Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report October 26, 2020

Quotation of the day

“If I am driving and the speed limit's 50 and I am going 70 and I get pulled over, I understand the consequences for that. All we are trying to do is find out what the speed limit is.”

PC MPP Jane McKenna pushes back against possible restrictions in Halton region after ​ ​ ​ ​ hearing from local constituents who want to see the data behind the government's decision-making.

Today at Queen’s Park

Written by Sabrina Nanji

On the schedule The house reconvenes at 9 a.m. for a two-week sitting stint during which Finance Minister Rod ​ Phillips is expected to drop the hotly anticipated full-fledged budget. Phillips has promised to ​ make the legal deadline of November 15 — which falls on a Sunday after a constituency week break, so he could only table the budget between now and November 5, according to the current parliamentary calendar.

PC MPP 's Bill 220, Murray Whetung Community Service Award Act — which ​ ​ ​ ​ honours cadets — is on the order paper this morning.

The government could call any of the following items for second-reading debate in the afternoon:

● Bill 222, Rebuilding and Recovery Act; ​ ● Bill 218, Supporting Ontario's Recovery and Municipal Elections Act; ​ ● Bill 215, Main Street Recovery Act ​ ● Bill 213, Better for People, Smarter for Business Act; and ​ ● Any other private members’ business.

Committees this week Two government appointees headed for the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority board of directors will testify at committee Tuesday morning: Vala Monestime Belter and Peter Harris. ​ ​ ​ ​

Harris is a member of the premier's council on ending hallway health care; Belter is a registered nurse who has held board positions at TVO and the Mattawa Hospital.

The Standing Committee on Estimates will begin its review of the Ministry of Education's 2020-21 expenditure estimates starting tomorrow and Wednesday.

Bill 202, Soldiers Aid Commission Act, is up for a possible makeover during clause-by-clause ​ consideration at the social policy committee starting this morning. Meanwhile, on Wednesday the justice policy committee begins consideration of Bill 168, Combating Antisemitism Act, a ​ ​ co-sponsored PMB from Tories and . ​ ​ ​ ​

Also on Wednesday, the public accounts committee has closed-door report writing sessions scheduled on several sections of last year's auditor general's report.

Premier watch Premier was in Picton Friday alongside Health Minister and local ​ ​ ​ ​ rep, Social Services Minister , to highlight an $8.7-million envelope to support the ​ ​ planning and development of the new Quinte Health Care Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital. The cash is part of the PC’s 10-year, $27-million plan to build and upgrade hospital infrastructure.

Ford said he won’t be getting a flu shot until the current surge in demand is met. “Until every single person in this province, every single senior, has a flu shot, I’m not jumping the line,” he said, comparing the commitment to his summer pledge not to get a haircut until everywhere in the province had entered Stage 3.

PC MPPs want more data to back up future Covid restrictions With Premier Doug Ford poised to give word on whether Halton will join other Covid hot zones ​ ​ in a modified Stage 2 today, his local MPPs are publicly pushing back and demanding more data to justify any rollbacks.

In a letter to Dr. David Williams Saturday, PC parliamentary assistants Jane McKenna ​ ​ ​ (Burlington) and (Milton) called on the top doc "to clearly define the criteria used to ​ ​ determine when further restrictions or rollbacks are required."

Despite the fact Halton's chief medical officer wants to move the region into a modified Stage 2, the MPPs say "there is no evidence" that will have "any meaningful impact" on the case counts — but what's for certain is many people and businesses will suffer financially.

Instead of imposing "blanket" measures, the members are asking the government to target high-risk activities and locations, specifically suggesting limiting travel beyond identified hot spots (currently , Peel, and York Region).

"Without providing specific justification for implementing new restrictions, there is legitimate concern that people will start to ignore public health advice," they wrote.

The letter was co-signed by Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr, Burlington Mayor Marianne ​ ​ ​ Meed Ward and Milton Mayor Gordon Krantz. The trio, alongside Oakville Mayor Rob Burton ​ ​ ​ ​ and Halton Hills Mayor Rick Bonnette, also signed a similar missive addressed directly to ​ ​ Premier Doug Ford. That letter also urges a "targeted approach, backed by conclusive data," ​ ​ instead of full-fledged shutdowns, and says councillors are willing to tighten up high-risk sectors through bylaws.

Sources previously told Queen's Park Today there has been pushback at the cabinet table as ​ ​ ministers have asked for more information to support further restrictions.

Ford has teased the possibility of a clampdown in Halton for days, calling last week's numbers "concerning" and promising to announce next steps, if any, today. The latest 24-hour data shows 31 new Covid cases in Halton, 10 more than the day prior.

Green Leader said Ford should give businesses ample time to prepare for ​ ​ another potential round of restrictions. "Wait-and-see doesn't work for anyone when you're fighting a highly transmissible virus," he said.

'Terror awakened': LTC commissioners drop early recommendations Another report has called on the Ford government to urgently address chronic staffing problems in long-term care amid a second wave of Covid.

Seven weeks into the government's independent investigation into the pandemic's impact in LTC, the commissioners released interim recommendations on Friday, saying they had gleaned ​ ​ enough information and "felt compelled" to give advice on how to protect the homes, 82 of which are currently in outbreak. A final report is still expected by April 30, 2021.

Like other reports before it, including the government's own staffing study from July, the commission underscored the need to fix staffing, including boosting the number of full-time personal support workers and having an appropriate staff mix to meet residents’ complex care needs.

The July staffing study is the "best path forward" and "further 'study' of the study is not necessary. What is required is the study's timely implementation."

That includes "permanent investments" to develop and implement a human resources strategy with a focus on worker retention.

