Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report November 20, 2019

Quotation of the day

“They may agree or disagree with me, but every single person in this province knows two things: can’t ​ ​ be bought, and if someone calls Doug Ford to get something fixed, I’ll show up … Mrs. Jones can call me about a pothole, and I’ll show up to her door.”

Responding to the NDP’s allegations of “cash-for-access” in question period, Premier Doug Ford maintained he “can’t be bought” and people can still call him for help — ​ despite cancelling the personal cellphone number he gave out often.

Today at Queen’s Park

On the schedule The house convenes at 9 a.m. The government could call any of the following pieces of legislation for morning and afternoon debate:

● Bill 116, Foundations for Promoting and Protecting Mental Health and Addictions ​ Services Act; ● Bill 136, the Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act; ​ ● Bill 138, Plan to Build Together Act (the corresponding legislation for the Fall ​ Economic Statement); and ● Bill 145, Trust in Real Estate Services Act. ​ ​ ​

PC MPP is expected to table his private member’s bill lifting the pitbull ban this ​ ​ afternoon. He tried to introduce the Public Safety Related to Dogs Statute Law Amendment Act twice this week, but it didn’t make the order paper due to technical errors.

Tuesday’s debates and proceedings MPPs continued second-reading debate on Bill 136 before the morning’s question period. ​ ​

In the afternoon, Government and Consumer Services Minister Lisa Thompson tabled Bill 145, ​ ​ ​ ​ Trust in Real Estate Services Act, which would beef up rules for the real estate sector. (More on this below.)

NDP MPP Judith Monteith-Farrell tabled a private member’s bill. Bill 144, Northern Health ​ ​ ​ ​ Travel Grant Advisory Committee, would establish an advisory group to look into improving access to health services in northern Ontario.

Finance Minister Rod Phillips kicked off second reading of Bill 138, legislation pertaining to the ​ ​ ​ ​ Fall Economic Statement.

In the park Wounds , Advocis, the Ontario Basic Income Group and Ontario Agencies Supporting Individuals with Special Needs are all scheduled to hold lobby days and receptions.

Government House Leader held a “public hanging” for his predecessors’ ​ ​ ​ ​ portraits, featuring PC and Liberal , earlier this week. ​ ​ ​ ​

Premier watch On Tuesday, Premier Doug Ford addressed the Canadian Council for Public-Private ​ ​ Partnerships conference at the Sheraton Centre. The premier also spoke at the Mortgage Professionals Canada’s national conference Monday night.

Infrastructure Minister Laurie Scott (or, as Ford called her in his speech, the “Minister of Happy ​ ​ Days”) was at the P3 conference to shed more light on the environmental assessment changes ​ ​ announced in the Fall Economic Statement, which she said will only apply to GTA transit projects, per HuffPost. ​ ​

Today is Ford’s 55th birthday.

PCs spent $231M to rip up green energy products, docs show The Ford government forked out $231 million to scrap over 750 renewable energy contracts.

The NDP revealed the sticker price in Tuesday’s question period, pointing to a line in the 2018-19 public accounts for “other transactions” in the Ministry of Energy. The Opposition then followed up with the legislature’s library, which confirmed the $231 million cost of winding down the contracts.

“The Ford government was clearly just making stuff up again when it claimed that ripping up green energy contracts wouldn’t cost Ontario families,” Energy critic charged. ​ ​

The PCs cancelled the contracts last summer, weeks after taking office, and said the move was expected to save ratepayers $790 million.

Associate Energy Minister Bill Walker defended the cost and blamed the contracts drafted by ​ ​ the previous Grit rulers.

“They allowed these contracts to be written stringently [so] that at the end of the day these companies do have the ability to come back and ask for costs, “ Walker told reporters.

He also confirmed the $231 million earmarked for cancelling the contracts, including the controversial White Pines project in Prince Edward County, would be footed by taxpayers — not hydro ratepayers.

