“Mr. Ford Risks Alienating His Key Supporters: Both the Business Community and Fellow Conservatives

Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report November 2, 2020

Quotation of the day

“Mr. Ford risks alienating his key supporters: both the business community and fellow conservatives. And Mr. Kenney, experts warn, could quickly set off a public-health disaster if the situation gets out of control.”

The Globe and Mail compares Ontario and Alberta's pandemic responses. While Premier Jason Kenney has been criticized for a lighter-touch approach, Premier Doug Ford may be pivoting to Kenney's playbook, asking health officials to draft a plan to ease restrictions in hot spots.

Today at Queen’s Park

Written by Sabrina Nanji

On the schedule The house reconvenes at 9 a.m. for private members’ business; on this morning's docket is second reading of NDP MPP Jeff Burch's Bill 164, Protecting Vulnerable Persons in Supportive Living Accommodation Act. Burch's bill would establish a licensing system for operators of supportive living settings such as nursing homes and children's residences.

Bill 202, Soldiers' Aid Commission Act — which shakes up the commission's operations and reporting requirements — was referred back to the house from committee last week and is expected to be called for third reading this afternoon.

With a handful of government bills currently at the committee stage, Bill 213 and Bill 207 are the only other ones that could be up for debate today. Bill 213, at second reading, is the red-tape reduction legislation that also gives degree-granting powers and university status to Charles McVety's Canada Christian College. Bill 207 is now back from committee study and poised for third reading; it would align provincial family law with recent federal changes.

Committees this week

Prepare for possible fireworks when controversial Bill 218 goes for public hearings at the justice policy committee on Wednesday. The Supporting Ontario's Recovery and Municipal Elections Act has caught flak because it gives Covid liability protection to organizations like long-term care homes and nixes the option of ranked ballots in civic elections.

Bill 218 has been time-allocated so that it gets one afternoon of public hearings and is due back to the house for third reading by November 16.

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts will also consider last year's auditor general report on the Ontario Disability Support Program, while a number of private bills go under the microscope at the Standing Committee on Regulations.

On Tuesday, the estimates committee turns an eye to the 2020-21 expenditures for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.

This afternoon, the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs meets to plan its study of Bill 215, Main Street Recovery Act, which permanently scraps municipal noise bylaw-making powers in order to allow 24/7 deliveries.

Premier watch Premier Doug Ford's constituency office in Etobicoke is closed for the "foreseeable future" after three staffers tested positive for the coronavirus. Ford said he believed visitors brought in the virus and added that his staff are doing well; his spokesperson said the premier hadn't been there in two weeks and wasn't exposed. It isn't the first time a Ford employee has caught Covid: last month a member of his tour team tested positive.

Ford and his fellow first ministers also doubled down on their call for Ottawa to increase the Canada Health Transfers. The premiers are asking for a "focused meeting" with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Meanwhile, Ford visited a pop-up testing centre on his home turf alongside Toronto Mayor John Tory, Board of Health chair Joe Cressy and local Councillor Michael Ford (his nephew) on Sunday. Ford also showed off his pumpkin carving skills ("I better not quit my day job," he quipped) and revealed his favourite Halloween candy: full-sized chocolate bars.

Ford asks health table to devise reopening plan for Covid hot zones "This can't go on indefinitely."

Premier Doug Ford is hoping to strike a "happy balance" between public health and the economy when Covid hotspots come out of the 28-day modified Stage 2 on Saturday (unless restrictions are re-upped).

Ford said Friday he's asked his command table to draft a plan to "ease restrictions" and "safely allow businesses to start opening back up" after indoor dining and gyms were shuttered in Toronto, Peel, Ottawa and York Region (York's 28-day restrictions expire November 16). That could potentially include measures such as lowering capacity limits in those settings.

The move comes as Ford faces mounting pressure — including from his own PC caucus — to reopen indoor restaurants and fitness centres, especially because modelling data released last week showed only a fraction of known Covid cases came from those settings.

