Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report January 22, 2020

Quotation of the day

“In a scenario where Metrolinx builds parking garages to handle new GO ridership, the construction cost could be as much as $3.2 billion, then add about $16 million a year in maintenance costs.”

Toronto Star columnist Matt Elliott crunches the numbers on the cost of possible new parking ​ ​ ​ ​ garages at GO stations, calling it “bananas money.” ​

Today at Queen’s Park

On the schedule The house is in winter recess until February 18, 2020.

Premier watch was in Windsor Tuesday to tour the Ford Engine Plant, the premier's office ​ ​ ​ told Blackburn News. Ford also sat down with the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of ​ ​ Commerce and the chief of staff to Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens. ​ ​

NDP calls on to apologize for allegedly misusing constituency office for leadership campaign Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter’s alleged use of legislative resources for partisan work related to her ​ ​ leadership campaign — a violation of parliamentary convention, according to the province’s ethics watchdog — is raising the ire of the NDP.

As previously reported by Queen’s Park Today, text messages show Hunter’s campaign team ​ ​ used her Scarborough—Guildwood constituency office to package thousands of Christmas cards for campaign contacts. Several Liberal sources also claim to have received phone calls from Hunter’s legislative office inviting them to campaign events.

Opposition Ethics critic said Hunter should discuss the matter with Integrity ​ ​ Commissioner J. David Wake and apologize if any rules were broken. “The should ​ ​ tell its leadership candidates that the use of public funds for a leadership race is unacceptable, and Ms. Hunter should work with the Integrity Commissioner to set this right,” Natyshak told QPT.

Natyshak tied the matter to Liberal-era scandals of yore, such as cancelled gas plants. “If this was a mistake, Ms. Hunter should apologize — of course, if she’s intentionally misusing public funds, it’s clear the Liberals haven’t learned their lesson after their years of scandals,” he charged.

Hunter has denied any wrongdoing. “I have separated my leadership campaign matters from my constituency office,” she maintained this week.

Hunter’s camp previously said any Christmas cards and phone calls connected to her leadership bid were handled by the campaign, but on Tuesday she acknowledged those cards were delivered to her constituency office. Hunter has not addressed specific questions about the use of government property to store the campaign cards or government landlines to make campaign calls.

Interim Liberal Leader John Fraser has said he wasn’t aware of the issue, but in general, noted ​ ​ that the line between legislative and partisan work is clear. “It’s black and white,” he added.

Sources have said they raised the matter with Liberal Party officials, but Grit headquarters maintains no formal complaints were made. The party isn’t in charge of overseeing parliamentary convention, that’s handled by Wake’s office, where only MPPs can file complaints.

Today’s events

January 22 at 8 a.m. – ​ , parliamentary assistant to the finance minister, will host a pre-budget consultation ​ meeting at the local legion on Kent Street.

Topics of conversation

● Premier Doug Ford has made two new appointments to the Ontario Human Rights ​ ​ Commission — social-media friendly police officer Const. Randall Arsenault ​ and McMaster University associate professor Violetta Igneski, whose sister, Jasmine ​ ​ ​ Igneski, is a PC Party donor and former policy advisor to Stephen Harper and ex-PC ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ premier . The Toronto Star has the scoop. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

○ Ontario’s Chief Commissioner of Human Rights Renu Mandhane told the Star ​ ​ ​ neither appointee was among the 330 applicants vetted by her office, nor the 30 short-listed contestants it submitted via a process outlined by the Ministry of the Attorney General. ○ Mandhane expressed concern that a Toronto police officer would be appointed to the commission amidst its ongoing probe into racial profiling by the force.

