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“I Want to Wish the Premier a Speedy Recovery. by My Count, I Think This Is the Fourth Time You’Ve Hit the Roof.”

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“I Want to Wish the Premier a Speedy Recovery. by My Count, I Think This Is the Fourth Time You’Ve Hit the Roof.” Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report February 21, 2020 Quotation of the day “I want to wish the premier a speedy recovery. By my count, I think this is the fourth time you’ve hit the roof.” Liberal Interim Leader John Fraser jokes about Premier Doug Ford’s response to #Plategate: ​ ​ ​ ​ “You almost had to peel me off the roof! I was so frustrated with 3M" — similar to the reaction he gave to the PC’s flawed gas pump stickers and Dean French appointing his niece and lacrosse ​ ​ buddy to plum government positions. Today at Queen’s Park On the schedule The house is adjourned until Monday, February 24. Thursday’s debates and proceedings Bill 156, Security From Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act, was up for second-reading ​ debate in the morning and afternoon. Two backbench bills cleared second reading on voice votes and were sent to the committee stage during the afternoon’s private members’ debates: ● Independent MPP Randy Hillier’s Bill 162, Public Accountability and Lobbyist ​ ​ ​ ​ Transparency Act — which beefs up transparency and accountability measures around lobbying — was referred to the committee of the whole. ● PC MPP Vincent Ke’s Bill 163, Food Day Ontario Act, will go under the microscope at ​ ​ ​ ​ the Standing Committee on General Government. In the park The Queen’s Park lawn will be packed today with local teachers from all four of the province’s education unions planning a protest on the grounds to coincide with the day’s historic walkout. Legislative security is preparing for up to 30,000 attendees. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath will ​ ​ be in tow. Premier watch On Thursday, Premier Doug Ford participated in a teleconference with his provincial and ​ ​ territorial counterparts and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The call was scheduled so the ​ ​ leaders could discuss the ongoing protest actions across Canada in support of Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs who oppose the Coastal GasLink pipeline route that runs through their territory in British Columbia. PCs to replace faulty licence plates, still rolling them out The Ford government says the new licence plates that are difficult to read at night will be replaced once the problem is fixed with manufacturer 3M Canada. “An enhanced licence plate is currently in development, which we expect to be available in less than 3 weeks, as per 3M Canada’s assurance,” Government and Consumer Services Minister Lisa Thompson said in a statement Thursday. ​ The government says it expects 3M to foot the bill for the replacement plates, which will be mailed out to those who received a new plate. In the meantime, the flawed plates — of which 218,000 have been produced and 49,000 issued — will continue to roll out. Earlier, PC house leader Paul Calandra acknowledged there are blue-on-white plates still in ​ ​ stock, but the government doesn’t want to revert back to the old version. Opposition parties have demanded the government stop handing out the defective plates in the interest of public safety. MADD Canada, safety experts and police have also raised concerns. But Thompson’s statement assured “the current plate does not pose a risk to public safety.” Thompson told the house that morning that Premier Doug Ford has spoken to the president of ​ ​ 3M three times “seeking an immediate solution to the issues that have been identified with their product.” “We’re extremely frustrated and, quite frankly, disappointed with 3M … but we are working together to remedy the issue,” the minister said. NDP asks election watchdog to investigate Bethlenfalvy campaign staff’s unpaid wages allegation NDP Ethics critic Taras Natyshak is asking Elections Ontario to investigate allegations that ​ ​ Treasury Board President Peter Bethlenfalvy’s 2018 election campaign didn’t record or pay a ​ ​ staffer all the wages she was due. In a letter to chief electoral officer Greg Essensa, Natyshak said Christine Brady took up the ​ ​ ​ ​ matter with the labour relations board, which ruled in her favour last May. The board ordered Myrna Picotte, then-president of Bethlenfalvy’s PC riding association in Pickering—Uxbridge, to ​ pay Brady outstanding wages of nearly $400 she was owed for her work on the campaign, which included answering phones, scheduling volunteers and preparing canvassers. “Mr. Bethlenfalvy’s financial statements make no mention of this salary or employment,” Natyshak’s letter reads. “I am deeply concerned that Ms. Brady’s employment is not disclosed on Mr. Bethlenfalvy’s financial statements and that this lack of disclosure may have been intentional, whether to get around a campaign spending limit or another reason,” Natyshak wrote. Bethlenfalvy said he is aware of the complaint and expects all parties involved to comply with any investigation. “I will make sure that the CFO of the riding