June 16, 2020

Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report June 16, 2020

Quotation of the day

"Regulations and red tape kills companies.”

Premier Doug Ford responds to a reporter's question about boosting the struggling tourism sector with a non sequitur about pre-pandemic building permit policy.

Today at Queen’s Park

On the schedule The house reconvenes at 10:15 a.m. ahead of question period. MPPs are sticking to two-day weekly sittings for the rest of June and will jump into three-day weeks on July 6.

A vote on the government's time-allocation motion laying out committee hearings for Bill 159, Rebuilding Consumer Confidence Act, and Bill 184, Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act, is expected this morning.

PC house leader Paul Calandra also has a motion on the order paper that could extend each summer sitting day until midnight.

Last week the Standing Committee on General Government completed its consideration of Bill 156, Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act, so it could be reported back to the house and debated at third reading.

The social policy committee also finished its work on Bill 171, Building Transit Faster Act, so it could also be back on the chamber floor.

NDP teases amendments to commercial evictions bill, PCs fire back The New Democrats have a bone to pick with the PC's forthcoming bill banning commercial evictions during the pandemic, which could be tabled as early as today. The NDP got a peek at the legislation and put their concerns in writing to Calandra Monday, in the hopes the government will tack on the Opposition's amendments.

NDP house leader Gilles Bisson said the bill must cover all landlords, instead of only those that qualify for the federal rent relief program but have not applied. Bisson also asked that it be retroactive to mid-March, when the emergency shutdowns began, as opposed to June 3.

If the official Opposition doesn't get its amendments, the government can kiss its unanimous support for speedy passage goodbye. Bisson said his caucus will push for more debate to address "shortcomings" of the bill by sitting late into the evening or on extra days.

Calandra thanked the NDP for the input and said he's also working with the other opposition Independent MPPs "to prepare a bill that will honour the premier's commitment to protect small businesses which may be facing eviction."

"While we are disappointed that the NDP have chosen to step away from good-faith negotiations in favour of bargaining in the media, our priority is protection for commercial tenants," his spokesperson Owen Macri said.

Calandra's office didn't offer a specific timeline for when they hope to pass the bill, only saying that's expected to happen before the house adjourns as scheduled July 22.

In the park Nurses rallied on the legislature's lawn in protest of the PC's Bill 124, which caps increases in public sector compensation at one per cent annually.

In December, the Ontario Nurses’ Association launched a charter challenge against the law, which was granted royal assent last year and has already been used by the PCs during public sector bargaining. Other unions followed suit in March (a Manitoba court struck down a similar law last week).

Toronto, Peel, Windsor hold to Stage 1 as Ontario creaks back to life Toronto, Peel and Windsor-Essex will be stuck in Stage 1 of reopening for at least another week as the rest of Ontario enjoys patios, hair cuts, indoor shopping and more as of Friday.

On Monday, Premier Doug Ford gave another seven public health units the green light to enter Stage 2 by the end of the week: Durham, Haldimand-Norfolk, Halton, Hamilton, Lambton, Niagara and York Region.

As for the three PHUs left out — in the hard-hit GTA and border towns — Ford urged patience.

"We can't let our guard down," the premier said, adding that his team "crunched the numbers" and health officials "reviewed the data" to come up with the decision over the weekend.

Ford offered a sliver of hope, saying the "good news" is that public health trends across the province are moving in the "right direction."

Health Minister Christine Elliott said the case counts in Toronto, Peel and Windsor are too high for those regions to be able to lift restrictions safely.

About 70 per cent of the 181 new COVID-19 cases confirmed Monday were from Toronto (85) and Peel (41). Windsor accounted for seven.

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said he's "disappointed by our lack of progress" but understands "that we cannot pick and choose cities and towns within our region that could move forward to Stage 2, while others are held back. To move forward, we will need to do so together."

The mayors of Mississauga and Brampton agreed a slower approach is the right move. They also joined arms with the mayors of Toronto, Markham and Vaughan to once again call for emergency financial support for their cities, stating they are “very hopeful” the province will “put a proposal on the table in the coming days” to help municipalities stave off front-line service cuts and “unmanageable property tax increases.”

