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

Quotation of the day

“Extensive, profound and seemingly without precedent in Canada.”

Two dissenting judges suggest Toronto’s civic democracy suffered as a result of the Ford government’s mid-election council-cutting legislation. The judges were overruled by three others in a Court of Appeal decision that found the province’s move was constitutional.

Today at Queen’s Park

On the schedule The House is in extended summer recess until Monday, October 28.

In the park The Ontario Disability Coalition will hold a demonstration on the legislature’s grounds this morning to share experiences of the disability community and call for more support from the Ford government.

Marie-France Lalonde wins federal Liberal nomination in Orléans And then there were five. On Thursday evening Liberal MPP Marie-France Lalonde was given ​ ​ the nod to run for the federal Liberals in the October 21 election after winning a nomination vote in the riding of Orléans.

That means Lalonde will have to resign her seat at Queen’s Park, bringing the Grit caucus down to five and triggering a byelection in the same area she’s represented since 2014, as the rules don’t allow sitting MPPs to be federal election candidates.

Lalonde took a shot at Premier Doug Ford in her victory speech, tying him to his federal ​ ​ Conservative cousins — something the Liberals have done often out on the stump. “They will take us down the same path Premier Ford has taken Ontario — the only people they help are themselves and their friends.”

The other leading contender was Khatera Akbari, riding association president and accountant. ​ ​

The nomination meeting was not without controversy. Sources in attendance told Queen’s Park ​ Today about 300 people who showed up to vote were turned away due to membership ​ irregularities.

The Toronto Star previously reported Ford would call tandem byelections for the same day in ​ ​ ​ the ridings of Orléans and Ottawa—Vanier — both Grit strongholds — the latter of which was put into play when Nathalie Des Rosiers resigned to take a principal role at Massey College. ​ ​ Ford would have to call Ottawa—Vanier by February and Orléans by March.

Court of Appeal delivers strong dissent in ruling PC’s council-cutting move constitutional Ontario’s top court has sided with the Ford government in ruling its controversial Toronto council-cutting legislation constitutional, overturning an earlier decision from a lower court.

In a split 3-2 decision released Thursday, the Court of Appeal determined the city’s case could ​ ​ not succeed because its arguments were “framed as a matter of protecting freedom of expression” — but in reality, concerned the timing of the province’s change to the composition of council weeks ahead of the scheduled municipal vote.

The change was “undeniably within the legitimate authority of the legislature,” the court found.

“The frustration of candidates in facing altered electoral circumstances — unanticipated rivals, losing allies, and needing to reach new voters — did not prevent them from saying anything they wished to say about matters in issue in the election or in promoting their candidacies. The submissions of the City and some of the intervenors make the error of implausibly characterizing every negative impact on the candidates as an interference with expression.”

In the middle of Toronto’s municipal election campaign last year, the Ford government’s Bill 5, ​ ​ Better Local Government Act, took effect, slashing the number of council seats from 47 to 25.

City Hall successfully challenged the province in a lower court, which found the law unconstitutional because it violated candidates’ and voters’ right to free expression. At the time, Premier Doug Ford had threatened to use the notwithstanding clause to override the court, if ​ ​ necessary. The ruling was eventually stayed pending the outcome of the appeal, which allowed the election to go ahead under the 25-ward system.

But Thursday’s decision included a strong dissenting opinion from two judges on the panel.

“The actions taken by Ontario to secure that result left a trail of devastation of basic democratic principles in its wake,” they wrote.

“By extinguishing almost half of the city’s existing wards midway through an active election, Ontario blew up the efforts, aspirations and campaign materials of hundreds of aspiring candidates, and the reciprocal engagement of many informed voters. This infringement of [Section 2(b) of the Charter] was extensive, profound, and seemingly without precedent in Canadian history.”

The Attorney General’s office says it’s “pleased” the Court of Appeal ruled in its favour, but would not weigh in on the possibility of Toronto making an appeal to the Supreme Court.

Toronto Mayor John Tory, who spoke out against the council cut, reiterated Thursday the ​ ​ changes were “unfair, unnecessary and unprecedented.”

“You don’t just change the rules of an election in the middle of an election,” he said in a statement.

Tory said the city will review the decision but fell short of committing outright to appealing it to the country’s top court. He noted council previously directed the city’s solicitor to seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court in the event Ontario won the appeal at the provincial level.

“We gave this direction because the way the Province went about changing the size of Toronto’s Council was — and remains — wrong,” the mayor added.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath accused the Ford government of making “a reckless, ​ ​ irresponsible and anti-democratic decision to undermine elections in the City of Toronto” and took the opportunity to pump up her proposed legislation to ensure “the province does not ride roughshod over local-decision making.”

Her private member’s bill, Bill 121, Municipal Representation and Restructuring Protection Act, ​ ​ would force provincial rulers to hold public consultations and get approval from municipal governments before making any changes to their structure.

Horwath has previously acknowledged the legislation, if it passes, could easily be overturned by future governments, and that more meaningful changes may require constitutional amendments.

