Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report November 12, 2019

Quotation of the day

“We just don’t know what [the changes] are, when they’ll be announced, or even what process is being used and who’s involved.”

An anonymous respondent vents in a new survey from the Nonprofit Network ​ ​ that suggests the Ford government’s budget cuts — coupled with rash decision-making — have created “a climate of growing uncertainty and volatility” among charities and non-profits.

Today at Queen’s Park

On the schedule MPPs are back in their ridings for a constituency week break; the house convenes Monday, November 18.

In the park Premier hosted a snowy Remembrance Day ceremony at the veterans’ memorial on ​ ​ the south lawn. Like much of his caucus, Ford later paid respects at the Royal Canadian Legion branch in his home riding of Etobicoke.

Flags were lowered to half-mast, and most ministry and legislative offices were also closed.

Today’s events

November 12 at 10:30 a.m. – Brockville ​ Universities and Colleges Minister will make an announcement at St. Lawrence ​ ​ College’s Brockville campus alongside local MPP Steve Clark. ​ ​

November 12 at noon – ​

Finance Minister Rod Phillips and Associate Small Business Minister will ​ ​ ​ ​ make an announcement at Salon 247.

November 12 at 3 p.m. – Belleville ​ Minister Romano and local MPP will make an announcement at Loyalist College. ​ ​

Upcoming events

November 13 to 15 – Toronto ​ The Ontario Chamber of Commerce is holdings its annual economic summit at Hotel X and the ​ ​ Beanfield Centre this week. Premier Doug Ford will deliver remarks Thursday; NDP Leader ​ ​ will give a speech Friday. Over a dozen cabinet ministers have also RSVPed. ​

Topics of conversation

● Come on and take a free ride, Ontario. Liberal MPP and aspirant leader ​ is pledging to wipe out public transit fares over a decade with an eye to boosting ​ ​ ridership, as part of a raft of policies tackling climate change. ○ Coteau acknowledged it’s a costly proposal and promised a cost-benefit analysis if he secures the Liberal leadership on March 7 and goes on to defeat the Ford government in 2022. ○ “During our first mandate, we will prioritize providing fare-free transit to young people and seniors, as well as to those Ontarians whose switch to public transit from private vehicular travel is determined to provide the most significant impact toward achieving targeted environmental, economic and social objectives,” he wrote in a new policy paper released Monday. ○ The wannabe Grit leader is also floating a regional EV-charging network, environmentally minded retrofits for public buildings, and the reversal of the PC’s cuts to flood mitigation and tree-planting programs. ○ Coteau is teasing four white papers ahead of the Liberal convention. The first ​ outlined plans to bolster transparency around lobbying, improve oversight of caucus bureau services and lower the voting age to 16.

● Bigger rigs may soon be cruising the GTA during rush hour if the PCs go ahead with a proposal to allow double-trailer transport trucks on highways at peak traffic times, the ​ CBC reports. ​

● The Ford government was willing to cough up as much as $1 million for an outside management consultant to help it cut costs for the developmental services program in time for the budget, according to documents unearthed by the Canadian Press. ​ ​ ​

● CP also dug up a letter showing the PCs paused a mandatory homelessness data ​ ​ ​ collection program instituted in 2018 that communities have been using to track and address the problem.

● Indigenous Affairs Minister is offering support to Bearskin Lake First ​ ​ Nation after Chief Rodney McKay declared a state of emergency Sunday due to a ​ ​ flooding threat in the remote territory north of Thunder Bay. ○ “Water is rising quickly from a severe ice jam and several roads are now submerged across the community,” Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin ​ Fiddler said in a statement. “Community members are cut off from the airport ​ and vital infrastructure including the water treatment plant has been compromised. Without immediate action the ice jam will keep building and the water will keep rising.” ○ Fiddler has asked Ottawa and Ontario to mobilize a “coordinated response” to clear the ice jam and prepare for possible evacuation. ○ Rickford said Monday a provincial emergency operations centre has been deployed and he’s in contact with Indigenous leaders. “We have engaged technical experts and understand the urgency of flooding on the ground.”

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

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