Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report December 10, 2018 Quotation of the day “They changed the goalposts. They changed the rules on the 11th hour of the game here.” At his maiden first ministers’ meeting in Montreal, Premier Doug Ford sets the tone for ​ ​ Canada’s divisive fight over emissions-reductions targets. Today at Queen’s Park On the schedule The House is recessed until February 19, but this morning will be anything but quiet. Queen’s Park is abuzz with anticipation over the release of budget watchdog Peter Weltman’s ​ ​ updated economic outlook. Weltman will update his budget analysis based on the PC’s latest fiscal update in the Fall Economic Statement, which forecasts a $14.5-billion deficit. Committees this week On Tuesday the Select Committee on Financial Transparency will meet behind closed doors to draft its final report and recommendations on past Liberal government accounting practices and fiscal decisions. The report is expected to be released Thursday. The special PC-dominated committee wraps up the government’s three-pronged probe into the former government’s books, which also included Ernst & Young’s line-by-line review of government spending and a report from an independent financial commission of inquiry. Trudeau, Ford butt heads over climate goals at first ministers’ meeting Tensions were high and solutions were low at Friday’s first ministers’ get together in Montreal. While the meeting went off without any major drama, Ontario and Ottawa got into a kerfuffle over carbon emissions reduction goals that took centre stage. “All of a sudden, we have a little surprise in the room. The goalposts got changed,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters Friday. ​ ​ Ford said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told him Ontario will have to cut greenhouse gas ​ ​ emissions beyond the national targets Ford has already committed to in order to make up for other provinces that don’t meet their targets. “That sets uncertainty,” Ford said. The Ontario PCs say their environmental plan will lower Ontario’s emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, without implementing a carbon tax. That matches up with the federal government’s goals but falls below the 37-per-cent mark pledged by the Liberals under Kathleen Wynne. ​ Trudeau flipped the script back on Ford. “If anyone is moving the goalposts, it’s Premier Ford,” Trudeau said. “Canada’s targets are national targets, even though the premier may wish to play games with numbers.” Not all premiers saw things the same way as Ford. When asked by reporters whether Trudeau said some provinces needed stricter targets, Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil said that ​ ​ was not what he heard. McNeil said the prime minister did say “others will end up doing more, simply based on what’s happening in their jurisdiction.” Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna also denied making any changes to climate ​ ​ targets. The spat comes as Queen’s Park and the House of Commons continue to rail against the other’s climate policies, with Trudeau denouncing Ontario’s recently revealed environmental plan as a “step backwards” and Ford crusading against Ottawa’s “punishing” carbon tax. Overall, Friday’s meeting got mostly positive reviews from the premiers and prime minister despite the rocky start after Ford threatened to boycott it. Trudeau and all the premiers signed on to a final communiqué, which is light on details, but underscores commitments to work together to create jobs, grow the economy, knock down interprovincial trade barriers, and reduce carbon emissions (acknowledging each province differs on how to do that). Quebec Premier François Legault told reporters he is optimistic Ottawa will fork out cash to ​ ​ help his province deal with costs associated with the growing number of irregular border crossers from the United States. Quebec has said Ottawa owes it $300 million; Ontario says its bill is $200 million. Trudeau said he will work with the provinces to ensure extra costs, such as housing, are addressed. Advocates say Bill 66 could have deadly consequences Environmental, child-care and labour advocates are warning the PC government’s new Bill 66, ​ ​ Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act, could have dire consequences for citizens. The legislation would make a slew of regulatory changes to child care law, environmental and employment standards, development planning, farming, and cellphone contracts. The government says Bill 66 is aimed at “eliminating red tape and burdensome regulations so ​ ​ businesses can grow, create and protect good jobs.” But critics say the potential costs are too steep. Environmental Defence said the proposed changes “takes us back 40 years” by removing protections to Ontario’s drinking water supply. “New developments would