Those businesses have questioned the government's rationale, forcing health officials to explain that there are many caveats to the pie charts showing where outbreaks are occurring. For instance, they only reflect known sources of transmission, while many cases are unknown community spread.

Associate chief medical officer of health Dr. Barbara Yaffe said about 30 to 40 per cent of outbreaks were in gyms and restaurants before the Stage 2-style restrictions were put in place. Yaffe also stressed those are higher-risk settings because people don't wear masks when they're eating or working out.

Now that the growth of new cases is slowing (but still growing), Ford said he wants a plan to reopen their doors safely, noting that restrictions were always meant to be temporary to avoid more drastic rollbacks in the future.

The opposition parties say the premier should have done more to lower class sizes ahead of September, noting cases linked to schools are climbing and, per the pie charts, that's where a relatively high proportion of transmissions are occurring.

Today’s events

November 2 at 1 p.m. – Ontario Premier Doug Ford is expected to hold his daily press conference.

November 2 at 3 p.m. – Toronto Chief medical officers of health Dr. David Williams and Dr. Barbara Yaffe will provide their regular COVID-19 update in the media studio.

Topics of conversation

● Get used to the daily Covid case counts ranging from 800 to 1,200 during November. Another 2,888 cases have been confirmed since Thursday (896 on Friday, 1,015 on Saturday and 977 on Sunday). Nine new deaths were logged on each of the last three days, including a dozen long-term care residents. ○ Hospitalizations continue to climb, even without data from about 40 hospitals (as part of the usual weekend lag). There are now 350 admissions, with 72 patients in the ICU and 46 on a ventilator. ○ Another hospital is taking over management of a hard-hit LTC home in the capital: The Ottawa Hospital will be supporting Extendicare Starwood in Nepean, a 192-bed facility that has had 94 infected residents, 25 infected staff and six resident deaths since the pandemic hit. Seventy-four LTC homes are currently in outbreak.

● The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario is taking its fight against the revocation of controversial hiring Regulation 274 to the labour relations board. Circa 2012, Regulation 274 gave preference to supply teachers with the most seniority when hiring for long-term and full-time positions. Teacher unions say the regulation was necessary to stamp out nepotism and bring transparency because individual principals have all the hiring power. On the other hand, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said scrapping the regulation will lead to merit-based hiring and a more diverse pool of teachers. ○ ETFO president Sam Hammond argued the Ford government's "unilateral" move constitutes an "unfair labour practice" because contract negotiations are still ongoing at the school board level. "Many of our teacher and occasional teacher locals have yet to negotiate a new local agreement, therefore they are still covered by the terms of their existing agreements," Hammond said. "By revoking the regulation, the government is unilaterally altering the terms of the central agreement in locals who are in the midst of local bargaining." ○ Lecce said he was "deeply disappointed" ETFO decided to spend time "protecting a union-driven hiring policy."

● Toronto Star columnist Martin Regg Cohn dug up a litany of revelations in the Charles McVety affair, including that PC caucus members raised red flags about it to Premier Doug Ford. "Caucus was not in support of this — a number of us flagged it … well before legislation was introduced," said one unnamed Tory MPP. "It made no sense … we warned him it would be a PR disaster." ○ Meanwhile, the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario has repeatedly turned down applicants with "Christian Counselling" degrees from the Canada Christian College.

● Another potential budget goody may be coming down the pike on Thursday: an extension on the commercial eviction ban, which expired October 31. Premier Doug Ford teased new legislation "in the coming days" that would extend the moratorium. ○ The NDP have said the PC's eviction ban doesn't go far enough to help struggling businesses because it only pertains to landlords who qualify for CECRA, the federal commercial rent assistance program, but don't apply for it. That means they have to show a 70 per cent reduction income. Meanwhile, critics say there hasn't been much uptake for CECRA.

