Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report December 5, 2018 Quotation of the day “The NDP and the Liberals, they can’t keep up to us … The official opposition is the media.” Premier Doug Ford admits to reporters he warned the PC caucus at a recent meeting ​ ​ that “the media party” is its strongest critic. Today at Queen’s Park On the schedule The House sits at 9 a.m. The government could call any of the following pieces of business for debate throughout the day: ● Bill 32, Access to Natural Gas Act; ​ ​ ​ ● Bill 48, Safe and Supportive Classrooms Act; and ​ ​ ​ ● The government’s order amending the standing orders. The Tories have several motions on the order paper that could extend this week’s sittings as late as midnight. The Auditor General’s annual report hits the Clerk’s table around noon. Tuesday’s debates and proceedings Bill 34, Green Energy Repeal Act, was up for debate in the morning and passed a third reading ​ vote after question period (Ayes 69; Nays 38). The bill eliminates the former Liberal government’s green energy program, a centrepiece of former premier Dalton McGuinty’s ​ ​ political career, and restores municipal authority relating to the siting of green energy projects. In the afternoon, MPPs continued third-reading debate on Bill 32, Access to Natural Gas Act. ​ ​ In the park The Canadian Cancer Survivor Network is hosting an MPP breakfast and the Salvation Army will mingle with MPPs over lunch. The Lung Association of Ontario and Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization will hold evening receptions. Speaker Ted Arnott will host a holiday appreciation shindig in the main lobby Wednesday ​ ​ evening. Toys and cash donations will be accepted by the Toronto Firefighters toy drive. Peter Van Loan was in the chamber to watch Tuesday’s question period. The now-retired ​ Conservative MP for York-Simcoe got a special shout out from Attorney General Caroline ​ Mulroney, who represents his riding at the provincial level and was recently at an event ​ ​ honouring Van Loan alongside Scot Davidson, the newly nominated federal Conservative ​ ​ candidate. Van Loan has also signed up to Ontario’s lobbyist registry. Ford says he “had zero influence” on controversial top cop job Premier Doug Ford downplayed his connection to longtime family friend Ron Taverner ​ ​ ​ Tuesday, saying he had nothing to do with the Toronto police superintendent’s controversial appointment as Ontario Provincial Police commissioner. “I’m friends with thousands of people,” Ford told reporters when asked about the optics of him signing off on Taverner’s appointment during a Tuesday afternoon media conference. Ford said he did not recuse himself when his cabinet approved the order-in-council for Taverner’s new gig, which was recommended by a selection committee of public servants with the help of executive search firm Odgers Berndtson. “Recuse myself from what?” Ford said. The premier insisted he had “zero influence” on the decision and noted Taverner is the “best choice the committee could ever make.” The committee comprised Cabinet Secretary Steve Orsini, still-new Deputy Community Safety ​ ​ Minister Mario Di Tommaso — who is Taverner’s former boss — and someone from the ​ ​ recruiting firm. Before being appointed to the ministry, Di Tommaso was a Toronto staff sergeant; he is now in charge of the ministry’s policing file. Taverner lauded Di Tommaso’s ​ appointment to deputy minister in October, calling him a “modern-thinking, old school guy at the ​ same time.” iPolitics first reported the top cop job posting was changed to lower the rank qualifications. That ​ ​ ​ ​ allowed Taverner, who is two ranks below the deputy chief level required by the original job ad, to successfully apply to lead the provincial police force. A spokesperson for the Cabinet Officer reportedly said there was “no political involvement” in ​ ​ the recruiting process. In question period, Community Safety Minister Sylvia Jones said the hiring firm made the ​ ​ changes to the job description “to ensure that more people applied.” Opposition critics and advocacy group Democracy Watch are among those calling for an independent review of the appointment, which the Tories don’t seem inclined to launch. Former OPP commissioner Chris Lewis has also criticized Taverner’s appointment, calling it a ​ ​ “kick” to the OPP that someone who spent their policing career on the local beat will be leading the provincial force. Ford fired back Tuesday and suggested reporters “look into some of the stuff about” the former commissioner. Lewis countered on Twitter, “I suppose we all have a ‘history’ and sometimes ​ ​ ‘some’ of it is urban myth and some of it is actually true.” Taverner, whose career spans more than five decades, will take up his new post December 17. He’s also likely in line for a pay bump. According to 2017’s sunshine list, Taverner raked in $178,968; then-OPP commissioner Vince Hawkes earned $275,907. ​ ​ Today’s events December 