be exempt from drinking water source protection plans, and could be built regardless of their risk to water,” the advocacy group said in a statement, citing the Walkerton tragedy, the country’s worst-ever E.coli outbreak that resulted in seven deaths and thousands falling ill. “To make sure it never happened again, we developed source water protections but this bill will give developers a pass on keeping drinking water safe.” There are also concerns that the bill opens up protected Greenbelt lands to development, which Environmental Defence says will cause “rampant land speculation by developers, resulting in a loss of farmland and the disruption of farm communities” and “will undermine smart growth planning” and create more urban sprawl. Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said Bill 66 is a “back door” to developing the protected ​ ​ ​ ​ green space. “Reducing regulatory costs should not be an excuse to pave over farmland and remove protections for our water,” Schreiner said. But Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark said the government “remains steadfast” in its ​ ​ campaign pledge to protect the Greenbelt. “I was clear during the campaign. I listened to the people and we are not touching the Greenbelt. We will protect it and all its beauty,” Premier Doug Ford echoed on Twitter. ​ ​ Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward said her city will not be “compromising their safety or ​ ​ ​ quality of life for speed” by implementing the “open-for-business” zoning bylaws enshrined in Bill 66 that would allow developers to bypass environmental protections. ​ The Canadian Environmental Law Association said Bill 66 is “the biggest and most significant ​ ​ environmental rollback to occur in a generation in Ontario” and called the changes “an unprecedented and unacceptable attack on legislative provisions which currently safeguard environmental quality and public health and safety.” Meanwhile, the PCs further stripped the new environmental watchdog office’s powers. According to the Huffington Post, the commissioner (soon to be operating under the Auditor ​ ​ ​ General’s office) will not be required to report on emissions or conservation, and those employees that land jobs at the new office will not be unionized. Bill 66 also lifts the requirement that employers post employment standards information within ​ the workplace and opens up construction projects at municipalities, hospitals, universities and schools to non-unionized employees, which the Ontario Federation of Labour says will put ​ ​ “worker safety at greater risk and [trample] collective bargaining agreements.” Child welfare advocates are also raising alarm bells over provisions to allow daycare providers to take care of more infants and toddlers at a time, citing safety concerns. Today’s events December 10 – Toronto ​ Premier Doug Ford will spend the better part of the day meeting one-on-one with Ontario ​ ​ mayors at the legislature. Beginning at 9:30 a.m., Ford will meet with London Mayor Ed Holder, ​ ​ Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Watson, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, Kawartha Lakes Mayor Andy Letham and ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Oro-Medonte Mayor Harry Hughes. A certain Brampton mayor is not on the list. ​ ​ December 10 at 10 a.m. – Toronto ​ Financial Accountability Officer Peter Weltman will be in the Queen’s Park media studio to ​ ​ release the FAO’s budgetary and economic outlook for fall 2018. December 10 at 10 a.m. – Toronto ​ Infrastructure Minister Monte McNaughton and Tourism Minister Michael Tibollo will make an ​ ​ ​ ​ announcement about the Massey Hall revitalization project alongside the federal government at the Pantages Hotel. December 10 at 10:15 a.m. – Toronto ​ Ontario Human Rights Commissioner Renu Mandhane will release an interim report on her ​ ​ office’s investigation into racial profiling and discrimination by the Toronto Police Service and hold a news conference at their downtown office. December 10 at 11:30 a.m. – Burlington ​ Health Minister Christine Elliott will make an announcement at Carpenter Hospice. ​ ​ Topics of conversation ● The Ford administration swiftly axed three government representatives on the Waterfront Toronto board that’s in charge of developing the Quayside smart-city plans, following a damning report from the auditor general about the board’s handling of the project with Google sister company Sidewalk Labs. ○ The Globe and Mail first reported Thursday night that the PC government ​ ​ ​ informed chair Helen Burstyn, U of T president Meric Gertler and prominent ​ ​ ​ ​ investment executive Michael Nobrega that they would be removed from their ​ ​ roles. ○ Infrastructure Minister Monte McNaughton said in a statement the AG’s report ​ ​ “made it clear that oversight needs strengthening.