Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report January 20, 2020

Quotation of the day

“We treated her absolutely phenomenal, by the way.”

Premier says he has no regrets over how the PCs treated former PC MPP turned ​ ​ Grit . ​ ​

Today at Queen’s Park

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

Committees this week Pre-budget consultations hit the road this week after kicking off at Queen’s Park last Friday. The Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs will be in Sioux Lookout today, then heads to Thunder Bay, Belleville, Kitchener-Waterloo, and wraps up in Niagara Falls on Friday.

Last week, the Hospital Association’s Anthony Dale told the committee that this ​ ​ spring’s budget must earmark $922 million to help cure hospital overcrowding. The Star ​ has that story. ​

The same day, OPSEU president Warren “Smokey” Thomas complained that the PC MPPs ​ ​ on the committee didn’t ask him any questions during his testimony.

“In all my years presenting to this vital committee, I have never seen the government members boycott the question-and-answer portion of a presentation,” Thomas charged, calling their perceived behaviour “an unforgivable attack on a democratic process.”

Meanwhile, , parliamentary assistant to Finance Minister Rod Phillips, will host a ​ ​ ​ ​ tandem pre-budget consultation at the local legion in Kingston today.

The justice policy committee is touring the government’s legislation overhauling Tarion, the province’s home warranty agency — Bill 159, Rebuilding Consumer Confidence Act — with ​ ​ hearings in Brampton, Windsor and this week.

Premier watch Premier Doug Ford maintains the Progressive Conservatives treated Amanda Simard ​ ​ ​ “absolutely phenomenal” when she sat on the government benches.

“I just wish her all the best,” Ford said in response to a reporter’s question during an infrastructure funding announcement on Friday.

“We’re going to continue working hard in her riding representing her constituents … We look forward to winning that riding in the next election,” the premier said of Glengarry—Prescott— Russell, where in 2018 Simard became the first Tory representative since 1999.

The riding is now back in the hands of its longtime Liberal caretakers after Simard joined the ranks of her former partisan rivals last Thursday. The rookie MPP quit the PC caucus to sit as an Independent more than a year ago over controversial cuts to French-language services, some of which have been reversed in the wake of public backlash.

Simard had also complained that her government made the sweeping changes without properly consulting or informing her while she was parliamentary assistant to Minister of Francophone Affairs . ​ ​

Simard said last week she didn’t believe that’s how the province should be run, and that she’s looking to the Liberals — who will pick their next leader via delegated convention on March 7 — as part of “the party of the future.”

The premier was at a sports performance centre in Parry Sound alongside Infrastructure Minister Laurie Scott and local MPP (who happened to be celebrating his ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ birthday) to dole out $200 million in grants for 424 small, rural and northern communities to build ​ and repair roads, bridges and other infrastructure. The cash comes from the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund, which the PCs have reduced by $100 million since taking office.

Ford also attended a Vietnamese Lunar New Year festival in Mississauga Friday evening, according to social media.

Back-to-back teacher strikes hit elementary, secondary and Catholic schools this week Parents across the province will be impacted by another week of labour woes on the education front.

Starting today, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario begins rotating strikes in Toronto, York Region and Ottawa-Carleton school boards, then hit the picket lines in Grand

Erie, Trillium Lakelands, Renfrew and Superior-Greenstone on Tuesday and in Rainy River and Thames Valley on Wednesday.

ETFO also gave the required five-day notice for strike action impacting the Bluewater and Ontario North East boards this Friday if a deal can’t be reached with the provincial government and school board associations.

On Tuesday, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association will stage a provincewide walkout and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation will strike at over a dozen boards.

Meanwhile, there’s been a precipitous uptake in Education Minister ’s cashback ​ ​ for child care program, with more than 51,000 families applying for the subsidy as of last Thursday.

Lecce has promised up to $60 a day for parents who may be scrambling to find alternative child care if strike action closes their schools.

While Premier Doug Ford has said he considers back-to-work legislation “the last step,” the ​ ​ CBC has unpacked the typically meandering path to legislating a contract for teachers. ​

Ford also told reporters last week he hears from parents who feel union brass are holding them “hostage” during rocky negotiations — but an internal Environics poll commissioned by OSSTF shows teachers are winning families over. CTV Toronto’s got the scoop. ​ ​

Today’s events

January 20 starting at 8:45 a.m. – Toronto ​ The premier and several ministers are on deck at the annual Rural Ontario Municipal Association conference taking place at the Sheraton Centre Hotel this week. ● Health Minister leads with remarks Monday morning, followed by ​ ​ Agriculture Minister and Premier Doug Ford at 9:30 a.m. ​ ​ ​ ​ ● Finance Minister Rod Phillips is up around lunchtime and Municipal Affairs Minister ​ ​ Steve Clark takes the stage later in the afternoon. ​ ● The day closes out with a “bear pit” style question-and-answer session with all cabinet ministers (excluding Lisa MacLeod, and associate minister Kinga ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Surma). ​ ● NDP Leader will also speak in the afternoon. ​ ​

January 20 at 7 p.m. – Ottawa ​ The will hold another one of its six leadership debates at the Carleton Heights Community Centre.

