“The Message Is Clear: the Government Is Asking Schools to Do More with Less.”

Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report March 4, 2019

Quotation of the day

“The message is clear: the government is asking schools to do more with less.”

Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association president Liz Stuart responds to a ministry missive suggesting school boards freeze hiring for the academic year, which opposition critics suggest is a harbinger of cuts to public education.

Today at Queen’s Park

On the schedule The House sits at 10:30 a.m. and begins with question period.

Government House Leader Todd Smith is expected to put forward a time-allocation motion on Bill 68, Comprehensive Ontario Police Services (COPS) Act. The motion will likely pass and see four hours of public hearings at the justice policy committee on Thursday, March 7. The bill, as amended, would then be returned to the House for no less than two hours of third-reading debate by March 25.

Committees this week Michael Diamond will be interviewed by the government agencies committee Tuesday for his intended appointment as a board member of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the province’s biggest grant-giving agency. Diamond is a veteran of election war rooms: he managed Premier Doug Ford’s PC leadership bid and later the provincial campaign. The committee can only ask questions and has no power to veto appointments.

The social policy committee convenes Monday and Tuesday for clause-by-clause consideration of Bill 48, Safe and Supportive Classrooms Act. The government’s proposed amendments are most likely to pass on the PC-dominated committee. The bill, which has all-party support, could be voted on as early as Wednesday afternoon.

On Wednesday, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts meets for a closed session of report writing on a chapter of the auditor general’s 2017 report on cancer treatment services.

In the park The Speaker’s book awards ceremony and reception is slated for the evening.

In case you missed it, last week the chamber was taken over by high schoolers for a model parliament. A Green bill banning certain plastics passed by the widest margin of votes, Liberal legislation on gender-neutral washrooms also made it through — but a government bill on health-care changes was defeated, despite support from some opposition members. 680 News has more details.

Premier watch Premier Doug Ford was in cottage country this weekend, making a stop in Bracebridge for a $20-per-person spaghetti dinner fundraiser, featuring local MPP and his parliamentary assistant Norm Miller. In Huntsville, the premier toured the Kimberly-Clark manufacturing facility and greeted customers at Westside Fish and Chips restaurant.

Topics of conversation

● Roughly three dozen parents and advocates rallied against controversial autism policy changes outside Premier Doug Ford’s constituency office in Etobicoke Friday, only to be met by police and turned away by staff, according to City News. Ford, who was scheduled to be in Muskoka country, did not appear to be at the office at the time, and his spokesman said staff had a decent dialogue with constituents who were there. ○ Rallies have been a frequent occurrence at PC MPPs’ riding offices since the announcement was made at the beginning of February, including one this weekend at rookie Tory MPP Lindsey Park’s office in Bowmanville. Local town hall information sessions have also cropped up, hosted by opposition MPPs.

● The Toronto Star got its hands on an internal memo from deputy education minister Nancy Naylor to school boards, suggesting they freeze hiring for the coming academic year. Meanwhile, the boards — which are also raising concerns about about how the new autism funding changes will hit the classroom — have been bracing for possible education cuts under the Ford administration’s austerity mandate. ○ NDP education critic Marit Stiles said the memo is a harbinger of future staffing cuts and “means larger class sizes as the Conservatives cram more kids into classrooms with fewer teachers. It means more children won’t be able to get one-on-one help when they need it. And it means already-stressed teachers will have to do even more with even less.” ○ In a release, Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association president Liz Stuart echoed the sentiment, saying “the message is clear: the government is asking schools to do more with less. This will have a negative impact on student achievement and the learning environment.”

○ The Tories have been consulting on possible education changes to full-day kindergarten and class sizes, among other things.

● The government has begun consultations on Liberal-era gender wage gap law that was supposed to kick in this year but was paused when the Tories took office. Among other questions, the consultation seeks feedback from businesses on how onerous pay transparency reporting rules could be, which were a major component of the Grit policy. The Canadian Press has the story.

● CP talked to incoming Waterfront Toronto chair and real estate heavyweight Steve Diamond, who said it’s too soon to cancel the controversial Sidewalk Labs plan for a high-tech neighbourhood on the waterfront. (Diamond’s position must be formally ratified by the province’s newly appointed board members, but has been given the nod by federal and provincial infrastructure ministers.)

● The chief of Grassy Narrows First Nation is calling out the province for a delay on promised mercury testing, something Environment Minister Rod Phillips reaffirmed as recently as October, the Star reports.

● An environmental assessment study of a supply road into the Ring of Fire is now underway, initiated by the local Webequie First Nation and carried out by SNC-Lavalin, Northern Ontario Business reports. The framework and terms of reference for the study will be submitted to the environment and conservation ministry for review in the spring.

● Suspended MPP Randy Hillier seemed to throw shade at his former PC caucus colleagues over the government’s controversial autism treatment changes. Hillier himself was caught up in the controversy when he was indefinitely ejected from caucus for allegedly heckling parents of children with autism during an emotional debate in the legislature. ○ “Being a strong advocate means staying continuously informed of both the benefits and drawbacks of public policy,” Hillier tweeted Friday, the day after a Global report about his impending permanent exit at cabinet’s behest.

● Speaking of erstwhile PCs wary of government proposals, Independent MPP Jim Wilson doesn’t appear swayed either way on the new health-care shakeup legislation, according to Collingwood Today.

● PC MPP and parliamentary assistant to children services minister Amy Fee was spotted at the SAAC Autism Centre’s charity gala event, alongside Toronto Mayor John Tory. Fee has been criticised by parents, advocates and opposition politicians over the Tories’ much-maligned autism program changes — and faced flak in particular because she was a vocal critic of the Liberals’ equally pilloried program.

● The CBC has a (tongue-in-cheek) how-to on skirting democracy at a political party nomination meeting, using the recently closed Hamilton police investigation into alleged voter fraud and ballot box tampering in a 2017 PC candidate contest.

Funding announcements Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry ● The provincial government has inked a three-year deal to give the Ontario Fur Managers Federation $1.1 million “to support the administration of the ministry’s trapping education program and licence services for Ontario’s trappers and trapping instructors,” according to a release. Natural Resources Minister John Yakabuski made the announcement at a fur harvesters’ auction in North Bay with the local MPP and Finance Minister Vic Fedeli.

News releases - governmental Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines ● Ontario and Saskatchewan are the only two provinces to give Ottawa’s newly released Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan a thumbs-down. In a release, Energy, Northern Development and Mines Minister Greg Rickford said the plan doesn’t do enough to create opportunities for the mining industry, drawing connections to other Ontario-criticized federal policy such as the carbon backstop program and Bill C-69. ○ “While Ontario and Saskatchewan agree with some of the elements covered in the CMMP, we believe this plan needed to specifically address economic and competitiveness challenges and send a strong message to investors around the world that Canada is prepared to take real action to support our mining sector,” Rickford said in a statement Sunday.

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

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