● The Ford government's heavy-handed use of Ministerial Zoning Orders continues to raise the ire of local politicians and environmental advocates. This time, an MZO to fast track a warehouse development in Pickering that will destroy 22 hectares of provincially significant wetland has been approved, overriding planning processes and bypassing public consultations. ○ In a letter to Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark and Natural Resources Minister John Yakabuski, six environmental groups called the move "short-sighted" and said it will "undermine public confidence" in the government's wetland conservation commitments.

● While the health minister insists there are no shortages of the flu vaccine, demand has so far shot up 500 per cent at drug stores, according to the head of the Ontario Pharmacists Association.

● Meanwhile, the Ontario Medical Association is sounding the alarm about delays and "uncertainty" over how many doses physicians will receive and when, especially the high-dose vaccine for vulnerable folks like seniors. Family doctors have been forced to come up with "innovative" ways to deliver flu shots, including weekend and drive-thru clinics, and home visits, said OMA CEO Allan O'Dette. The OMA is hoping Thursday's budget includes more cash to run those programs, with adequate supplies and PPE.

● As the government puts the finishing touches on a COVID-19 triage protocol, the Ontario Human Rights Commission is airing concerns to Health Minister Christine Elliott and the government's Bioethics Table. The OHRC previously called for a "human rights-based approach" to developing the protocol — which is a last-resort plan dictating

who gets access to critical care if the health system is overwhelmed. Advocates have criticized the draft protocol, saying it discriminates against people with disabilities. ○ In a letter to Elliott, newly minted Chief Commissioner Ena Chadha said the protocol must recognize "human rights is the primary guiding principle," and there must be a "legislative basis" for governance and accountability mechanisms. ○ Chadha also said the controversial Clinical Frailty Scale, originally designed to assess treatment and accommodation plans for elderly patients, should not be used as a critical care triage tool because it would likely "disproportionately" impact protected groups and may not comply with the duty to accommodate under the Human Rights Code.

● To bodycheck or not to bodycheck? That's the question after Premier Doug Ford said he wants to bring back bodychecking when the Ontario Hockey League returns to play — a day after Sport Minister Lisa MacLeod said deliberate physical contact in sports is out amid the pandemic.

● Yesterday marked the end of the PC's COVID-19 discount on hydro rates and the beginning of an almost two per cent increase on average household bills. Global News delves into why the PC's campaign pledge to slash electricity rates by 12 per cent has been so hard to keep; since taking office the cost of electricity has risen by about 1.8 per cent, per the Ontario Energy Board.

● OPSEU is facing competition as disaffected Ontario correctional officers seek to form a new union.

Appointments and employments

Premier's Office ● Ari Laskin has left the premier's office to become chief of staff to the Minister of Colleges and Universities Ross Romano. Laskin worked in Premier Ford's office for the last two years, most recently as executive director of strategy.

Ontario Liberal Party ● The Grits have locked in another candidate for 2022: Sameera Ali, a local town councillor, was nominated to run in Milton after beating out four other nomination contestants last Thursday. ○ The Milton race caused a bit of controversy for the Liberals because some candidates were spotted at a crowded event with no distancing and minimal mask-wearing, which led to a complaint to Halton public health.

Funding announcements

PCs piloting community paramedicine program to the tune of $5 million ● The Ford government is hoping to tackle long-term care waitlists by providing more at-home supports to seniors by doling out up to $5 million to boost community paramedicine programs. Long-Term Care Minister Merrilee Fullerton said the program will help elderly folks on the LTC waitlist stay safe at home for longer by providing more home visits and in-home testing, access to virtual care, and monitoring of conditions to reduce emergency incidents. ○ The funding covers five communities (Brant County, Cochrane, Ottawa, Renfrew County and York Region) and could be rolled out to more.

Two new high schools coming to Etobicoke ● Premier Doug Ford and local MPPs Kinga Surma and Christine Hogarth were in Etobicoke Friday to announce $62 million to build a new Catholic high school and rebuild another one. Surma said the construction will support the need for more classroom space in the growing communities.

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

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