● Byelection watch: the Tories have their candidates in the capital. Natalie Montgomery ​ will run in the upcoming byelection in Orléans and Patrick Mayangi will fly the Tory ​ ​ banner in Ottawa—Vanier. Both candidates were acclaimed by Premier Doug Ford after ​ ​ consulting with the respective riding associations, PC Party spokesperson Christina ​ Wramhed told Queen’s Park Today. ​ ​ ○ Montgomery is a PhD candidate and health advocate. She is also the wife of failed PC candidate Cameron Montgomery, who ran in the same riding in 2018 ​ ​ and has since been hired to a previously part-time, now full-time $140,000-position as EQAO board chair. (The couple met the day after Valentine’s 12 years ago, and bonded over cheese, according to an account in ​ the Ottawa Citizen.) ​ ​ ○ Mayangi is a community outreach specialist in Edmonton-area Conservative MP Garnett Genuis’ office. He previously worked on now-Liberal minister Mona ​ ​ Fortier’s 2017 federal byelection bid in Ottawa—Vanier. ​ ​ ○ In Vanier, the Liberals have nominated French school board trustee Lucille ​ Collard and the New Democrats are running community advocate Myriam ​ ​ Djilane. ​ ○ In Orléans, city councillor will run for the Grits while Manon ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Parrot will fly the NDP flag. ​ ​ ​ ○ Ottawa—Vanier was put into play when ex-Liberal MPP ​ ​ resigned for a role at Massey College; Orléans became vacant when now-Liberal ​ ​ MP Marie-France Lalonde jumped into federal politics last fall. ​ ​ ○ Both seats are longtime Liberal strongholds. ○ Premier Ford has until February 2 to call a byelection in Ottawa—Vanier, and ​ ​ Orléans must be called by March 23. He’s expected to set the same date for both races.

● The Toronto District School Board — the biggest in the country — and Peel will not issue ​ first-term report cards due to teachers’ ongoing work-to-rule campaign in elementary schools. Thousands of students stand to miss class this week as elementary, secondary and Catholic school teachers and some support staff stage one-day rotating strikes. ○ Both Education Minister and union brass have indicated their ​ ​ willingness to return to the bargaining table and are waiting on the green-light from the labour ministry-appointed mediator.

● Speaking of report cards, the provincial government scored an A- from the Canadian ​ ​ Federation of Independent Businesses for its moves to cut regulatory red tape. The Ford government also made the grade with an A- last year — under the former Liberal rulers, Ontario never earned higher than a B+.

● Toronto City Hall is pushing back against a provincial government proposal that could see developers bypass civic officials and hire their own professionals to conduct building inspections, which are traditionally carried out by the city. ○ Toronto’s chief building official is warning about potential conflicts of interest and the Ontario Association of Architects says the change would likely result in higher insurance costs. The CBC has the details. ​ ​

● Following a meeting with Prime Minister in Winnipeg Monday, Manitoba ​ ​ Premier Brian Pallister says he will table a new provincial climate change strategy that ​ ​ ​ could include a carbon tax. ○ “Political science is fine before an election. Now let's talk environmental science. We're prepared to be measured on our green plan, and we want acceptance of our made-in-Manitoba green strategies. We want the respect we deserve as a province,” Pallister said post-meeting. ○ Like Ontario, Manitoba has filed a legal challenge to the federal government’s carbon pricing backstop.

● Liberal leadership candidate released his climate platform on ​ ​ Tuesday, promising, among other things, to plant 800 million tree saplings over a decade. That throws shade on his leadership rival ’s earlier pledge to ​ ​ plant 140 million trees over 10 years, and the Ford government’s move to axe funding for 50 million new trees last year. ○ Del Duca also wants to discount public transit rides by 50 per cent during off-peak hours, a twist on Coteau’s pitch for free transit.

● Irwin Elman, Ontario’s former child and youth advocate, has been called in to testify in a ​ broad-ranging public inquiry into Quebec’s youth protection system, prompted by the ​ ​ death of a seven-year-old girl in Granby. Elman said on Twitter he will talk about “the importance of the voice of the child as well as the exemplary model of child advocacy [Ontario] once had.”

Appointments and employments

Ontario Securities Commission ● Maureen Jensen announced her resignation as chair and CEO of the Ontario Securities ​ Commission, effective April 15. Jensen became the first woman to hold that position when she was first appointed in 2016 and has held top roles at the agency since she

came on board in 2011. She previously did a stint as a director of the Toronto Stock Exchange. ○ In a statement Tuesday, Jensen thanked her colleagues for the most “meaningful” years of her career that were spent “contributing to Ontario’s vibrant, healthy and internationally recognized capital markets.” ○ “The OSC is well on its way to becoming a more modern regulator, committed to continuously improving how we regulate,” she said. ○ A recent column in the Globe and Mail argued that the Ford government has ​ ​ ​ ​ stood in the way of the commission’s goal to increase the number of women on boards. ○ Finance Minister Rod Phillips applauded Jensen’s focus on improving gender ​ ​ diversity, noting a spike in the number of women on boards during her tenure. Her recent work “resulted in 107 recommendations to reduce regulatory burden — further increasing confidence in Ontario’s capital markets,” Phillips added in a statement. ○ OSC vice-chair Grant Vingoe will serve as acting chair until a permanent ​ ​ replacement is announced.

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

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