Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report November 11, 2019

Quotation of the day

“Modern Conservative.”

PC MPP Roman Baber’s new campaign pointedly calls for a federal Conservative Party ​ ​ ​ ​ that’s pro-LGBTQ and women voters.

Today at Queen’s Park

On the schedule MPPs are back in their ridings for a constituency week break; the house is adjourned until Monday, November 18.

In the park Premier will lead the province’s official Remembrance Day ceremony at the ​ ​ veterans’ memorial on the south lawn this morning. Last week, Ford unveiled the design for the ​ ​ memorial to honour veterans of the war in Afghanistan, which is expected to be built in time for next year’s ceremony.

Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell will mark the day with the local legion in ​ ​ Orangeville; the town was recently awarded the David Onley prize for leadership in ​ ​ accessibility.

Premier watch This weekend Premier Ford hit up the True Patriot Love Foundation’s annual gala in support of veterans and their families alongside provincial and federal Tories, including Andrew Scheer ​ and Erin O’Toole. ​ ​

Teachers prepare legal fight over Bill 124 as deadline to possible strike action looms

Ontario’s education unions have joined the chorus of labour groups preparing to take the Ford ​ ​ government to court over its wage cap bill, as the cloud of a possible teacher strike looms over ongoing contract talks.

On Friday, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of received the no-board report it had requested from the labour ministry, starting a 17-day countdown to when its 83,000 members will be in a legal position to walk off the job, on November 25.

ETFO’s rank and file already voted 98 per cent in favour of a strike, but union president Sam ​ Hammond said he wants to avert labour action by hammering out a deal with the government ​ and school boards’ association before the deadline.

However, the education minister “isn’t listening,” Hammond contended.

“While ETFO is now in a legal position to take strike action in 17 days, we will continue to focus on contract talks in an attempt to arrive at a deal that improves student learning conditions and educator working conditions,” he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation will be in a legal position to walk off the job on November 18 if members deliver a strike mandate on November 15, when the results of a provincewide vote will be released.

Education Minister said it’s “regrettable” the unions “sought to escalate.” ​ ​

“I think many families are a bit frustrated by the cyclical reality of every three years having to go through this process, irrespective of the party by the way,” Lecce told reporters last week. “Strikes on the Liberals, Conservatives, New Democrats, I just think it’s not horribly constructive to the learning of our kids.”

Lecce called on the unions to “match our spirit of reasonableness” during negotiations.

Further complicating the matter is Bill 124, the Ford government’s legislation capping public ​ ​ sector pay hikes at an average of one per cent annually for the next three years, which cleared third reading and received royal assent last Thursday — much to the chagrin of labour unions, which argue it violates collective bargaining rights. (The law is retroactive to June 5, the day it hit the clerk’s table; education contracts expired August 31.)

Four education unions currently embroiled in negotiations promptly put out a statement saying Bill 124’s passage means “the prospects for good faith bargaining have been all but shattered.” ​

In a joint statement the OSSTF, ETFO, Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association and AEFO, a French-language teachers’ union, said they “are preparing a court challenge to the legislation, which likely violates the Charter rights of their members.”

“The unions entered into negotiations in good faith, and have been doing everything they can to move the process forward,” they said.

Treasury Board President has called Bill 124 a “fair” and “collaborative” ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ approach to reining in public sector compensation, which runs up roughly half of the government’s expenditure bill at $72 billion a year.

Teachers have asked for a cost-of-living increase of around two per cent.

OECTA is also wrapping up strike votes with results expected November 13.