association complies fully with anything that the electoral officer may do,” he said. Natyshak went a step further in question period and called out Bethlenfalvy for reportedly considering dipping into constituency funds to pay for a social media boost. ​ ​ “It’s almost as if following the rules is difficult for this minister,” he said. Today’s events February 21 to 22 – Niagara Falls ​ The PC Party is holding a policy conference in Niagara Falls. Journalist Rex Murphy will deliver ​ ​ the opening keynote, and Premier Doug Ford will host a dinner reception on day two. ​ ​ ● The event is being protested inside and out; a party executive says it violates the constitution because no policy development votes will take place, while labour unions are organizing busloads for a rally outside the venue. Topics of conversation ● “Just another wasted day.” Remi Sabourin, head of the union representing French ​ ​ school teachers, said very little progress was made during Wednesday’s bargaining session with the province. All four major teachers’ unions are planning to walk off the job en masse today. ○ The Catholic teachers’ union was also at the bargaining table this week and says it will launch rotating strikes next week if no deal is reached. ● The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is proposing a work-around to the PC’s resistance to banning the sale of mutual funds with deferred sales charges, the Financial ​ ​ Post reports. The OSC had previously moved to eliminate the fee structure, which ​ ​ comes with hefty penalties when cashed out early, but the PCs pushed to keep it intact. Now the securities agency wants the sale of the products to be banned for clients over the age of 60, who are more likely to sell their funds in a short period of time, and for other people with short-term investment plans. ○ The OSC also wants to cap the amount Ontarians can invest in mutual funds with deferred sales charges at $50,000 per account and block people investing with borrowed money from purchasing them. ○ Security regulators in all of Canada’s other provinces and territories jointly ​ banned deferred sales charges yesterday. ​ ○ Last year, the Federation of Mutual Fund Dealers registered to lobby Ontario’s minister of finance to “prevent their removal as a billing option.” ● The Beer Store is blaming a $13-million shortfall last year on expanded booze sales in ​ ​ grocery stores and uncertainty over its 10-year operating agreement with the province that the Ford government has pledged to rip up, albeit slowly. ​ ​ News briefs Minister Mulroney signs MOU with major energy utilities to speed up transit ● Following the tabling of Bill 171, Building Transit Faster Act, earlier this week, ​ ​ Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney has signed an MOU with Toronto Hydro, ​ ​ Hydro One and Enbridge pledging to “improve coordination” as the province speeds ahead with the construction of its four major GTA transit projects. ○ Mulroney’s office says the MOU will make it easier to move and reinstate natural gas and electricity lines during the construction process. Province to open 130 new transition beds in North York ● Health Minister Christine Elliott announced $1.5 million to fund the planning of a new ​ ​ reactivation care centre at North York General Hospital’s Branson site. Once complete, the centre will house 130 transition beds for patients who no longer require acute care but are not ready to return to their home or are on a waiting list for long-term care. ○ The ministry said the new beds will help ease hospital capacity issues. Question period NDP lead-off Education funding ● Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath began the debate asking about today’s ​ ​ mass teacher strike. “The premier continues to stick his head in the sand and pretend that parents are on his side, while every day they tell him to reverse his cuts to education. Why is he ignoring parents?” she asked. ● Premier Doug Ford countered that he talks to more parents than Horwath. “The only ​ ​ difference between myself and the leader of the NDP is I travel right across the province. There's probably no one in the chamber who travels to more towns, to more areas than I do,” Ford stated. He said parents and teachers are “frustrated” and want to see kids back in the classroom, as does his government. Flawed licence plates ● NDP MPP Jennifer French accused Government and Consumer Services Minister Lisa ​ ​ ​ Thompson of being MIA during the faulty licence plate fiasco because she has not been ​ available to reporters for the last two days. “While the cameras were waiting and when the lights were bright, the minister disappeared — not unlike her licence plates,” she quipped. ● Thompson told the house the government is “extremely frustrated” and “disappointed” with manufacturer 3M. Two days earlier, Thompson maintained the plates are readable and endured exhaustive testing. Independent questions Class sizes ● Interim Liberal Leader John Fraser prefaced his question to Education Minister ​ ​ Stephen Lecce about class sizes with jabs at the Ford government’s fumbling of the ​ licence plate and autism program rollouts.
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