Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report December 9, 2019

Quotation of the day

“We’ve kept him out of fights. When you’re out there fighting with everybody, it’s hard to be popular.”

Doug Ford’s campaign manager Kory Teneycke tells Maclean’s about the “No More Mr. Mean ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Guy” approach to rescuing an unpopular premiership.

Today at Queen’s Park

On the schedule The house convenes for the final sitting week before the winter recess, kicking off with question period at 10:30 a.m.

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

● Bill 132, Better for People, Smarter for Business Act; ​ ● Bill 156, Security From Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act; and ​ ​ ● Bill 159, Rebuilding Consumer Confidence Act. ​

Attorney General is expected to table legislation overhauling judicial ​ ​ appointments, with an eye to simplifying what he’s called a “complex” and “outdated” system.

Committees this week The Standing Committee on Government Agencies will interview pending appointees Bryan ​ Tuckey and Anthony Tamburro to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) and Human ​ ​ ​ Rights Tribunal of , respectively.

Tuckey is the president and CEO of the Building Industry and Land Development Association and a land-use planner who previously worked for the provincial government. He has also donated to ’s 2014 mayoral campaign (as well as his rival ’s.) ​ ​ ​ ​

Bill 116, Foundations for Promoting and Protecting Mental Health and Addictions Services Act, ​ is up for possible amendments during clause-by-clause consideration at the social policy committee Tuesday.

On Wednesday the Standing Committee on Public Accounts will convene to review the section of the auditor general’s 2018 report dealing with Waterfront . The committee on regulations and private bills also meets to consider a slew of private bills.

In the park On today’s lobbying agenda: Minogue Medical and Cardiac Arrest Response and Education are holding lunch receptions; the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and Federation of Rental-housing Providers of Ontario are holding evening receptions.

Lieutenant-Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell is opening up the LG suite for an invite-only ​ ​ holiday event.

At 5:45 p.m., Premier Doug Ford is hosting the unveiling ceremony for former premier ​ ​ ’s official portrait in the legislature’s main lobby. Toronto Mayor John Tory is ​ ​ ​ scheduled to attend.

TVO host Steve Paikin has offered a few hints: Wynne asked that her portrait feature an eagle ​ ​ ​ ​ feather she was given by a group of Indigenous women and her signature red sneakers.

Premier watch Premier Doug Ford was on the Christmas party circuit this weekend, hosting an ​ ​ event alongside local caucus mates and and hitting up the ​ ​ ​ ​ recently revived Christmas Cheer Breakfast in with a crew of PCs from the capital.

While in Ottawa Ford met with Mayor Jim Watson to talk transit. The premier told reporters ​ ​ “sometimes the problems, honestly, they get blown up,” when it comes to the city’s LRT woes. ​ ​

“It’s always good to learn,” Ford noted when reporters pointed out Ottawa’s Confederation Line uses the same trains that the Hurontario LRT in Mississauga and Brampton will.

Watson is also asking the premier to help get regulations related to photo-radar signs tweaked to accommodate the City of Ottawa’s bilingual road sign rules. The city wants to pilot new ​ community safety zones, but the mandatory signs are too large for downtown roads when they ​ include a French translation.

Asked about Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk’s scathing report on his government’s emissions ​ ​ reduction efforts, Ford told reporters he’s “very confident we have a great plan” and that “we’re ​ ​ going to hit our targets.”

Ford also toured the Blackberry QNX autonomous vehicle facility and held a roundtable with members of Ottawa’s long-term care sector.

Elementary teachers ramp up work-to-rule, high school union plans another one-day strike Public school teachers are stepping up job action amid tense contract talks with the provincial government.

Elementary teachers are poised to launch phase two of their work-to-rule campaign on Tuesday. Job action includes not planning any new field trips, not sending letters and memos from schools and boards, and not collecting funds for school activities unless it’s for charity.

That’s beyond the job action the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) began about two weeks ago; teachers haven’t been writing comments on report cards or participating in certain administrative training and meetings outside of normal school hours.

Meanwhile, high school teachers are set to walk off the job Wednesday for a second one-day strike, impacting nine school boards. Last week the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) staged a provincewide walkout, the first since 1997. ​ ​

Both the OSSTF and Ford government appeared to dig in their heels.

The union maintained that it would, at the behest of the education minister, call off the strike action and enter private mediation if the government reversed course on bigger class sizes, mandatory e-learning and a (legislated) one-per-cent cap on compensation.

Education Minister has said the government side has been reasonable at the ​ ​ bargaining table by watering down unpopular policies, such as reducing online course credit

requirements to two, instead of four, and boosting average class sizes to 25 students, down from 28.

He has pointed to compensation as a major sticking point. Teachers are seeking a cost-of-living increase of about two per cent this year.

“Enough with the games that singularly hurt our kids. Union leaders should agree to private mediation without any preconditions, like we did with CUPE, where a voluntary agreement was reached that kept kids in class,” Lecce said in a statement.

