“It's Embarrassing.”
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Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report February 28, 2020 Quotation of the day “It’s embarrassing.” Presumed future Liberal leader Steven Del Duca ran into trouble with the local conservation authority over plans to extend his backyard to save his new pool, the CBC reports. Today at Queen’s Park On the schedule The house is adjourned until Monday, March 2. Thursday’s debates and proceedings MPPs skipped out on the morning debate due to the snowstorm. After question period, Bill 145, Trust in Real Estate Services Act — which allows real estate agents to register as corporate entities as part of industry reforms — cleared a third-reading vote with all-party support (Ayes 91; Nays 0). ● Representatives from the Ontario Real Estate Association were in the chamber to watch it pass. The organization is headed up by Tim Hudak, who introduced the original bill he’s been lobbying to change via Bill 145 back when he was a PC cabinet minister in 2001. In a statement, Hudak said the new rules will strengthen consumer protection and fix the “broken real estate discipline system.” During the afternoon’s private members’ business debates, two PC backbench bills were sent to the committee stage after second reading: ● Michael Parsa’s Bill 173, Ontario Day Act, is now off to be studied by the Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills; ● Will Bouma and Robin Martin’s co-sponsored Bill 168, Combating Antisemitism Act, will go under the microscope at the justice policy committee after the PCs forced a recorded vote (Ayes 55; Nays 0). ○ The bill would require the government to follow the working definition of anti-Semitism adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in 2016. ○ Some Jewish advocacy and civil liberties groups have opposed the bill, saying the IHRA definition is vague and seems to conflate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism and could infringe on the charter right to freedom of expression. NDP Health critic France Gélinas has filed a reasoned amendment to Bill 175, Connecting People to Home and Community Care Act, which stalled second-reading debate on the bill from kicking off this week. Second-reading debate of Bill 161, Smarter and Stronger Justice Act, continued beyond the six-and-a-half-hour mark required before a vote and until the house adjourned for the weekend. In the park High school students will take over the chamber for a model parliament session today. The recurring Fridays for Future climate protest will also take place on the south lawn. Premier watch Premier Doug Ford sat down with his PC predecessor, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, at a diner Thursday morning to talk about the city’s health-care emergency declaration, CCTV cameras and post-secondary education. Their respective chiefs of staff Jamie Wallace and Babu Nagalingam were also in tow. Back at his Queen’s Park office, Ford also hosted members of the Ontario Electrical League, which was holding a lobby day. Liberals hold on to Ottawa—Vanier, Orleans The six-MPP Liberal caucus has grown its ranks by two after the party handily won back the ridings of Ottawa—Vanier and Orléans in last night’s byelections. With 75 per cent of polls reporting in Orléans just before 10 p.m., city councillor Stephen Blais had 54.87 per cent of the vote, according to unofficial results from Elections Ontario. PC candidate Natalie Montgomery brought up a distant second with 21.55 per cent, the NDP’s contender Manon Parrot claimed 15.65 per cent and Green Andrew West turned up 6.84 per cent. In Ottawa—Vanier, school trustee Lucille Collard claimed 51.79 per cent support with about 70 per cent of polls reporting back. New Democrat Myriam Dijilane had 25.58 per cent, PC Patrick Mayangi ranked third with 10.51 per cent and Green Ben Koczwarski rounded out the top four with nine per cent. PCs detail reforms to judicial appointment process On Thursday, Attorney General Doug Downey rolled out plans to change the way judges and justices of the peace are appointed, with an eye to filling vacancies faster and easing the courts’ heavy caseload. The proposal would expand the selection criteria and pool of candidates for judicial appointments, and increase the number of candidates recommended by the independent advisory committee from two to six. “Judicial vacancies are sitting unfilled for far too long while people are left waiting for their day in court to resolve their legal matters,” Downey said. Ontario appoints judges to its lower Court of Justice bench; Ottawa handles judicial appointments for the higher-level Superior and Appeal courts. Downey first hinted at the draft changes — which will be enshrined in forthcoming legislation — last November. At the time, legal experts including Peter Russell, who designed the current system, raised concerns it would open up the process to possible political interference. The NDP had also questioned why the PCs are fixing a system they say isn’t