Today’s events

September 20 at 9:45 a.m. — Barrie ​ Natural Resources Minister John Yakabuski will address a Barrie Chamber of Commerce ​ ​ event about improving aggregate resources management. His parliamentary assistant, Mike ​ Harris Jr., and area MPPs Doug Downey and Andrea Khanjin will also attend. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

September 20 at 10:15 a.m. — Vaughan ​ Ontario’s Chief Human Rights Commissioner Renu Mandhane will release the commission’s ​ ​ new policy and recommendations for eliminating racial profiling in law enforcement. She will present the policy to senior police leaders at the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police.

September 20 at 10:45 a.m. — Ohio ​ Premier Doug Ford is in Ohio today to attend the annual North American Strategy for ​ ​ Competitiveness Continental Reunion conference, and will meet with key business leaders and politicians. That includes a U.S.-Canada-themed fireside chat with Alberta Premier Jason ​ Kenney and a meeting with State Governor Mike DeWine to talk “shared priorities.” ​ ​ ​

September 20 at 11 a.m. — St. Thomas ​ Health Minister Christine Elliott and Environment Minister Jeff Yurek will make an ​ ​ ​ ​ announcement at Pinafore Park.

September 20 at 12:30 p.m. — New York ​ NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is heading to New York to participate in the United for Climate ​ ​ Justice Conference, hosted by the Foundation for European Progressive Studies. Horwath will take part in Climate Strike NYC Friday and a panel discussion on Saturday morning. New York City is allowing the city’s 1.1 million students to miss class to participate in the march.

Topics of conversation

● Premier Doug Ford’s approval rating has slipped to 26 per cent, the lowest among all of ​ ​ the country’s first ministers, suggests a fresh public-opinion survey from DART ​ Communications. That’s a 14-point dip from 18 months ago based on the pollsters’ ​ quarterly approval ratings of the premiers.

● The union representing Ontario’s Catholic school board teachers is accusing the Ford government of “pre-empting” contract negotiations by announcing changes to class sizes, effectively violating labour laws and their collective bargaining rights. The Toronto ​ Star unearthed the complaint from the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association to ​ ​ the labour relations board.

News briefs — governmental

Ministry of Health ● Health Minister Christine Elliott and Treasury Board President Peter Bethlenfalvy ​ ​ ​ were in Uxbridge Thursday to announce $500,000 in funding for the capital planning stage of Markham Stouffville Hospital’s redevelopment of its aging Uxbridge site.

○ The current Uxbridge hospital was built in 1959 and will be demolished in favour of a new building.

Lobbyist registrations

If you are looking for further information on any lobbying registry, it is all public and easily searchable here. ​ ​

Consultants who registered as lobbyists from September 13, 2019 – September 19, 2019

● Jaskaran Sandhu, Crestview Strategy ​ ​ ​ o Clients: Intact Financial Corporation ​

● Henry Boyd, Stosic & Associates ​ ​ ​ o Clients: AV Cannabis Inc., Asahi Breweries ​

● Alan Heisey, Papazian Heisey Myers ​ o Clients: 2636676 Ontario Inc ​

● Alan Young, TACTIX Government Relations and Public Affairs Inc., ​ o Clients: Honda Canada Inc. ​

● Rob Leone, Earnscliffe Ontario Inc ​ ​ ​ o Clients: CLAC, CUPE Ontario (Canadian Union of Public Employees) ​

● Laura Greer, Hill+Knowlton Strategies ​ o Clients: Bellwood Health Services ​

● Laura Kobsa, Laura Kobsa ​ ​ ​ o Clients: Insurance Bureau of Canada ​

● Jeff Bolichowski, Armstrong Communications Inc. ​ o Clients: Vocational Rehabilitation Alliance of Canada ​

● William Pristanski, Prospectus Associates ​ o Clients: SmartCentres ​

● Yan Plante, TACT Intelligence-conseil ​ o Clients: Portage Program for Drug Dependencies Inc. ​

● Jeffrey Bangs, Pathway Group Inc. ​ o Clients: North York Rehabilitation Centre Corp. ​

● Aaron Scheewe, The Capital Hill Group Inc. ​

o Clients: Pegah ​

● Richard Anderson, Earnscliffe Strategy Group ​ o Clients: Eli Lilly Canada Inc. ​

● Michael Keegan, Michael Keegan & Associates ​ o Clients: Western Fair District ​

● Scott Munnoch, Temple Scott Associates Inc. ​ o Clients: FVTix ​

● Fraser Macdonald, Stosic & Associates ​ o Clients: Ontario Psychological Association and Omni Health Care ​

● Hannah Casey, Santis Health ​ o Clients: Ontario Long Term Care Association ​

● Donald Gracey, CG Management & Communications Inc. ​ o Clients: College of Medical Laboratory Technologists of Ontario ​

● Elizabeth Magnusson, Boston Consulting Group, Inc. ​ o Clients: Labatt Brewing Company Limited ​