Premier Doug Ford campaigned on killing the green energy contracts, a popular proposal in ​ ​ PC-friendly rural ridings. Despite the sky-high cost of keeping the promise, it still pales in comparison to the $1 billion the Liberals were forced to spend to keep ex-premier Dalton ​ McGuinty’s 2011 campaign promise to scrap two gas plants in key Liberal ridings in ​ Mississauga and Oakville — a move that led to his political undoing.

Walker brushed off Tabuns’ comparison to the Grits’ gas plants scandal.

PCs propose 9-month extension for water bottling moratorium The Ford government is proposing to extend the moratorium on water bottling permits by nine months, kicking the can to October 1, 2020.

Extending the moratorium on new and expanded permits would give the government more time to complete its analysis of a review into the policies and science used to manage water takings, according to the proposal posted to the environmental registry Monday. ​ ​

It would also give the PCs more time to consult the public. “This way, we can be confident our programs, policies and science protect vital water resources while keeping Ontario open for business,” the proposal states.

The PCs initially extended the Liberals’ moratorium last year, to January 1, 2020. Nestlé ​ purchased a well in Centre Wellington in 2016 that the township had also bid on for its drinking water supply, which spurred criticism that led the former Grit rulers to introduce the moratorium.

Advocacy organization Environmental Defence called the extra nine months “good news.”

“Ontario needs to have modern water taking policies that prioritize Ontario’s groundwater for communities and safeguard water quantity for generations to come,” Kelsey Scarfone, the ​ ​

group’s water program manager, said in a statement that lauded the Ford government for listening to the community.

Green Leader said the Tories are “doing the right thing” and called on ​ ​ Environment Minister to release the results of the review ahead of the deadline. ​ ​

“It would be reckless and irresponsible to allow multinational companies to extract millions of litres of additional water per day without protecting our long-term water supply first,” Schreiner said. “As it stands, our regulations do not prioritize water for public use, even as water is coming under increasing strain from the climate crisis.”

Nestlé Waters Canada president Adam Graves welcomed the extension, saying the company ​ ​ ​ ​ has “always agreed that new water bottling permits should be issued only when the science demonstrates a clear commitment to the health and sustainability of watersheds.”

The public has until December 17 to weigh in on the proposal.

Today’s events

November 20 at 9 a.m. – Etobicoke ​ Premier Doug Ford, Health Minister and Seniors Minister will ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ make an announcement at the Rexdale Community Health Centre.

November 20 at 9:30 a.m. – ​

The Ontario Good Roads Association will be in the Queen’s Park media studio to call on the Ford government to adopt a Vision Zero road safety policy and create a stakeholder working group to implement it.

November 20 at 10 a.m. – Toronto ​ NDP MPP and CUPE members will discuss government cuts to the child ​ ​ welfare sector in the media studio.

November 20 at 1 p.m. – Toronto ​ Independent MPP will provide an update on his constitutional challenge of ​ ​ ​ campaign finance law and fundraising rules, which the ex-PC says favour partisan candidates. ​

November 20 at 1:30 p.m. – ​ Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s new cabinet will be sworn in at Rideau Hall. MPs were sworn ​ ​ in Tuesday.

Topics of conversation

● Private companies are poised to join the government’s pot peddling business. The Ontario Cannabis Store is giving the green light to a “hybrid” wholesale model that will allow the private sector to take part in storing and distributing cannabis. The Financial ​ Post has the scoop. ​ ​

● Ontario’s French-language teachers have RSVPed non to Education Minister Stephen ​ ​ ​ Lecce’s invitation to enter mediation, saying the union and government are too far apart ​ ​ in contract talks.

● Metrolinx is weighing two options for the future of the UP Express airport train. According to documents unearthed by the Toronto Star, the transit agency says the future ​ ​ ​ sustainability of the train will require either hiking fares to target airport business travellers and deter local commuters, or leaning into commuter traffic by retrofitting stations on the line to accommodate standard GO trains. The Star says the latter ​ ​ approach seems more likely.