Today’s events

June 16 at 9:30 a.m. – Toronto NDP Leader Andrea Horwath will hold a news conference to discuss the province’s “belated takeover” of the River Glen Haven long-term care home in Sutton with a woman whose mother contracted COVID-19 there.

June 16 around 1 p.m. – Toronto Premier Doug Ford is expected to hold his daily briefing at Queen's Park.

Topics of conversation

● Ontario completed a hat trick of relatively low coronavirus case counts Monday. For the third time this past week, the daily tally was below 200, with another 181 new cases reported yesterday. That's the lowest daily figure on record since late March. ○ Another eight deaths pushed the overall toll to 2,527. ○ Testing continues to hit its stride. More than 20,000 samples were processed in Monday's report, marking another milestone: Ontario now has more than one million completed tests under its belt. ○ Less encouraging is the fact that two additional long-term care homes are in outbreak. Sixty-nine homes are currently experiencing an outbreak, two more than the day prior, while 32 homes that were previously deemed "resolved" are

now back on the list of active outbreaks, including Pinecrest in Bobcaygeon, one of the earliest homes ravaged by COVID-19. ○ Beginning Thursday, seniors' homes that are outbreak-free will be allowed to welcome back non-essential visitors.

● The province has reinstated reporting requirements under the Environmental Bill of Rights after suspending them at the beginning of April. The change, which the PCs said would create nimbleness during the pandemic, allowed firms to bypass the public consultation process for projects with environmental impacts. ○ On Monday, Green Leader Mike Schreiner called on the PCs to make public a list of any projects or regulations that were given the go-ahead while the reporting suspension was in effect.

● Outgoing Toronto police chief Mark Saunders and Ontario's special adviser Jamil Jivani are among the names being floated for Ontario's new chief human rights commissioner. Former head Renu Mandhane was recently appointed to the Superior Court of Justice bench. Per the Toronto Star, Attorney General Doug Downey appointed Dr. Jewel Amoah, the only Black (part-time) commissioner on the Ontario Human Rights Commission, late last month. ○ The OHRC, which rings in its 58th anniversary this week, has been investigating allegations of racial profiling and discrimination among Toronto's police force. ○ Earlier this year Downey came under fire for parachuting in a Ford-friendly cop as part-time commissioner despite the fact he never formally applied.

● Stuart Lyon Smith, who led the Ontario Liberal Party against former Tory premier Bill Davis in the 1970s and early 80s, passed away last week. TVO’s obit dubs the Jewish psychiatrist from Montreal “one of the most important figures in Ontario political history that you’ve never heard of.”

● Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries Minister Lisa MacLeod announced Monday that she is embarking on a provincewide tour to demonstrate the safety precautions that hard-hit tourism businesses, such as resorts and walking tours, are taking to keep customers safe during this hot pandemic summer.

News briefs

Ontario moves to require race-based data collection

● The PCs are moving to collect race-based pandemic data, something health experts and community advocates have urged for weeks. Other jurisdictions have used that information to show the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on racialized people.

○ The regulatory proposal "would require the collection of information on race, income level, language, and household size for individuals who test positive for a novel coronavirus, including COVID-19." Individuals can choose not to answer the questions, and data that is provided will be anonymized to protect privacy and shared with researchers that have access to the new Ontario Health Data Platform (formerly known as PANTHR). ○ Health Minister Christine Elliott said the information will inform policies to help slow the spread of the virus and support vulnerable populations. ○ People have less than a week to weigh in by Sunday's deadline. ○ In May, health officials said they were drafting voluntary questions for confirmed patients willing to participate. ○ The move comes as ex-federal health minister Jane Philpott, who the PCs enlisted to help oversee data collection, says Ontario needs to do "much better."

Funding announcements

Putting PPE to the test ● Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli doled out $526,200 to improve testing and certification of PPE, such as medical grade masks, surgical gowns and gloves. Fedeli reiterated the Tories don't want to rely on outside sources for medical equipment and the money will help Ontario become self-sufficient. ○ The government says there is no domestic provider for such comprehensive testing, but using the grant, the Canadian Standards Association Testing & Certification group will be able to add new capacity. ○ The cash is from the $50-million Ontario Together fund for businesses that rejig their operations for pandemic-fighting efforts.

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

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