“As a Former AMO President Myself, I Can Assure You That There Is Life After AMO!”

Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report August 19, 2020

Quotation of the day

“As a former AMO president myself, I can assure you that there is life after AMO!”

Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark bids adieu to outgoing AMO president Jamie McGarvey.

Today at Queen’s Park

Written by Sabrina Nanji

On the schedule The house reconvenes on Monday, September 14.

Premier watch Premier Doug Ford, Associate Transportation Minister Kinga Surma and local MPP Raymond Cho (in real-life, non-cut-out form) were in Scarborough Tuesday to tease an RFP for the tunneling of the Scarborough Subway Extension that will be issued on Thursday. A shortlist of bidders was announced earlier this month, and a contract winner is expected by mid-2021.

Ford also fielded questions about the latest political upheaval on Parliament Hill, which propelled his friend and federal Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland to become the country's first-ever women finance minister, following Bill Morneau's abrupt exit.

"There's no secret, I think the world of Chrystia. I sent her a message this morning. She was swamped as deputy prime minister, and if there was one person I have confidence in, it's Chrystia Freeland — that we can work together, we can sit down, pick up the phone," he said.

Ford said he'll let Freeland settle into her new role, but then his first order of business will be to continue to push Ottawa to cover 40 per cent of his $28.5-billion GTA transit expansion plan. (Dominic LeBlanc will return to his former role as federal minister of intergovernmental affairs, the cabinet portfolio that deals most closely with provinces.)

As for the next federal Conservative captain — who will be crowned on Sunday — Ford is confident they'll get along, too. Unlike much of his caucus, Ford is staying neutral in the race.

"I'm going to work with anyone that gets elected, be it the federal [leader] of the Conservative Party, federal leader of the Liberal Party — that doesn't faze me in the least … and don't get me wrong, I'm proud to be the leader of the PC Party, but our family wasn't elected by traditional all-PC voters … We're the party of the people. I don't care what flag they're flying," Ford said.

The premier's summer tour is hitting up Scarborough this week. Yesterday included pit stops at the Canada Goose facility, which retooled to produce medical scrubs and gowns; Toronto Stamp, a company that shifted production to face shields and plexiglass barriers; and Surati Sweet Mart, which has been serving up treats throughout the pandemic.

Today’s events

August 19 at 9:35 a.m. – Online The Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference will hear from Green Leader Mike Schreiner on its third and final day. Jamil Jivani, the premier's special adviser on community opportunities, is up at 10:30 a.m. The last of three "bear pit" ministerial forums centres on economic recovery and goes down at 10:45 a.m.

August 19 at 10:30 a.m. – Scarborough NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and local MPP Doly Begum will discuss the PC’s “risky back-to-school scheme” and her plan for “small, safer classes” at Birch Cliff Public School.

August 19 at 1 p.m. – Toronto Premier Doug Ford is expected to hold his daily briefing at Queen's Park.

Topics of conversation

● Ontario's Covid tally spiked back up above 100 for the third time this month. Tuesday's tally clocked in at 125 new cases, of which 60 per cent are under the age of 40. The bulk of new patients were in Windsor-Essex (28), Toronto (27) and Peel (17). There were also four new deaths.

● A new study from the Ontario Medical Association shows an "unexplained" 15.6-per-cent-wide canyon between male and female doctors' pay. Despite the fact that physicians bill the same fees for each service, the OMA analyzed OHIP billings from 2017-18 to show female doctors billed a daily average of $1,446 while male docs charged $1,869. "There is evidence of billings disparities between male and female physicians that may not be explained by time or effort alone," the report states.

○ Men and women were also found to practice medicine differently. On average, male physicians have seven additional years of work experience, tend to work more days in the year, and are less likely to work part-time. On the other hand, women docs tend to be concentrated in specialty fields with lower average billings.

● School reopenings can be staggered over the first two weeks of September, instead of just the first week, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said in a memo to boards on Tuesday. Lecce encouraged boards to use a phased approach where it "would enhance the health and safety preparedness."

● Meanwhile, a Newstalk poll suggests almost 40 per cent of parents won't send their little ones back to school next month out of concern for their safety. It still isn't totally clear what September's return will look like at many school boards.

● The province is revoking police access to a COVID-19 database after the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and other rights groups launched a legal challenge against the emergency provision. Abby Deshman, director of the CCLA's criminal justice program, told the Canadian Press the lawsuit was dropped after Ontario "backed away from this intrusive and discriminatory measure." ○ Data revealed during the legal process showed police conducted 95,000 searches of the database since an emergency order from the PCs authorized its use in early April.

● Long-term care advocates are calling on the PCs to ensure the $1.75 billion promised for new LTC homes goes towards facilities pitching expanded care models, emotion-focused care — as deployed in Peel homes via the Butterfly Model — and small living spaces, rather than wards, the Toronto Star reports.

● As Ontario creaks back to life, Metrolinx says it will ramp up service on its bus and rail routes in September. ○ Last week's quarterly financial results attributed a significant chunk of provincial revenue losses to lagging Metrolinx sales as the transit agency pared down service during the height of lockdowns.

News briefs

Hearing loss testing for babies back on ● Ontario is resuming universal hearing loss screening for newborns after a pandemic-prompted hiatus. Children Services Minister Todd Smith says the

government is providing $3.8 million through the Infant Hearing Program, which will allow agencies to hire audiologists and increase referrals for hearing checks.

Ontario's only French school for special needs will be governed by francophones ● Governance of Centre Jules-Léger — the province's sole French-language school serving students who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, deafblind or experience severe learning disabilities — has been transferred from the Ministry of Education to the CJL Consortium. The consortium includes representatives from Ontario's 12 French-language school boards. ○ Education Minister Stephen Lecce called the shift a "major milestone" for the community. "This transfer will strengthen the delivery of French-language education for students with special education needs and will further ensure that Franco-Ontarian culture and language are incorporated into the community," Lecce said in a release. ○ More than 50 students were enrolled at CJL last year and 400 students benefited from its services, the government added.

Appointments and employments

AMO picks new prez, opposition leaders woo local leaders

● AMO delegates elected a new president Tuesday, Bracebridge Mayor Graydon Smith, who will serve a two-year term. Smith takes up the mantle from outgoing president Jamie McGarvey, mayor of Parry Sound. ○ In his remarks to the convention that morning, Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark — a former AMO president himself — thanked McGarvey for his "wise advice," and added, "I can assure you that there is life after AMO."

● Opposition party leaders also laid out their civic pitches on Day 2 of AMO’s conference. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath doubled down on her pledge to hike the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund by an extra $50 million over current levels to $550 million annually, while Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca promised to review whether infrastructure costs downloaded during the Mike Harris days should be re-uploaded to Queen’s Park.

Funding announcements

Fedeli leads self-driving delegation to Motor City, digitally ● Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli led an online delegation of Ontario-based autonomous vehicle companies to TU-Automotive Detroit, a convention for autonomous and “connected” vehicles.

○ While he was at it, Fedeli announced the next round of applications for the Ontario Automotive Modernization Program, which doles out up to $100,000 to small- and medium-sized auto firms that want to adopt new technology or make their manufacturing processes more “lean.”

● Meanwhile, negotiations between Unifor at the Big Three automakers will continue through Labour Day. “At that point, National President Jerry Dias will determine which of the three companies will serve as the strike target,” the union said in an update to members. ○ Last week, Dias said he’s “not going to allow COVID to be an excuse” for workers not to get raises.

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

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