Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report October 9, 2019 Quotation of the day “Ford’s cuts leave real wounds. It’s time to stop the right-wing agenda.” Unifor’s new attack ad takes aim at the PC’s record on municipalities, at-risk youth, children with ​ ​ autism, clean water programs and hospitals. Today at Queen’s Park On the schedule The house is on extended recess until Monday, October 28. Cabinet is scheduled to meet this afternoon. Premier watch Premier Doug Ford donned a hard hat and toured Metrolinx’s Eglinton Crosstown site ​ ​ alongside Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney and Associate Minister Kinga Surma on ​ ​ ​ ​ Tuesday, according to his social media feeds. The premier also got outdoors with a visit to the Ministry of Natural Resources’ salmon spawn management unit. The premier donned camo coveralls and was snapped holding a big fish on ​ ​ the Credit River with Minister John Yakabuski and PC MPPs Mike Harris Jr. and Nina Tangri. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Ford also gave props to Michael “Pinball” Clemons — former football star, head coach and ​ ​ one-time rumoured PC candidate — on being named general manager of the Toronto ​ Argonauts. Scheer promises to bankroll Ford’s Ontario Line, Yonge subway extension Conservative Party of Canada Leader Andrew Scheer vowed to fund the Ontario Line and ​ ​ Yonge subway extension if he’s elected prime minister. “These are the types of projects that will deliver real relief to everyone who drives and takes transit in the GTA,” Scheer said at a campaign pit stop in the 905 Tuesday, flanked by Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti and Richmond Hill Mayor David Barrow. ​ ​ ​ ​ The two projects are part of the Ford government’s $28.5-billion transit expansion package for the Greater Toronto Area. Premier Doug Ford announced the ambitious plan in April, including the nearly $11-billion, ​ ​ 15-kilometre Ontario Line, a modified version of Toronto City Hall’s Downtown Relief Line, and the $5.6-billion, 7.4-kilometre Yonge subway extension through Markham and Vaughan to Richmond Hill. The province committed to forking out over a third of the cost, $11.2 billion, and wants the other levels of government to pitch in (however, Ford has said his government will foot the entire bill if necessary). Scheer blamed Justin Trudeau for the slow trickling out of federal infrastructure cash and said ​ ​ it’s “about time” Canadians had a government that works with the provinces to “get shovels in the ground.” Scheer, who has yet to release a fully costed platform, did not provide a dollar figure commitment for the transit plan. His spokesman Simon Jefferies said a specific amount would ​ ​ have to be negotiated with the province. Ontario Food Terminal dubbed significant employment zone The Ontario Food Terminal was named a provincially significant employment zone on Tuesday, which means the lands can’t be used for anything else without the government’s approval. Minister Steve Clark said the move will help protect an estimated 100,000 jobs. ​ ​ The province owns the real estate in Etobicoke, which is worth a projected $200 million and has been eyed by developers, but the PCs said back in July the wholesale produce market would be staying put following an initial review. It came as a relief to many independent grocers that were worried the site could be relocated. While big grocery store chains have their own distribution systems, the terminal helps connect smaller grocers and farmers with stores and restaurants in the area. NDP MPP Bhutila Karpoche and Toronto City Hall pushed for the designation. Karpoche, who ​ ​ also has a private member’s bill on the order paper to designate the lands, said Tuesday’s announcement is a “victory” for workers. “This long-delayed decision will finally assure Food Terminal workers, farmers, independent grocers and restaurateurs who feared for their futures when the Ford government conspicuously ​ ​ excluded the Ontario Food Terminal lands from its initial list of Provincially Significant Employment Zones in January,” Karpoche said in a statement. In July Agriculture Minister Ernie Hardeman said phase two of the review will focus on ​ ​ modernizing operations at the terminal, such as the farmers market. Today’s events October 9 at 10 a.m. — Killarney ​ PC MPP Dave Smith will make an announcement at Killarney Mountain Lodge. ​ ​ October 9 at 10:30 a.m. — Toronto ​ Long-Term Care Minister Merrilee Fullerton will make an announcement at the Runnymede ​ ​ Health Centre. Her parliamentary assistant Effie Triantafilopoulos and MPP Kinga Surma will ​ ​ ​ ​ be on hand. October 9 at 12 p.m. — Toronto ​ Ontario Power Generation President and CEO Ken Hartwick will deliver a luncheon speech ​ ​ about “powering Ontario’s economic future” to the Empire Club at the Royal York Hotel. Upcoming events November 18 at 7:30 a.m. — Toronto ​ Premier Doug Ford will address the Ontario Real Estate Association’s conference next month. ​ ​ ​ ​ There will also be an MPP panel