Voice. ​ ​ ○ Coates has a long history in education bargaining for the OSSTF.

Question period

NDP lead-off Hydro rates ● Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath began the day’s debate with a question ​ ​ about hydro bills. She wanted to know why the average household hydro bill is going up by about $2 this month when the PCs pledged to cut bills by an additional 12 per cent on the campaign trail. The NDP have likened the promise to “just another Liberal stretch goal.”

● Energy Minister Greg Rickford passed the buck to the former Liberal government for ​ ​ leaving behind “the hydro mess.” ○ “We intend to deliver on that promise but not until we’ve cleaned up the mess that they supported of the [previous Liberal government] 100 per cent at the time,” he said.

● During a round of questions about Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk’s refusal to probe ​ ​ green energy contract cancellations, Horwath told Speaker she was having ​ ​ trouble concentrating because of the heckling from the government benches, saying, “I find it quite rude, actually.”

● Arnott agreed and chided the house — prompting a “poor Andrea” heckle from someone ​ ​ on the government side.

Teacher job action ● Horwath asked the government to take responsibility for the work-to-rule campaign elementary and high school teachers launched Tuesday amid tense contract talks.

● Education Minister Stephen Lecce reiterated his push for unions to enter mediation and ​ ​ maintained the government is committed to getting collective agreements. “What is regrettable is that ... parents will face more uncertainty singly because unions have opted to escalate at a time when we are trying to keep them at the table and keep their kids in class,” said the minister (who was also celebrating his birthday).

The NDP also asked about a Metcalf Foundation report showing visible minorities account for ​ ​ 63 per cent of the working poor in the GTA, despite comprising 46 per cent of the workforce.

Independent question Autism services ● Independent MPP used a hockey analogy to call out the government on ​ ​ autism therapy funding. “Last week the minister made a lighthearted quip in this house about not being in the Hockey Hall of Fame yet, but if his handling of autism doesn’t improve, he may surely find himself in the political hall of shame,” he quipped. ○ He offered an anecdote about a constituent who pays out of pocket for (typically expensive) ABA therapy for her nine-year-old son on the spectrum. “Will the minister stop skating around his responsibilities and help out this young boy and his family?” Hillier wanted to know.

● Social Services Minister pumped up the government’s recent changes and ​ ​ walkbacks to the controversial autism program. “I can tell you that my officials have been working extremely hard since getting the recommendations from the Ontario autism panel about three weeks ago to develop a truly needs-based program, one that has double the amount of funding in it than the previous Liberal government.”

PC friendly questions The government asked itself softball questions about supporting small businesses, tackling suicide, impaired driving police programs and farmers impacted by the week-long CN Rail strike.

Queen's Park Today is written by Sabrina Nanji, reporting from the Queen's Park press gallery.

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