Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report February 27, 2020 Quotation of the day “It’s Miller time!” Before his question period query, PC MPPs heckle and cheer NDP MPP Paul Miller, who has ​ ​ only asked a handful of questions since the start of the 42nd parliamentary session. Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath suggested that’s “something that [the PCs] do to try ​ ​ to create interesting dynamics in our caucus. I wish the government, instead of playing games like that, could actually take seriously the fact that parents in all ridings are very worried about the cutbacks to education.” Today at Queen’s Park On the schedule Morning debate has been cancelled this morning due to an expected snowstorm. The house convenes at 10:15 a.m. for question period. The government could put forward any of the following bills for afternoon debate: ● Bill 156, Security From Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act; ​ ● Bill 161, Smarter and Stronger Justice Act; ​ ● Bill 171, Building Transit Faster Act; and ​ ● Bill 175, Connecting People to Home and Community Care Act. ​ Bill 145, Trust in Real Estate Services Act, which reforms the real estate industry, could face a ​ third-reading vote after question period. Two PC backbench bills will be called during private members’ business debates: ● Michael Parsa will move second reading of Bill 173, Ontario Day Act; ​ ​ ​ ● Will Bouma and Robin Martin will move their co-sponsored Bill 168, Combating ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Antisemitism Act. The bill would require the government to follow the working definition of anti-Semitism adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in 2016. ○ The Independent Jewish Voices advocacy group and British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) have condemned the legislation because the IHRA definition appears to conflate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism and could threaten the charter right to freedom of expression. ○ “The IHRA definition of antisemitism is extremely vague, open to misinterpretation, and the document states that it is ‘non-legally binding.’ Not only is the text unsuitable for any legal or administrative purpose in Ontario or Canada, but the accompanying illustrative examples suggest the definition conflates certain critiques of the state of Israel with antisemitism,” the BCCLA wrote in a letter to Premier Doug Ford and opposition leaders this week. “If ​ ​ implemented, the IHRA definition will serve to severly infringe on freedom of expression, as well as chill political expressions on criticism of Israel and support for Palestinian rights.” Wednesday’s debates and proceedings MPPs continued second reading of Bill 171, the PC’s GTA transit legislation, in the morning; ​ ​ Government and Consumer Services Minister Lisa Thompson kicked off third-reading debate ​ ​ of Bill 145 in the afternoon. ​ ​ New Democrat Gurratan Singh introduced his private member’s Bill 177, Sikh Genocide ​ ​ ​ ​ Awareness Week Act, recognizing the 1984 massacre during the first week of November. MPPs also delivered statements recognizing Black History Month on the second-to-last sitting day of the month and dressed accordingly for Pink Shirt Day in a stand against bullying. In the park The Ontario Electrical League is scheduled to hold its lobby day and a morning reception. On Wednesday, the Kanata North Business Association was at Queen’s Park. Local PC MPP Merrilee Fullerton met with representatives and dubbed it “Kanata North Day” in the house. ​ Premier watch Premier Doug Ford addressed the Ontario Forestry Industries Association’s conference in ​ ​ downtown Toronto Wednesday morning. Ford highlighted the $54 million earmarked to help fund forest access roads on Crown land. Opposition parties say byelections in Liberal territory also an opportunity to send a message to PCs Today’s byelections in Ottawa-Vanier and Orléans may be the Liberals’ to win, but they’re also the first electoral litmus test for the governing PCs. “Look, I suspect the Liberals will remain strong in that area, but our candidates have been working very, very hard,” house leader Paul Calandra said Wednesday. “Byelections are ​ ​ always challenging, not only for the governing party but for everybody because it’s hard, a lot of the times, for people to be interested in a byelection.” The ridings are longtime Liberal bastions, and while interim leader John Fraser said he’s ​ ​ feeling confident, he isn’t taking anything for granted. Elections Ontario has already reported low turnout for advanced voting in both ridings, and a ​ ​ looming snowstorm could discourage citizens from heading out to the polls. “We’ve just got to bring it home,” Fraser said. “We just have to make sure they get out and vote in 30 or 40 centimetres of snow.” Asked if he is worried about the indebted party’s resources being spread too thin over the pair of byelections and next weekend’s leadership convention, Fraser said “it is what it is.” “It’s tough. We don’t have a caucus bureau, we don’t have that support, but you work with what you got, and you work