5 at 12 p.m. – Toronto ​ Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk will table her annual report and hold a press conference at ​ ​ noon. Queen’s Park Today will be in the media lockup starting at 9 a.m. The government and ​ ​ ​ opposition will respond in the media studio following the AG. Topics of conversation ● Ex-energy minister Glenn Thibeault took his turn at the select committee probing his ​ ​ former Liberal government’s accounting practices Tuesday. Thibeault’s testimony didn’t stray far from that of the former premier Kathleen Wynne a day earlier. Asked who ​ ​ came up with the complex borrowing scheme at the heart of the Liberals’ Fair Hydro Plan, Thibeault repeated Wynne, saying it was a team effort. “There was no one person,” he said. ○ Thibeault said his understanding was that Ontario Power Generation was “best suited” to take on the cost of subsidizing electricity rates. The Fair Hydro Plan allowed the province to borrow $26 billion through a trust set up by OPG, with future ratepayers footing the bill — including up to $21 billion in interest payments. ○ Despite hearing concerns from the public service, Thibeault said no one explicitly told him not to go ahead with the hydro rate relief plan. ○ He acknowledged high hydro prices were a political problem for his party, but he believed it was more than “just energy” hurting the Grits’ popularity. ○ The committee agreed to compensate Thibeault $338.80 to cover travel and accommodation costs from his hometown of Sudbury. ○ Thibeault is the select committee’s last witness; a final report is due December 13. ● Newly Independent MPP Amanda Simard told the Toronto Star she felt “betrayed” by ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ her former PC caucus-mates when she, as the only francophone Tory member, was not informed about the controversial changes to French-language services. ○ “You’ve got to do what’s right for your riding. I didn’t go to law school ... let alone get elected to clap when I’m told,” Simard told the Star. ​ ​ ● QP Briefing got an inside look at Queen’s Park’s new Parliamentary Reform Caucus. ​ ​ ​ The non-partisan caucus is currently made up of Liberal MPP Nathalie Des Rosiers, PC ​ ​ MPP Randy Hillier and Green MPP Mike Schreiner and is hoping more MPPs who are ​ ​ ​ ​ eager to discuss improvements to parliamentary protocol and committee proceedings will join. ● Premier Doug Ford landed on Yahoo! Canada’s most searched people of 2018 list. Ford ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ placed seventh overall, behind Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in fourth place, Meghan ​ ​ ​ Markle and the “Canadian dollar.” U.S. President Donald Trump topped the list. ​ ​ ​ ● Long-serving ex-Liberal MPP and Niagara regional councillor-elect Jim Bradley is ​ ​ throwing his hat in the ring for the regional chair this Thursday, when Niagara councillors ​ will vote on the appointment. ● The fate of Ontario’s patient ombudsman seems to be up in the air, the CBC reports. ​ ​ ​ ​ The new-ish role was only held by one person so far — current Health Minister Christine Elliott. The office is currently being run by its executive director and is not ​ advertising any job postings. News releases — governmental Ministry of Government and Consumer Services The province is speeding up the process it uses to sell off surplus public property. The ministry projects it can generate roughly $105 million to $135 million in revenue over four years by shedding its excess real estate, according to a release. ​ The government says streamlining the process will see 243 properties, or approximately 14,600 acres, up for sale over four years. NDP housing critic Suze Morrison said the government’s announcement reveals it plans to sell ​ ​ off public lands at a “shockingly low price.” She said the math works out to around $550,000 per property, or $9,000 per acre, which “appears to be a rock-bottom, fire-sale price.” The NDP have sounded similar alarm bells over the recent $16 million sale of the R.L. Hearn Generating site on Toronto’s waterfront. Funding announcements Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport ● Ontario is putting out the call for festival and event applications under the Celebrate Ontario program. Last year grants supported film festivals, holiday markets, a maple syrup showcase, Oktoberfest celebrations, Toronto’s Nuit Blanche and Thundercon, a convention in Thunder Bay where attendees can get “geek on.” The program helped bring the giant rubber duck to Ontario, ruffling some PC feathers at the time. ​ ​ ○ The deadline to apply for funding is January 9. ○ The announcement came on the same day the Tourism Industry of Ontario Association held a lobby day and press conference at the legislature. ○ The tourism association says its industry represents $34.1 billion in annual revenue in Ontario — 4.3 per cent of the annual GDP. ○ The government has begun consultations on a new tourism strategy.