Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report November 16, 2020

Quotation of the day

“Nothing weighs more on me than when I talk to family members on the phone. I met a lady the other day that came up to me and said ‘I want to thank you for doing a great job, and I lost both my parents in long-term care a week apart two weeks ago.’”

Premier gets emotional when responding to a reporter's question about why he ​ ​ voices heartbreak for struggling businesses more than the families who have lost loved ones to COVID-19.

Today at Queen’s Park

Written by Sabrina Nanji

On the schedule The house reconvenes at 9 a.m. for private members' business. Topping today's docket is NDP MPP Jessica Bell's Bill 205, Protecting Renters From Illegal Evictions Act, which would ​ ​ ​ ​ strengthen tenant protections for renovictions and landlord's own use evictions.

The government could also call any of the following bills for afternoon debate:

● Bill 229, Protect, Support and Recover from COVID-19 Act (the omnibus budget ​ measures bill); ● Bill 213, Better for People, Smarter for Business Act (the red-tape reduction legislation ​ that also gives Charles McVety's expanded degree-granting ​ ​ powers); and ● Bill 207, Moving Family Law Forward Act (which aligns provincial family law with ​ federal changes).

Bill 218, Supporting Ontario's Recovery and Municipal Elections Act, could also be on deck for ​ third-reading debate this afternoon following fiery committee hearings last week. The ​ ​

controversial legislation shields organizations such as long-term care homes from Covid lawsuits and bans ranked balloting in municipal elections.

Committees this week Two government appointees will be in the hot seat at committee on Tuesday: Susan Prodaniuk ​ will testify about her role as a member of the Heritage Fund Corporation, while Janet L. Allan will discuss her position as a member on the Niagara College of Applied Arts and ​ Technology's board of governors.

Also on Tuesday, the finance committee will meet for clause-by-clause consideration of Bill ​ 215, Main Street Recovery Act, which removes noise bylaw-making powers for municipalities to ​ allow 24/7 deliveries, among other things.

Public hearings for PC MPP Jeremy Roberts' private member’s Bill 214, Time Amendment Act ​ ​ ​ ​ — which makes daylight saving time permanent year-round — will be held Tuesday at the legislative assembly committee. Only three witnesses are on the speaking roster, including a Boston Pizza franchisee and a former federal Conservative candidate.

Meanwhile, the estimates committee will wrap up its review of the 2020-21 expenditures for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, then turn an eye to the Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries.

On Wednesday morning, Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk will give a closed-door briefing to the ​ ​ public accounts committee; in the afternoon, the committee will draft its report on the AG's 2018 report on the controversial Kirby and Lawrence East GO stations.

The PC’s transit fast-tracking Bill 222, Ontario Rebuilding and Recovery Act, is up for public ​ ​ hearings at the social policy committee Wednesday. The Ontario Real Estate Association and LiUNA are slated to testify.

It's time for another round of ministerial testimony at the Select Committee on Emergency Management Oversight on Thursday. Thus far Solicitor General has appeared on ​ ​ behalf of the , despite opposition demands that he show up to explain the rationale for extending emergency-level pandemic measures.

In the park The Coalition and families who lost loved ones to Covid in long-term care will put on a car cavalcade in protest of controversial Bill 218. Shortly after, the OHC will hold a press ​ ​ conference to call on integrity commissioner J. David Wake to investigate the links between ​ ​ for-profit LTC and cabinet ministers, given the fact several ex-Ford government staffers are lobbying on their behalf — and vice versa in the case of Carly Luis, who lobbied for the Ontario ​ ​ Long-Term Care Association and Chartwell prior to joining Health Minister 's ​ ​ office in September. (Only MPPs can formally ask Wake to investigate.)

Meanwhile, registered nurses in Simcoe held a protest outside the Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit on Friday. They say facilities in the region are under-staffed and they are “exhausted.”

PCs lower thresholds for heavily criticized Covid restrictions Just over a week after introducing its colour-coded framework for Covid restrictions to much criticism, the Ford government lowered the thresholds and moved more regions into the "Red-Control" zone.

"We are staring down the barrel of another lockdown," Premier Doug Ford told reporters Friday, ​ ​ echoing some epidemiologists who say that's inevitable. ​ ​

Many medical experts called the parameters for the red zone — a weekly incident rate of 100 cases per 100,000 and a testing positivity rate of 10 per cent — too high. In the face of mounting scrutiny, the government reduced the thresholds to 40 cases per 100,000 and a positivity rate of at least 2.5 per cent.

That puts Hamilton, Halton, and York regions in the "Red-Control" level as of today, joining Peel and , which were deemed Code Red last week. Other regions have been upgraded from their original labels: Brant, Durham, eastern Ontario, Niagara, Guelph and Waterloo are in the "Orange-Restrict" zone while Huron, Middlesex-London, Sudbury, southwestern Ontario and Windsor-Essex were designated "Yellow-Protect."