● Over 100 changes are coming to the Ontario Securities Commission that will save companies $8 million a year, the Financial Post reports. ​ ​ ​ ​

● The Toronto District School Board is axing its Kindergarten Intervention Program, according to Global News. NDP Education critic said killing the special ​ ​ ​ needs program “abandons little ones that obviously need early intervention” and is “scary” for parents and “everyone else in the classroom that won’t have the supports to help these kids.”

○ A source that spoke to Global said students, who could display violent behaviour, will go from a student-teacher ratio of 2:5 to 2:30.

News briefs — governmental

New PC bill modernizing real estate services lauded by industry ● A new government bill will modernize the rules and ethical requirements for registered real estate brokers and agents; reduce red tape; and enhance the enforcement powers of the Real Estate Council of Ontario, allowing it to levy fines against agents and brokers who break the rules. ○ Bill 145, Trust in Real Estate Services Act, introduced by Government and ​ Consumer Services Minister Lisa Thompson on Tuesday, will also allow real ​ ​ estate agents and brokers to incorporate, a provision the industry has been eyeing for years because of the tax and legal benefits. ○ — who tabled the current real estate regulatory bill when he was a ​ PC minister in 2001 and has been lobbying the government to amend it as CEO of the Ontario Real Estate Association — called the introduction of the new bill a ​ ​ “historic day.” The Real Estate Council of Ontario also gave it a thumbs-up.

Question period NDP lead-off ‘Union thugs’ ● NDP co-deputy leader took the lead for the Opposition with a string of ​ ​ questions related to education policy and labour negotiations. She accused Premier Doug Ford of being “desperate to pick a fight” with teacher unions, pointing out he ​ previously called them “union thugs.” She asked Ford to apologize.

● The premier kicked the question to Education Minister , who said the ​ ​ government stands with front-line teachers, citing his push for mediation in ongoing contract talks this week as an example.

Exclusive $20K dinners with Ford

● NDP Ethics critic asked about ’s report on ​ ​ ​ ​ executives that paid $20,000 at last year’s Toronto police chief’s charity event auction for an exclusive dinner with the premier. Natyshak pointed out Ford dined with real estate developer Sam Mizrahi. The next day Mizrahi emailed Ford’s then-chief of staff to line ​ ​ up another meeting to discuss the government’s redevelopment of Ontario Place. ○ “Speaker, this is concerning for the thousands of Ontarians who can’t spare $20,000 to meet with the premier, and it raises serious questions about who is meeting with the premier and why. Will the premier provide a full list to the public

and the integrity commissioner of every person who has paid money to meet with him?” he wanted to know.

● A visibly rattled Ford said “that’s probably one of the most disgusting comments I’ve ever heard down here in the house.” ○ “What he doesn’t know is that it was at the Chief’s Gala and it was for victim services, for victims of crime. They came up to me last minute and said, ‘Do you want to auction off a dinner?’ There is no lobbying. People don’t have to lobby Doug Ford. Mrs. Jones can call me about a pothole, and I’ll show up to her door.”

○ The comment earned him a standing ovation from the PC benches.

Independent questions $1M tender to help cut costs in developmental services sector

● Liberal John Fraser asked about the reported $1-million envelope the ​ ​ PCs were willing to pay a third-party consultant to help find ways to tamp down costs in the developmental services sector.

● Social Services Minister Todd Smith defended the offer, saying the government is “not ​ ​ getting the results that we should be getting” from its developmental services programs. ○ “That’s why we’ve gone out and hired this second set of eyes to look at the sector. They’ve done a jurisdictional scan to look at best practices in other states, in other provinces, in other countries where they are actually building the supports necessary, while at the same the government, myself and my team are working with our partners in the sector to ensure that we’re getting the results that we want.”

Cutting online classes ● Liberal MPP asked if the PCs would walk back the decision requiring ​ ​ four online course credits for high school kids to graduate, in light of research showing it hinders learning and a student-led survey suggesting 95 per cent of Ontario pupils oppose it.

PC friendly questions Tory backbenchers asked their ministers about infrastructure and health funding, the recently revamped Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, changes to real estate services and the $7-million package to help municipalities run audits to suss out savings.

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

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