featuring PC Stan Cho, the New Democrats’ Sara Singh and ​ ​ ​ ​ Mike Schreiner for the Greens. ​ Topics of conversation ● Sources in the premier’s office told City News the PCs feel betrayed by their federal counterparts and that Andrew Scheer has “thrown Doug Ford under the bus,” and say ​ ​ ​ ​ if Scheer loses the federal vote on October 21, it won’t be because of the so-called Ford factor. “There’s no way Scheer can pin this on us,” said one Tory insider. ○ A PC source told the Toronto Star that Ford is “willing to sit on his hands for ​ ​ ​ ​ another two weeks” because he wants to see Justin Trudeau defeated, but “it is ​ ​ ​ ​ really bugging him to have to do so.” ● Recent changes to a provincial child-care expansion fund will result in a $15-million reduction in government funding and could put as many as 760 spaces in Toronto in jeopardy next year, according to a new report from the city. ​ ​ ● Education Minister Stephen Lecce tells the Globe and Mail CUPE was the first union to ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ formally accept the one per cent cap on public sector wage increases that’s proposed in the PCs’ Bill 124, which is only at first reading. ​ ​ ○ The minister and education workers’ union both claim victory in inking a last-minute tentative deal and averting further job action this week. ○ Despite the bill not yet being law, other CUPE bargaining units have warned their ​ ​ employers have been “emboldened” by the proposed bill. On July 3, the local CUPE chapter representing teaching and research assistants at McMaster University said the university is “refusing to offer anything above 1% total compensation (including wages, benefits, and other funds).” ● Liberal leadership hopeful Mitzie Hunter won a heavyweight endorsement from Jean ​ ​ ​ Augustine on Tuesday. Augustine is a political trailblazer: she was elected Canada’s ​ first Black woman MP, appointed the first Black woman in cabinet and was Ontario’s first fairness commissioner until she retired in 2015. ○ In a statement, Augustine, who represented the federal riding of Etobicoke—Lakeshore as a Liberal for 13 years, cited Hunter’s recent open letter to Premier Doug Ford as an example of her prowess as a leader. Hunter’s letter ​ ​ urged Ford to recall the legislature to deal with education policy amid labour unrest. ○ Hunter “wants to create a province that is affordable with more opportunities for everyone,” Augustine said. “That’s the kind of future I want for Ontario. I share Mitzie’s vision. I think most people do. Mitzie can turn that vision into action and that action into results.” ● Dianne Saxe, who was Ontario’s environmental watchdog until the Ford government ​ scrapped her post earlier this year, is taking her climate change fight to Toronto City Hall. Saxe recently registered to lobby City Hall about the “climate emergency declaration and municipal response” to climate change. ○ She signed up under Saxe Facts, the organization she launched after her office was folded into that of the auditor general. ○ Toronto council voted to declare a climate emergency last week. ● Renata Ford, the premier’s sister-in-law and federal People’s Party of Canada candidate ​ in Etobicoke North, watched Monday’s election debate at her family’s choice Chinese buffet, where she told Toronto Sun columnist Joe Warmington how the Fords have ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ influenced her campaign. ○ “When I go to the doors, I am hearing the respect people have for Rob, Doug ​ ​ ​ and Michael and Doug Sr. and they tell they are going to support me, as well,” ​ ​ ​ ​ Ford is quoted as saying. ● A new report from the National Institute on Ageing projects national long-term care costs will more than triple by 2050, from $22 billion today to $70 billion. This will bring the percentage of personal provincial and federal income tax spent on long-term care to 19 per cent, up from the current nine per cent. Funding announcements Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines ● PC MPP Dave Smith was in the north Tuesday to dole out cash for a new industrial park ​ ​ on Wiikwemkoong First Nation and to expand a craft brewery in Gore Bay. ○ The Wikwemikong Development Commission is getting $1 million to establish a retail commercial space, which will involve road and building construction, electricity delivery, and septic and water system installation. Another $100,000 will go toward an economic development plan for a heating pellet manufacturing plant in Nairn Centre. ○ The Split Rail Brewing Co. is receiving $52,000 to expand production capacity. ○ The funding is from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation. Ministry for Health ● More cash is on the way for the Hamilton Health Sciences — West Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Grimsby. Robin Martin, parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health, and ​ ​ local MPP Sam Oosterhoff announced an additional $2 million for the aging hospital’s ​ ​ refurbishment — on top of $8.5 million announced last November.