Dr. Shelley Deeks, who spoke out about the PCs ignoring 's advice and ​ setting thresholds at up to four times the agency's recommendation, supported the new limits. ​ ​ Another vocal opponent, the Ontario Hospital Association, also backed the move.

Meanwhile, lockdown scofflaws in Peel could face heftier fines of up to $5,000 a day for flouting public health protocol. Local top doc Lawrence Loh announced the new penalty system on the ​ ​ ​ weekend, warning that workplace outbreaks are fuelling infections.

Today’s events

November 16 at 10 a.m. – Kingsville ​ ​ ​ Agriculture Minister will make an announcement about controlling the spread ​ ​ of Covid on farms alongside the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association.

November 16 at 1 p.m. – Ontario ​ ​ ​ Premier Doug Ford will hold his daily press conference. ​ ​

Upcoming events

November 19 at 1 p.m. – Online ​ ​ ​ Associate Small Business Minister will deliver a keynote speech to the ​ ​ Empire Club of Canada. Ex-Conservative MP will moderate. ​ ​

Topics of conversation

● Another 1,248 Covid cases and 29 more deaths were reported Sunday, though the counts are likely higher because about 40 records from Toronto testing sites weren't included due to a technical glitch. It follows an all-time high of 1,581 cases Saturday and 1,396 Friday. ○ ICU admissions have shot up majorly, inching closer to the problematic 150-bed threshold for cancelling surgeries and limiting normal operations. There are now at least 479 patients admitted to hospital (likely higher due to the weekend reporting lag), with 118 in the ICU and 67 breathing with the help of a ventilator. ○ About 42,000 tests were completed in the latest 24 hours, marking a positivity rate of about three per cent.

● The OPP anti-rackets branch is investigating allegations of fraud connected to the Ford government's COVID-19 relief program that gives families direct payments of up to $250 per child. has the scoop. ​ ​ ​

● It's official: the contentious triage protocol document leaked in March that had many folks with disabilities worried that they would not get equal access to critical care in a worst-case scenario has been tossed. Disability advocates called it "very encouraging ​ ​ news."

● Another day, another loss in court for the Ford Tories. This time, a group of young activists scored a victory when a provincial court ruled their lawsuit against the government can proceed. The group, backed up by Ecojustice and Stockwoods LLP, are arguing that the PC’s climate change policies (or lack thereof) violate their charter right to life, liberty and security of person.

● Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer escalated a years-long battle over Enbridge's ​ ​ Line 5 pipeline, which carries oil beneath two of the Great Lakes, filing legal action to shut it down. Ontario Energy Minister echoed Premier Jason ​ ​ ​ Kenney (who called the move "brain dead"), saying Ontario is "profoundly disappointed." ​ ○ Rickford said the shutdown will put over 4,900 jobs at risk and "jeopardize Ontario and Michigan's energy supply that we rely on daily." ○ "A permanent closure of Line 5 will lead to increased reliance on truck, rail and marine transport, leading to higher costs for consumers, growing congestion, increased GHG emissions, and place unnecessary risk on our communities and

environment," Rickford went on to say. He added Ontario will work to keep Line 5 operating "in accordance with the highest health and safety standards."

● Ontario Power Generation says it’s resuming planning activities for a new nuclear power reactor at the Darlington site. The site will host a small modular reactor and is expected to be completed as early as 2028, according to OPG president and CEO Ken Hartwick. ​ ​

● Mark your calendar: a first ministers' meeting dedicated to discussing the Canada Health Transfer will be held in early December. The premiers had requested the meeting with Prime Minister and reiterated their call to increase the federal share of ​ ​ health funding to 35 per cent, up from 22 per cent.

● Ex-environmental commissioner Dianne Saxe — who was Ontario's watchdog until the ​ ​ PCs axed her role in 2019 — will carry the provincial Green banner in the next election in University-Rosedale (currently repped by NDP MPP Jessica Bell). ​ ​

● Ontario Proud's Jeff Ballingall snagged spot 41 in Toronto Life's 50 Most Influential ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Torontonians, for his work boosting Erin O'Toole's online profile during his successful ​ ​ bid for federal Conservative leader.

News briefs

● Daytripping to a provincial park will be up to 36 per cent cheaper next year thanks to changes the PCs made to day-use vehicle permits.

Funding announcements

● Education Minister detailed a three-year, $17-million envelope for ​ ​ Indigenous-focused learning supports, aimed at improving safe transitions for First Nation students relocating to larger urban centres. That includes culturally appropriate support such as access to land-based and elder programs.

● Ayr-based Integrated Packaging Films is getting a $350,000-chunk of the $50-million Ontario Together retooling fund to make more PET film, which the government says will contribute to the production of "almost four million more face shields per month."

● The province and feds are putting up a joint $4 million for affordable housing in Ottawa's Bells Corners neighbourhood. A new 35-unit affordable housing complex will have a mix of one, two, and three-bedroom apartments, seven of which will be accessible.

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

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