broken and warned the proposal could encourage patronage. “Dedicated members of the legal community have said time and again that there is no justification for the premier’s interference. Ontario already has an internationally recognized and unbiased judicial selection process in place that makes merit-based appointments,” NDP Auditor General critic Gurratan Singh said Thursday. But Downey said the changes were informed by months of consultations with relevant stakeholders and he’s confident in the revamped process. Legal organizations, including the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association, Ontario Crown Attorneys' Association and Ontario Paralegal Association, endorsed the plan. Communication breakdown: ‘Human error’ and ‘systemic issues’ led to Pickering nuclear station false alert “Human error” led to last month’s false alarm about an incident at the Pickering nuclear station, and “several systemic issues” resulted in a lag in sending the all-clear. That’s the upshot from Thursday’s report into the emergency text notification that hit millions of Ontarians’ phones on the morning of Sunday, January 12. It took almost two hours for a second alert to confirm the first was sent in error. Officers at the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre typically test both the live and training alert systems when they change shifts, but in this case, the person on duty believed they had switched out to the training system and “accidentally sent a live alert.” “The [duty officer] immediately recognized the error and proceeded to seek guidance on corrective action” from his supervisors, but “no clear instructions were provided to the on-duty officers in the immediate aftermath of the first alert,” the report states. The probe revealed Emergency Management Ontario’s “procedural gaps, lack of training, lack of familiarity with the Alert Ready system and communication failures.” EMO has already deployed a corrective action plan, which includes clearly indicating test messages; requiring a two-person verification process and separate log-in credentials for the test and live systems; and establishing a procedure for sending an immediate “end alert” message. Solicitor General Sylvia Jones again apologized and said the government “regrets the serious concern many people felt as a result of the alert.” “I unreservedly apologize for the alarm and anxiety caused to people across the province, and I want to assure the public that everything possible is being done to prevent a similar event in the future.” Green Leader Mike Schreiner said he’s glad preventative measures are being put in place, but “it’s simply inexcusable that the staff tasked with such an important responsibility lacked adequate training on how to do their job.” Today’s events February 28 at 9 a.m. – Whitby Seniors and Accessibility Minister Raymond Cho and his parliamentary assistant Daisy Wai will make an announcement at the Abilities Centre. February 28 at 10 a.m. – Hamilton Associate Mental Health Minister Michael Tibollo and local MPP Donna Skelly will make an announcement at Wayside House of Hamilton, a non-profit addiction treatment centre for men. February 28 at 10:30 a.m. – Oshawa Area MPP Lorne Coe will make an announcement about support for workers impacted by the looming closure of the General Motors plant. February 28 at 1 p.m. – Toronto Health Minister Christine Elliott will make an announcement in the Queen’s Park media studio. February 28 at 3:40 p.m. – Brantford David Piccini, parliamentary assistant to the minister of colleges and universities, will make an announcement at the Six Nations Polytechnic college. Upcoming events March 13 – Ottawa Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland will host a meeting with Canada’s premiers. The agenda includes economic competitiveness, climate change, natural resource development, middle-class job creation, health care, infrastructure and transfer payments. March 27 – Ottawa Premier Doug Ford will address the Manning Centre conference at the Westin Hotel. Topics of conversation ● The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association is planning a provincewide walkout March 5. The move comes after the union called off rotating strikes planned for this week because of a renewed round of contract negotiations with the province, but talks fell through late Monday night. ○ OECTA president Liz Stuart slammed the Ford government for insisting “on its deep, permanent cuts” and accused Education Minister Stephen Lecce of “peddling the inaccurate claim that enhancements to our benefits plan is the sticking point in bargaining” earlier this week. ○ Lecce doubled down on his claim that teachers are seeking a more than one per cent bump to benefits, noting the PCs have committed to protecting full-day kindergarten and funding special education programs. “Yet again, we have seen obstruction to a deal because of an insistence by the union on enhancements to an already generous benefit package,” the minister said in a statement.