Crown negotiators and ETFO are set to head back to the bargaining table today. There are no bargaining dates set with OSSTF. The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association will also be in a legal strike position on December 21.

Today’s events

December 9 at 9 a.m. – Toronto ​ Unifor and the Ontario Health Coalition will release a report regarding personal support workers in the Queen’s Park media studio.

December 9 at 10 a.m. – Toronto ​ Financial Accountability Officer Peter Weltman will release his office’s 2019 economic and ​ ​ budget outlook, based on last month’s Fall Economic Statement update, in the media studio.

December 9 at 1 p.m. – Toronto ​ The Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Ontario Agri Business Association and Food and Beverage Ontario will co-host a press conference on the industry’s priorities in the media studio.

Topics of conversation

● While Ontario’s employment rate held steady last month, the unemployment rate ticked up from 5.3 per cent to 5.6 per cent, mainly because more people were looking for work, according to Statistics Canada’s monthly jobs report. ○ Economic Development Minister took credit for the roughly 15,000 ​ ​ new jobs created in November by pumping up the PC’s business-friendly policies, such as an omnibus red-tape reduction bill and a tax break for small corporations. “We are giving businesses the tools they need to lay the foundation for economic growth that will benefit workers and job creators alike,” he said in a release.

● Canada’s top court has decided two companies, Resolute Forest Products and Weyerhaeuser, are liable for the cost of maintaining a mercury waste site near Grassy ​ ​

Narrows First Nation, where decades-old contamination has impacted the health of residents and the environment.

● Former Ontario ombudsman André Marin is back in the headlines, this time as counsel ​ ​ to , who is preparing a defamation case against , the ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Globe and Mail reports. ​ ​ ○ After his stint as provincial watchdog Marin entered partisan politics with an unsuccessful run for the PCs in the 2016 Ottawa Vanier byelection. The now-empty seat was won by now-retired MPP . ​ ​

● The six candidates vying to be the next Ontario Liberal leader faced off in their first formal debate Sunday, making their pitches for health, jobs, climate and education policy to a crowd of about 150 in Guelph. ○ In opening remarks, Steven Del Duca, the frontrunner based on funds raised ​ ​ and members enlisted, talked about pocketbook issues and more broadly, how income inequality can lead to “dangerous” political polarization. He talked about ensuring the party is on the right foot heading into the 2022 election, particularly after 2018’s historic defeat. ○ , the perceived runner-up, billed himself as a fixer. “I know how ​ to fix things,” Coteau said, and cited his work on the autism file, a political hot potato the then-Liberal government was forced to change course on amid parent backlash, which included shuffling Coteau into the portfolio. He also amped his “electability”: “I know how to win elections, having won all six in a row, and I cannot wait until we win again in 2022 by beating Doug Ford,” he said. ​ ​ ○ emphasized the importance of reconnecting with voters, saying ​ the Liberal Party’s values on health care, education and the economy match up with values of Ontarians. ○ Kate Graham talked about being an outsider candidate in more ways than one, ​ including geographically as a Londoner and one of two non-GTA contenders. ○ Alvin Tedjo positioned himself as a disruptor; he said the party needs to get the ​ message delivered in last year’s brutal election defeat and challenge the status quo. He boasted bold policies such as axing public funding for Catholic schools and bankrolling a universal basic income (the Liberals had started a basic income pilot.) ○ Political newbie and latecomer to the race Brenda Hollingsworth offered some ​ ​ insight into her motivation as she’s spent the last week being asked “Who are you?” and “What the heck are you doing in this race?” As a personal injury lawyer, Hollingsworth said she’s seen first hand the need for better support for social services, insurance reform and rehabilitation, and that she believes government should be there when people need it but stay out of the way otherwise. ○ Meanwhile, columnist Kelly McParland notes the party now has ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ more people running in its leadership race than it has seats in the legislature.

Appointments and employments

● Peter Balasubramanian is taking over as CEO at Tarion in January, following the ​ retirement of the home warranty agency’s current chief executive Howard Bogach. ​ ​ Tarion’s board chair Paul Golini Jr. has also resigned, the Star reports. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ○ The shakeup comes as the PCs overhaul the agency via Bill 159, Rebuilding ​ ​ Consumer Confidence Act, which, among other things, shrinks the size of Tarion’s board from 16 members to 12 and reduces the number of housing developers that can be represented in its ranks. ○ Balasubramanian is currently Tarion’s chief operating officer.

Funding announcements

● Labour Minister Monte McNaughton announced the province is tripling its Skills ​ ​ Catalyst Fund, which grants cash to companies that train new skilled trades workers. In order to qualify for the $20-million money pot, companies must “form partnerships and demonstrate innovative approaches to training and workforce development.” The call for applications is coming soon, per the minister.

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

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