Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report September 15, 2020

Quotation of the day

“We're going to hit some bumps, but we're ready for it.”

As Covid cases soar, teases the government's forthcoming fall ​ ​ preparedness plan.

Today at Queen’s Park

Written by Sabrina Nanji

On the schedule The house reconvenes at 9 a.m. The government could call either of the following motions for morning and afternoon debate:

● The motion fast-tracking four commemorative private member's bills; and ● The motion shaking up rules under the standing orders (more on this below).

Monday's debates and proceedings PC house leader got unanimous consent on a motion to continue physical ​ ​ distancing in the house, voting in the members' lobbies and virtual committee meetings. That was the case during this summer's emergency sitting and will continue for the "foreseeable future" while Covid is around, Calandra said.

Green Leader tabled the first private member's bill of the session, aimed at ​ ​ permanently scrapping employers' ability to require doctors' notes from an employee who calls in sick: Bill 200, Employment Standards Amendment Act (Sick Notes). ​ ​

MPPs also kicked off debate on the motion fast-tracking four PMBs.

Premier watch

Premier Doug Ford held his daily briefing at Queen’s Park Monday alongside Health Minister ​ ​ , who used the opportunity to amp up the $175 million the province is allocating ​ to hospital repairs and upgrades this year.

Goodbye reasoned amendments, hello more PMB debates: PCs to shake up standing orders PC house leader Paul Calandra is proposing a raft of changes to the standing orders, the ​ ​ rulebook governing legislative proceedings at Queen's Park.

A major change — one that has rankled the NDP — is to scrap reasoned amendments. Opposition MPPs can tack on reasoned amendments to government bills they don't like in order to push for more consultation or a redraft, which delays first-reading debate by two days.

While reasoned amendments are traditionally applied to omnibus bills, the NDP has been tabling them for many government bills. Calandra contends they've been "improperly used" and the NDP’s recent ones were "non-substantive."

NDP house leader slammed the move, saying the Ford government is giving ​ ​ itself "the power to ram through their bills practically overnight, with no consultation, no public input, no time for media or the public to read them, and no notice given to the people those bills could hurt."

Another change that opposition, independent and backbench MPPs might be warmer to is more time to debate private member's bills and motions.

Instead of debating three PMBs on Thursdays, debates will take place one bill a time on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday — plus a temporary debate on Monday mornings until June 2021, to make up for lost time during the emergency summer sittings. PMB votes will also be deferred to the mornings after question period, rather than late on Thursday afternoons, so more MPPs can have their say.

The PCs will also give up two of their six friendly question period spots to the Independents, a practice carried over from the summer.

An "unintended" loophole from the last round of changes that could allow a bill to be passed in a single day (after being debated in the morning, afternoon and evening) will also be closed.

Toronto Centre Liberal nomination ‘stinks of backroom politics,’ party members say The Liberal Party is being accused of shoehorning in its preferred election candidate in Centre.

David Morris, an LGBTQ advocate who ran for the Grits in the riding in 2018, ultimately losing ​ to current NDP MPP , was acclaimed the Toronto Centre candidate for 2022 in ​ ​ ​ ​ an uncontested race last week.

But grassroots Liberal members have complained to riding association president Milton Chan ​ — who is also the OLP's chief legal counsel and has a heavy hand in the candidate nomination and selection process — saying that Morris’ contest was undemocratic. ​ ​

In an email obtained by Queen's Park Today, Khuram Aftab, a card-carrying Grit in Toronto ​ ​ ​ Centre, described it as "undeclared and suspicious" and claimed hundreds of members were not given any heads-up until after the contest was closed.

"Only a few members [who] get together secretly and decide among themselves is not a fair practice," Aftab wrote, along with a request for the nomination to be recalled “so that it's fair and democratic.”

In another email, Christopher Smith, who sits on the riding executive, claimed that a shortlist of ​ ​ would-be nomination hopefuls withdrew "en masse” to support Morris. That “stinks of backroom politics," he said.

Smith charged that Chan is paying lip service to the party's new outreach efforts in underrepresented communities — and the optics aren't good, especially in Toronto Centre, arguably one of the Grits’ most competitive ridings for 2022.