Topics of conversation

● The Ford government is stripping the powers of the province’s independent recycling authority in charge of holding electronic and household hazardous waste producers to account, following a recent lobbying push by some of those producers. According to a report from the Toronto Star, Environment Minister said the changes to the ​ ​ ​ ​ Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA) were prompted by the desire to reduce “red tape,” something industry lobbyists had aired grievances about. ○ However, an association representing tire producers, the only industry to fully transition to RPRA oversight, told the Star it doesn’t want the RPRA weakened, ​ ​ and a tire recycling firm said it hasn’t experienced problems with “red tape.”

● Liberal leadership candidate Steven Del Duca, frontrunner in the race to replace ​ ​ , is sitting pretty with 2,441 delegate candidates in his camp. This gives ​ Del Duca an edge as he has more people running under his banner than there are spots available; 2,092 delegates will be elected to help pick the next Grit captain on March 7. ○ took to social media Saturday to claim 1,100 delegate ​ contenders. The nomination deadline was Friday. ○ Each of the 124 ridings will send 16 delegates to the convention in Mississauga, and those delegates will be obligated to vote for their candidate, as supported by the riding association, on the first ballot. Members of the riding associations will vote for their delegates and candidates on February 8 and 9. ○ There are also many delegate slots reserved for former and sitting Liberal politicians who automatically get “ex-officio” status and a vote on the convention floor. ○ OLP is expected to release the delegate candidates for each leadership campaign early this week, party insiders say.

News briefs

PCs to make spring black bear hunt permanent ● The Ford government is proposing to make the spring black bear hunting season a regular event in Ontario. The PCs are moving to implement a five-year pilot program that expires this spring by allowing the hunt of black bears in certain areas between May 1 and June 15 of each year. ○ Because the Bruce Peninsula has experienced declines in the black bear population, the proposed spring hunt will be shortened by a week in that region. “Research indicates that there has been a decline in bear numbers and that human-caused mortality should be reduced to support sustainability of this genetically isolated population,” especially when it comes to female bears, the

government’s proposal states. Harvesting bear cubs and female bears accompanied by their cubs will remain illegal. ○ Natural Resources Minister said hunters and the tourism ​ ​ industry expressed concern about economic uncertainty over the fate of the spring hunt. “A regular, monitored spring bear hunting season would enable tourism outfitters and camp owners to better plan their operations for the entire year, while also allowing hunters to better plan their activities and support local businesses.” ○ But Green Leader said any decision on a permanent spring hunt ​ ​ “must be based on science and must have the consent of” First Nations, scientists and conservationists, “groups that Ford continuously fails to mention.” ○ “Hunting of any species cannot be driven purely by economic interests and should only be considered if the population is healthy,” Schreiner said, noting the PCs already loosened hunting restrictions on wolves and coyotes last year. ○ People have until February 18 to weigh in.

Ontario eyeing changes to immigrant nominee program ● The Ford government is considering changes to the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program that expand the types of jobs that low-to-semi-low skilled immigrants can qualify to enter the province to work in. The idea is to help fill labour shortages in the agricultural, construction and industrial processing industries beyond the Greater Toronto Area. ○ The amendments would also introduce annual caps on the number of foreign workers and international students employers can hire in relation to the number of full-time workers they already employ. ○ Employers within the GTA can submit one application for every five permanent and full-time workers they employ, while employers outside the GTA can submit one for every three permanent staff. ○ The regulatory proposal is up for public comment until March 2. ​ ​

Mulroney releases draft plan for southwestern regional transit ● Instead of the $20-billion Liberal-era high speed rail corridor linking Windsor to Toronto, Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney’s draft transit plan for southwestern Ontario ​ ​ envisions better public transit and the possibility of connecting existing VIA Rail lines with GO train services. Mulroney released the 24-page, 40-point document, “Connecting the Southwest,” along with a survey for public feedback that is open until March 17. A report ​ ​ on the findings is expected in May.

Funding announcements

● The provincial and federal governments are teaming up to build 43 affordable housing units in Owen Sound. The $6.2-million project will receive funding from the

Canada-Ontario Community Housing Initiative and the Ontario Priorities Housing Initiative. It is the third phase of a larger provincial-national housing development in the city. Construction begins this spring. ○ Bill Walker, Owen Sound-area MPP and associate minister of energy, made the ​ announcement alongside Adam Vaughan, federal minister in charge of the ​ ​ Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, last Friday.

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

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