● Daniel Bordonali, Sutherland Corporation Limited ​ ​ ​ o Clients: Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE Local 905) ​

● Matthew Henley, Wellington Dupont ​ o Clients: Boehringer Ingelheim, ParcelPal ​

● Joanne Dobson, Summa Strategies ​ o Clients: Google Canada Corporation ​

● David Sword, dps360 ​ o Clients: Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission ​

● Nancy Abbey, NewProspex Healthcare Consulting ​ o Clients: Shouldice Hospital ​

● John Matheson, Saad Baig, Lindsay Aagaard and Daniel Brock, Fasken Martineau ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ DuMoulin LLP o Clients: K+S Windsor Salt Ltd. ​

● Imran Amin, John Duffy and John Penner, StrategyCorp Inc. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ o Clients: MTR Corporation Limited ​

● Giancarlo Drennan and Bliss Baker, Maple Leaf Strategies ​ ​ ​ o Clients: TruGreen ​

● Mark Olsheski, Sussex Strategy Group ​ o Clients: Association of Major Power Consumers in Ontario (AMPCO), Atlantic ​ Power Corporation, Gerdau

● Kenneth Stewart, The Capital Hill Group Inc. ​ o Clients: SailPoint Technologies, Inc. ​

● Patrick Tuns, Upstream Strategy Group ​ o Clients: Triage Technologies Inc. ​

● David Angus, The Capital Hill Group Inc. ​ o Clients: SAS Institute (Canada) Inc. ​

● Bonnie Hiltz, Sussex Strategy Group Inc. ​ o Clients: ITC Holdings Corp. ​

● Jared Burke, Loyalist Public Affairs ​ o Clients: Altea Real Estate Holdings (Ontario) Inc. ​

● Dan Mader, Loyalist Public Affairs ​ o Clients: Altea Real Estate Holdings (Ontario) Inc., Winery and Grower Alliance of ​ Ontario (WGAO), Humane Canada

● Jill Wilson, Loyalist Public Affairs ​ o Clients: Altea Real Estate Holdings (Ontario) Inc., Humane Canada ​

● Peter Curtis, Pathway Group Inc. ​ o Clients: Emera Incorporated ​

● Andrew Brander, Crestview Strategy ​ o Clients: Right To Play International, Association of Canadian Distillers/Spirits ​ Canada, CropLife Canada, Amazon Corporate LLC

● Frank Klees, Klees & Associates Ltd. ​ o Clients: ST&J Retail Corporation ​

● Andrew Boddington, Policy Concepts Inc. ​ o Clients: Advanced Energy Management Alliance ​

● Adria Minsky, Maple Leaf Strategies ​ ​ ​ o Clients: TruGreen ​

● Jared Burke, Loyalist Public Affairs ​ o Clients: Humane Canada ​ ​ ​

● Devan Sommerville, Caroline Pinto and Philip Dewan, Counsel Public Affairs Inc. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ o Clients: Isologic Innovative Radiopharmaceuticals Ltd. ​

● Daniel Moulton, Crestview Strategy ​ o Clients: Live Nation Canada, Inc., Opus One Energy Solutions Corporation ​

● Alex Chreston, Crestview Strategy ​ o Clients: CropLife Canada ​

● Ryan Singh, Temple Scott Associates Inc. ​ o Clients: Scleroderma Society of Ontario ​

● Alex Simakov, Sussex Strategy Group ​ o Clients: Atlantic Power Corporation ​

● Celine Chang, Crestview Strategy ​ o Clients: Tilray Inc ​

● Kenneth Stewart, The Capital Hill Group Inc. ​ o Clients: VMware Canada Inc. ​

● Lisa Kinsella and Rob Gilmour, The Daisy Group ​ ​ ​ o Clients: LiUNA Local 183 ​

● Warren Kinsella, Daisy Consulting Group ​ o Clients: Township of North Glengarry ​

● Scott Munnoch, Temple Scott Associates Inc. ​ o Clients: Scleroderma Society of Ontario ​

Organizations that registered in-house lobbyists from September 13, 2019 – September 19

● CAAT Pension Plan ● Ontario Forest Industries Association - Home of CLA Grading and Inspection ● Colleges Ontario ● Ontario Athletic Therapist Association ● Consumer Health Products Canada ● Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation ● Toronto Region Board of Trade ● Mortgage and Title Insurance Industry Association of Canada ● Mechanical Contractors Association of Ontario ● Unifor ● Ontario Pharmacists’ Association ● Family Service of Ontario ● Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters ● CNIB Deafblind Community Services ● Canada’s National Brewers ● Canadian Fuels Association ● Receivables Management Association of Canada (RMA) ● Ontario Trial Lawyers Association

● Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario ● Hydro One Limited ● TELUS Communications Company ● Becton Dickinson Canada Inc. ● Meridian Credit Union ● LifeLabs ● Hydro One Networks Inc. ● IBM Canada Limited ● General Motors of Canada Company ● Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) ● Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec

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

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