The party must show it made attempts to recruit women, BIPOC, LGBTQ and under-30 candidates, he wrote.

"The decision to make sure all nominations were done openly and inclusively was made in the context of the deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ejaz Ahmed Choudry and Regis ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Korchinski-Paquet," Smith went on to say. "Do we really want the next election to be dogged ​ by rumours of a white cis-male stealing the nomination?"

Smith adds Morris is "a more than qualified candidate and should have no fear of running in a contested nomination, and if he does then perhaps he is not ready to be an MPP."

OLP president Brian Johns said the proper protocol was followed in Toronto Centre. ​ ​

"Prospective contestants who expressed interest in contesting the nomination were advised the nomination was closing and given a deadline to submit paperwork. At the end of the process only one candidate, David Morris, submitted the paperwork required to run," Johns said in an email to Queen's Park Today. ​

Because the Liberals have to complete 100-plus nominations before the next vote, the party has declared a state of electoral urgency, which allows Leader to appoint ​ ​ ​ ​ candidates and change the timelines for nomination races.

Today’s events

September 15 at 1 p.m. – Toronto ​ Premier Doug Ford is expected to hold a presser at Queen's Park. ​ ​

Topics of conversation

● Ontario's daily Covid count hit 313 in Monday's report, the highest tally since early June. ○ "Wave two is coming," Health Minister Christine Elliott acknowledged, adding ​ ​ the government is putting the final touches on a fall preparedness plan, which will be released soon. Premier Doug Ford also intimated changes to social gathering ​ ​ restrictions will be out in the "coming days."

● Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown is questioning why Peel’s public health unit won’t ​ ​ disclose the name of a workplace in the region where at least 61 employees have been infected with Covid. ○ The PHU told the its public reporting process has “evolved” since a ​ ​ ​ smaller outbreak at Brampton’s Maple Leaf foods was revealed in May, but Brown countered that “secrecy” with the public will cause more harm than keeping the business’s name under lock and key.

● With frosh week in full swing, Western University is reporting an off-campus outbreak. ​ ​

● No CormorantTO. The City of Toronto is reminding residents that it’s illegal to hunt within city limits, despite the Ministry of Natural Resources greenlighting a provincewide fall cormorant hunt that kicks off today. Discharging a firearm, including from a boat, is illegal under city law (the city’s borders extend across Lake Ontario to the U.S.), and cormorant nesting grounds on the Leslie Spit will be monitored by bylaw officers. ○ However, Mayor ramped up the city’s Covid-safe to-do list for fall, ​ ​ debuting ShowLoveTO, BigArtTO, StrollTO, DineOutTO and more.

● Baby watch: PC MPP , the youngest MPP ever elected to Queen's ​ ​ Park, tells Queen's Park Today he and wife Keri are expecting. ​ ​ ​ ​

Question period

NDP lead-off

School bus capacity caps ● Official Opposition Leader kicked off the first question period of the ​ ​ session asking about school bus capacity, which the NDP wants capped at 50 per cent.

● Education Minister took the response for Premier Doug Ford, who ​ ​ ​ ​ wasn't in the chamber. Lecce highlighted previously announced funding for enhanced sanitization, PPE and driver retention.

The NDP devoted several questions to the return to school, hammering the government on class sizes, adequate funding and support for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. New Democrats also asked about shoring up support for small businesses and the child-care sector.

Independent questions Covid plan 2.0 'virtually ready to go' ● Green Leader Mike Schreiner asked the Tories to commit to "immediately" addressing ​ ​ long-term care staffing issues that were underscored in a ministry report this summer, and to extending the pandemic pay bump for workers.

● Health Minister Christine Elliott said the government's forthcoming fall preparedness ​ ​ plan will address "the lack of personal support workers in particular, but there are also shortages of nurses."

● Liberal MPP John Fraser wanted to know why the PCs haven't mandated smaller class ​ ​ sizes.

PC friendly questions The government asked itself about education, the moose hunt, and funding for virtual mental health and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder services.

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

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