Based on the Recent Events Surrounding the Province’S Intrusions Into Hydro One Corporate Affairs, Any Other Conclusion Would Be Unreasonable and Ignorant.”

Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report January 7, 2019

Quotation of the day

“Based on the recent events surrounding the province’s intrusions into Hydro One corporate affairs, any other conclusion would be unreasonable and ignorant.”

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission becomes the second U.S. regulator to kibosh the Hydro One-Avista takeover, citing the political circumstances surrounding the utility’s CEO and board resignations in June.

Today at Queen’s Park

On the schedule The House is recessed until February 19 — for now. A government source tells Queen’s Park Today cabinet is scheduled to meet January 17, and the legislature is expected to be recalled shortly after that, as early as January 21. However, a spokesperson for the premier’s office says a mid-February return is still the plan.

Premier watch Premier Doug Ford checked out the choppers at the North American International Motorcycle Supershow in Mississauga on Saturday.

Weed retail licence lottery opens As of today wannabe weed retailers can enter the government’s lottery to apply for one of the first 25 licences in the province.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario says it will accept expressions of interest — at $75 apiece — online until noon Wednesday, make the draw Friday, and post the results to its website within 24 hours. KPMG is monitoring the lottery process.

The winning businesses will then submit their applications with a $6,000 non-refundable fee and a $50,000 letter of credit, as well as a $4,000 store authorization fee.

Selected retailers who aren’t ready to open their doors for business on April 1 will face steep penalties. If a retailer isn’t ready to go on April 1, $12,500 will get deducted from their credit letter. Another $12,500 will get docked on April 15, and an additional $25,000 on April 30 if they’re still not ready.

Even though Ontarians will get a sense of the first 25 retail cannabis shops this weekend, municipalities still have until January 22 to opt out of having storefronts within their borders.

The AGCO has also mapped out where the 25 stores will be, with five in the east region, which spans from Muskoka to Cornwall and includes Ottawa; seven in the west region of the province; two in northern Ontario; six in the Greater Toronto Area; and five in Toronto.

The Tories previously said there would be no ceiling on the number of private cannabis storefronts but has since capped the number of licences at 25 until the end or 2019, citing national supply shortages.

Second U.S. regulator blocks Hydro One-Avista merger, expresses concern over PC “intrusions”

The Hydro One-Avista takeover took another hit last week when Idaho state regulators followed Washington and turned down the proposal, citing the political circumstances surrounding the resignation of Hydro One’s CEO and board after Premier Doug Ford took office in June.

“It is abundantly clear that the province does not have to own 51 percent of Hydro One in order to effectively control the company. Based on the recent events surrounding the province’s intrusions into Hydro One corporate affairs, any other conclusion would be unreasonable and ignorant,” the Idaho Public Utilities Commission said in its 15-page decision.

It’s the second time in less than a month Hydro One’s proposed $6.7-billion takeover of Avista was shot down by U.S. regulators; in December the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission rejected the deal with similar concerns about potential government meddling.

For the merger to go through it needs approval from commissions in Idaho, Washington and Oregon, as well as Alaska and Montana, which it has already received. Both Hydro One and Avista have said they are reviewing the Washington and Idaho decisions to determine next steps; the companies have 21 days to appeal those orders.

Today’s events

January 7 to 9 – Manitoulin Island, Sudbury and North Bay Environmental Commissioner Dianne Saxe will speak about climate change at several community events around northern Ontario.

Topics of conversation

● Federal Liberal MP Adam Vaughan says he’s worried Premier Doug Ford will try to “sabotage” 25 years of Waterfront Toronto’s development planning under the auspice of defending the public from privacy and data concerns swirling around Sidewalk Labs’ plan for a high-tech neighbourhood on Toronto’s waterfront, according to Postmedia. ○ After a damning report from Ontario’s Auditor General last month, Infrastructure Minister Monte McNaughton swiftly fired three of the province’s representatives on the Waterfront Toronto board that’s in charge of the redevelopment. At the time, McNaughton said oversight needed to be strengthened.

● OPSEU wants the government to beef up safety measures to deal with an uptick in thefts as LCBO stores continue to stay open longer post-holiday season, the CBC reports.

● Ontario’s unemployment rate dipped slightly last month, to 5.4 per cent from 5.6 per cent the previous month, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada. That’s the second-lowest joblessness rate among the provinces and below the national average of 5.6 per cent. Transportation, warehousing and educational services were industries that saw big employment gains, but were partially offset by lower trade, Statscan says.

Appointments and employments

● The new head of Ontario Place is a familiar one. James Ginou — a friend of Premier Doug Ford and prominent Tory fundraiser — has been appointed chair of the Ontario Place board once again. Ginou, who previously held the job from 1997 to 2003, will head up the board for one year, according to an order-in-council, as the Tories put an eye to making over the publicly owned property on Toronto’s waterfront. ○ Ginou took some flak on social media and from critics for comments he made in an interview with QP Briefing, reportedly saying Ontario Place is in “complete disrepair” and “there is nothing that can be saved.” He went on to say that, “Because it has to be rebuilt, it can be rebuilt in any way that Ford wants it to be rebuilt.”

○ The previous Liberal government took on a major redevelopment of the public lands ahead of the Pan Am Games and in 2017 cut the ribbon on a revamped park and trail. ○ The Tories have not said what exactly the government has in mind for Ontario Place but that nothing is off the table. During his days as city councillor, Ford pitched a casino and Ferris wheel as part of a makeover. ○ The PCs passed Bill 57 in December, which clears a path for more government control over the public asset. The legislation dissolved the corporation and board that oversees management of Ontario Place and ordered it to prepare a plan to transfer control directly to the province.

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