Echoing the staffing report again, the commissioners also called for a minimum daily average of four hours of direct care per resident, which will require more funding to hire more nurses and support staff.

Relationship between hospitals and LTCs should be mandatory They also want the Ministry of Long-Term Care to proactively establish "collaboration models" between higher-risk LTCs (such as those in hot spots) and hospitals, which have been called in to temporarily take over management of harder hit homes.

"There is no need to wait until an outbreak has occurred before a local hospital assists or is compelled to assist a LTC home. Clearly defined supports and surge capacity for each LTC home must be in place and quickly mobilized when an emergency situation arises."

Infection control and prevention measures must also be improved, such as ensuring COVID-positive residents — especially those in older homes — can be transferred to alternate settings to reduce virus spread and help them recover.

"Given that many LTC homes cannot effectively cohort and isolate because of physical infrastructure limitations, each home should work with its hospital, public health partners and others to put plans in place to quickly decant residents to other facilities," the report said.

So far, the commissioners have heard from about 200 individuals and 50 stakeholder organizations. Many witnesses shared "heart-wrenching" accounts, and the commissioners led the interim report with some of the words residents used to describe their experience: "terror awakened," "devastating," "muzzled," "trapped," and "broken-spirited."

In a statement, Long-Term Care Minister defended the government's ​ ​ handling of COVID-19. Fullerton did not commit to implementing any of the commission's recommendations, saying she is "carefully reviewing" them.

Today’s events

October 26 at 1 p.m. – Ontario ​ Premier Doug Ford is expected to hold his daily press conference. ​ ​

October 26 at 3 p.m. – Toronto ​ Chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams and associate CMOH Dr. Barbara Yaffe will ​ ​ ​ ​ provide their regular COVID-19 update in the media studio.

October 26 at 3:30 p.m. – Newmarket ​ The Ontario Federation of Labour, Ontario Nurses' Association and SEIU Healthcare union will rally outside the Southlake Regional Health Centre to call for criminal charges to be laid against management after the mental health hospital pleaded guilty to breaking health and safety laws when two staffers were assaulted by a patient in 2019. More recently, two nurses have reported ​ violent incidents. ​

Topics of conversation

● The province set a single-day record and topped a new milestone with another 1,042 Covid cases reported Sunday. Health officials suggested the scary-high numbers may be linked to Thanksgiving get-togethers two weeks ago, which is also when hot zones entered a modified Stage Two. The one-day spike also seems to poke holes in Dr. ​ David Williams' theory from last week, that the second wave was plateauing around the ​ 700 to 800 level. ○ There were also seven more deaths and about 38,000 tests processed. ○ Eighty-two long-term care homes are now in outbreak, up four from the day prior. ○ The latest data from schools show 72 new infections, with eight in child care settings. ○ Hospitalization numbers continue to climb: at least 278 Covid patients are being cared for in Ontario hospitals (not all hospitals report data on the weekends) and 79 are in the ICU.

● Ontario's labs can now process 50,000 tests a day, but there are still problems with specimen collection and transportation plaguing the network. Speaking to reporters at a tech briefing Friday, health officials said there have been challenges with physically transporting swabs between assessment centres and labs. Back in September, before the school-related testing guidance was changed, specimen collection grew quickly, but transportation and test processing "wasn't ready," said Ontario Health CEO Matt ​ Anderson. Anderson said there is still a global fight for testing supplies, and Ontario will ​ continue to rely on out-of-province processing. ○ Health Minister Christine Elliott has said the goal is to hit 68,000 daily tests by ​ ​ mid-November.

● Long live ranked ballots? London's deputy mayor Jesse Helmer, whose city became the ​ ​ first and only in the province to use ranked balloting in 2018, has launched a petition to ​ ​ save the civic voting option. It had nearly 1,000 signatures as of Sunday evening. ○ Meanwhile, the Ranked Ballot Initiative of Toronto is taking to Twitter to find out where MPPs stand and will designate them as #DemocracyDinosaurs or ​ ​ #ChampionsOfDemocracy.

● Enbridge is sticking a pin in its proposal to run a natural gas pipeline through rural Hamilton, for now. The company withdrew its application from the Ontario Energy Board ​ ​ last week, citing reduced customer demand amid Covid as the reason it will not proceed with the project as proposed. Enbridge says it will reassess in 2021. ○ Environmental advocates have decried the pipeline, which would have gone through environmentally sensitive swamps and creeks.

● TVO looks at the future of intercity bus travel now that the Ford government is poised to deregulate the century-old system via Bill 213. ​ ​ ​

● NDP Leader congratulated her West Coast counterparts and Premier ​ ​ John Horgan, who handily led the B.C. New Democrats to election victory and a ​ majority government on Saturday. Horwath called the results a "strong endorsement" of their plan for a healthy and safe province. ○ Back in Ontario, the NDP also held their provincial council meeting Saturday.

Appointments and employments

Hydro One CEO headed for Ontario Energy Association ● Mark Poweska, president and CEO of Hydro One, has been appointed chair of the ​ ​ ​ Ontario Energy Association's board of directors. Poweska officially takes up the post at the industry-led stakeholder group on January 1, 2021, replacing current head Vince ​ Brescia. ​ ○ Poweska, an engineer and 25-year veteran of BC Hydro, took the reins at Hydro One in May 2019 after an extensive search to replace Mayo Schmidt, the ​ ​ so-called “six-million dollar man.” The utility’s new board has since capped the CEO’s salary at $1.5 million.

Funding announcements

Saving surplus food ● Environment Minister closed out Waste Reduction Week with an ​ ​ announcement of $5 million to help food rescue organizations purchase refrigerated trucks, freezers, storage space and kitchen equipment so they can collect surplus food from grocery stores and restaurants and redistribute to those in need.

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

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