hard. You go knock doors,” he went on to say. “It’s not worrying about, oh we’ve got too much work, it’s like, well, what are the most important things for us to get done: byelections, make sure the leadership works well. I think we’ve had success with that.” (Fraser noted 2,100 delegates thus far have signed up to attend the March 6-7 convention in Mississauga. Ticket prices for party members range from $349-$599.) NDP Leader Andrea Horwath acknowledged the Grits’ stronghold in the ridings but said her ​ ​ party’s candidates have been hearing from people unhappy with the PCs while door-knocking. “People are very disappointed with this government,” she said. Green Leader Mike Schreiner invited citizens to send a message to Premier Doug Ford that ​ ​ ​ ​ “they reject his anti-environment agenda.” “Byelections are an opportunity to tell the current government whether they are on the right track. This government is not,” he said. If the Grits secure the seats in the capital today, it will bring their ranks from six to eight caucus members, which was the previous threshold for recognized party status. The PCs have since raised it to 12. Ottawa—Vanier was put into play when ex-Liberal MPP Nathalie Des Rosiers resigned for a ​ ​ role at Massey College; Orléans became vacant when now-Liberal MP Marie-France Lalonde ​ jumped into federal politics last fall. In Orléans, the PCs are running Natalie Montgomery, a PhD candidate and health advocate. ​ ​ She is also the wife of failed PC candidate Cameron Montgomery, who ran in the same riding ​ ​ in 2018 and has since been hired to a previously part-time, now full-time $140,000-position as EQAO board chair. Ottawa city Councillor Stephen Blais will run for the Grits while Manon Parrot will fly the NDP ​ ​ ​ ​ flag. Andrew West, a local lawyer and the party’s Attorney General critic, will be on the ballot ​ ​ for the Greens. In Ottawa—Vanier, Patrick Mayangi, a community outreach specialist in Edmonton-area ​ ​ Conservative MP Garnett Genuis’ office, will fly the Tory banner. The Liberals are running ​ ​ French school board trustee Lucille Collard while the New Democrats have community ​ ​ advocate Myriam Djilane on the ballot and the Greens have engineer Benjamin Koczwarski. ​ ​ ​ ​ Above Znoneofthe, who changed his name to the joke moniker ahead of the 2016 ​ ​ ​ Whitby-Oshawa byelection so he could be at the bottom of the ticket, and perennial candidate John Turmel are also running, in OV and Orléans respectively. ​ Today’s events February 27 at 9:30 a.m. – Toronto ​ Green Leader Mike Schreiner will hold a press conference in the media studio with members of ​ ​ Save Our Water, a group opposed to commercial water bottling companies like Nestlé extracting groundwater. February 27 at 7 p.m. – Orillia ​ Sport Minister Lisa MacLeod will participate in the opening ceremony of the 2020 Ontario ​ ​ Winter Games. February 27 - 28 – Toronto ​ The Electricity Distributors Association will hold its annual ENERCOM conference at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. Associate Energy Minister Bill Walker will speak Thursday evening. ​ ​ February 27 - 28 – Ottawa ​ The Canadian Nuclear Association is hosting its annual conference at Ottawa’s Westin Hotel. Energy Minister Greg Rickford addresses the crowd Friday. ​ ​ Topics of conversation ● Businesses’ confidence in the province’s economy has hit an all-time low (for the second time), according to the Chamber of Commerce’s 2020 Ontario Economic Report. ​ ​ ○ “Although organizational confidence remains high at 60 per cent, confidence in the broader economy dropped seven percentage points from the previous year to 23 per cent,” reads the report from the chamber, which first started surveying business optimism in 2012. ○ Chief among companies’ concerns are challenges related to “the cost of doing business,” hiring, cost of living and provincial debt. ○ When it comes to the small business friendliness factor, Ontario scored a -9, “indicating that this province’s environment is viewed as unfriendly.” At issue for small firms is hiring and the overall regulatory environment, the report says. ○ That said, the government scored points on metrics including “the helpfulness of the province in starting a business, the ease of licencing, and the delivery of useful training and networking programs.” ● Health officials confirmed the province’s fifth case of the novel coronavirus in Toronto. A woman in her 60s had reported to Sunnybrook hospital on February 24 after returning from a trip to Iran on February 15 and is now at home in self-isolation. Chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams said Wednesday the province is now preparing a ​ ​ plan for the possible “local spread” of COVID-19. Toronto medical health officer Dr. Eileen de Villa said “the virus is not circulating locally” at this time. ​ ○ “However, we do know that there is some global activity happening and global transmission, so with this in mind we are actively working with our city partners, our provincial partners, and our health partners to plan for the potential for local spread,” de Villa told reporters at Queen’s Park.