Today’s events

November 11 at 10:45 a.m. – ​ Premier Doug Ford will host a Remembrance Day ceremony on the Queen’s Park lawn. ​ ​

Topics of conversation

● will fly under the Liberal banner in the as-yet uncalled Orléans byelection ​ to replace now-MP Marie-France Lalonde. Blais, an Ottawa city councillor, beat out ​ ​ Rachel Décoste, an educator, immigration policy expert and community activist, to win ​ the nomination contest in the Liberal stronghold on Saturday. ○ The party says 507 card-carrying Grits cast ballots but did not disclose the candidates’ tally. ○ “Orléans deserves a strong advocate who will fight for real progress in our community. I am determined to continue this work at the provincial level and stand up for what’s right in the face of callous Conservative cuts,” Blais said in a statement. ○ There will be two byelections called in the capital early next year. Premier Doug ​ Ford has until March 23 to schedule a vote in Orléans and until February 2 in ​ Ottawa—Vanier, which was put into play when Liberal MPP Nathalie Des ​ Rosiers resigned for a role at Massey College. has been given ​ ​ ​ the Liberal nod to run to replace her. ○ PC sources have told the Star both byelections will be held on the same day. ​ ​ ​ ​

● The PC’s new carbon pricing system for industrial emitters does not meet the minimum requirements set out by Ottawa, according to a fresh report from the Pembina Institute that weighs the carbon pricing systems for heavy emitters from the four provinces that ​ ​ designed their own — Ontario, Alberta, New Brunswick and British Columbia. Of those, only B.C.’s system complies with the federal government’s output-based pricing system.

○ In July, the Ford government rolled out emissions performance standards as part of its Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan, but its per/tonne carbon levy will only be $20 in 2020, lower than Ottawa’s $30 per tonne benchmark, meaning the federal carbon backstop will stick around. ○ Large emitters in the province have to register for the PC’s emissions performance standards program by December 1.

● Ontario’s unemployment rate held steady at 5.3 per cent in October, following back-to-back months of slight decline. The government and opposition parties took part in the traditional cherry-picking from Statistics Canada’s monthly jobs data to prop up their own arguments about the state of the labour market. ○ While Economic Development Minister boasted employment “has ​ ​ risen by 256,200” since the PCs came to power last June, NDP Economic Growth critic pointed out the loss of 24,200 full-time jobs, with ​ ​ 17,500 gigs lost in the manufacturing sector, last month.

● Minister Vic Fedeli isn’t saying much about an attempt to block his $8-million defamation ​ ​ lawsuit against Patrick Brown over his tell-all memoir, which alleges the now-minister ​ ​ sexually harassed an employee. “I won’t be commenting because it’s a very active lawsuit,” Fedeli told reporters last week. ​ ​

● Sorry, not sorry. Ted McMeekin, the former Ontario Liberal minister in charge of ​ ​ municipal affairs who introduced the election law reforms that got Toronto councillor Jim ​ Karygiannis ejected from office, says he feels “sorry for the guy … but you’ve got to ​ follow the rules, right?” McMeekin weighed in on the case, which Karygiannis calls a “clerical error” while vowing to fight to get his seat back, in an interview with the Star. ​ ​ ​

Funding announcements

● The Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development will spend $834,900 on a ​ ​ new pilot program for Canadian Armed Forces members transitioning back into civilian life. The program, which is being tested at CFB Trenton, will offer career and soft skills training and, if successful, could be rolled out elsewhere in the province. ○ In a separate announcement, Environment Minister announced ​ ​ Canadian Armed Forces members and veterans will now receive free weekday entry into Ontario’s provincial parks.

● Indigenous Affairs Minister announced $175,000 in funds to revamp the ​ ​ Ne-Chee Friendship Centre in downtown Kenora, a hub for urban Indigenous cultural programming and community events.

● The Abilities Centre in Whitby will receive over $1 million to bolster its inclusion and accessibility services. A fleet of cabinet ministers were on hand for the Friday announcement, including , Rod Phillips, , Peter ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Bethlenfalvy and . ​ ​ ​

Oops! Friday’s story on proposed changes to the standing orders erroneously stated the PCs lowered the number of seats required for recognized party status last fall; in fact, they did the opposite, raising the threshold to 12 seats, up from 8.

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

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