“Bent up Like a Pretzel.”
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Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report March 14, 2019 Quotation of the day “Bent up like a pretzel.” Asked about his request for a customized OPP van, Premier Doug Ford suggested he feels squeezed travelling in the back of the regular Cadillac Suburban. Today at Queen’s Park On the schedule MPPs are in their ridings for constituency week. The House is adjourned until March 18. Premier watch Mangia spaghetti! Premier Doug Ford attended back-to-back Progressive Conservative pasta dinners this week, with PC MPP Sam Oosterhoff in Niagara and Education Minister Lisa Thompson in Mildmay. Ministers Steve Clark and Rod Phillips held tandem fundraisers in the Ottawa area — a $75-a-head whisky tasting and $150-a-ticket soiree, respectively. The premier also stopped by a home under construction in St. Catharines and visited a greenhouse in Beamsville this week. Throughout his tour, Ford may have felt “bent up like a pretzel” in the back of the standard OPP Cadillac Suburban used to transport premiers. That’s how Ford described his time spent in Suburbans when a reporter asked about his staffer Nico Fidani’s use of a personal email to discuss a cost estimate for a customized van. It’s alleged Ford’s office wanted the sticker price kept off the books, which he denies. “People are going back and forth with emails,” Ford said before shrugging off the question and inviting reporters for a ride. Ford breaks “not a single person will lose their job” promise Premier Doug Ford confirmed management-level positions will be eliminated as part of the PC’s major health care transformation plan, walking back his campaign promise of no job losses. “You know who’s going to lose their jobs, unfortunately, are the people in the LHINs, the CEOs, that are making hundreds of thousands of dollars, the big silos they have there, the big executives, presidents, vice-presidents, making outrageous amounts of money,” Ford told reporters at a trucking company in Cambridge Wednesday. “We’re going to take that money and put it to the front lines.” Those job losses would occur as the government moves to fold the 14 Local Health Integration Networks and other agencies like eHealth and Cancer Care Ontario into the Ontario Health super-agency. On the campaign trail last spring Ford repeatedly vowed no public servants would lose their job as part of his government’s efforts to lower the deficit and rein in spending. But in recent weeks his ministers have tweaked the promise with the caveat that front-line positions will be protected. “We’re going to review everything, I’ve always said we’re going to protect the frontline people, which we have,” Ford said. “Promise made, promise kept on that.” Ford made the remarks at a press conference where he doubled down on his anti-carbon tax crusade, as the federal carbon backstop and Ontario’s legal challenge against it loom large. (Ontario’s reference case is on the docket for April 15 to 18; the legal battle is expected to make it to the Supreme Court. Ottawa’s carbon pricing plan takes effect April 1.) Ford also took questions on the Ron Taverner controversy for the first time since his longtime friend withdrew from contention for the OPP commissioner position amid mounting controversy. “Sure, I’m disappointed,” Ford said of Taverner’s exit. “But we’re moving forward, we have a new commissioner” with a “phenomenal” resume he said of the newly appointed Thomas Carrique. Ford, who has been accused of trying to influence police, was also quizzed on the thin blue line between government and cops. Ford called the OPP commissioner’s gig a “political appointment” — a term he has used before — but said there should be “100 per cent” separation when it comes to operations. Lastly, the premier defended autism treatment funding under his government and was cagey over questions regarding possible municipal amalgamations and changes to class sizes. Ford kept it high-level and said he didn’t want to scoop his ministers on their upcoming announcements. Today’s events March 14 at 9 a.m. – Ottawa Environment Minister Rod Phillips and Training, Colleges and Universities Minister Merrilee Fullerton will be at Algonquin College to talk about the federal carbon tax resistance. March 14 at 10 a.m. – Toronto Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter will be in the media studio with a veritable who’s who of autism parents and advocates, including Ontario Autism Coalition president Laura Kirby-McIntosh, prominent economics expert Mike Moffatt, behavioural therapist Louis Busch, and director and associate professor at Ryerson’s school of nursing Nancy Walton. Topics of conversation ● Longtime federal Conservative MP Scott Reid is threatening to sever financial support for his provincial cousins unless the Progressive Conservatives invite suspended MPP Randy Hillier back into their ranks, Huffington Post reports. Meanwhile, Hillier says he was booted indefinitely because of “long-standing tensions” with Premier Ford’s chief of staff Dean French and senior campaign adviser Chris Froggatt (not the House Leader or Whip, who tend to be the ones to deal with so-called troublemaker MPPs.) The grievances, according to Hillier, include not clapping with the Tory claque in the chamber and not sharing social media posts lauding government action. You can read Hillier’s letter to his PC riding association in full here. ○ Hillier was suspended last month for heckling during an emotional question-period debate attended by families and advocates of children with autism. The veteran Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston MPP said his “yada yada yada” comment was directed at the NDP and apologized to parents who felt otherwise. ● More news on the education file dropped Wednesday. The Toronto Sun obtained a peek at Education Minister Lisa Thompson’s full curriculum overhaul, which includes scrapping Discovery Math in favour of going “back to the basics,” as the premier put it. ○ Thompson is expected to formally unveil more details by the end of the week. ● Provincial Child and Youth Advocate Irwin Elman says he’s leaving his post April 1, a month before the deadline to fold his standalone office into that of Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé. In a heartfelt letter addressed to the young people of Ontario, who Elman calls his “real bosses,” he thanked those who had the courage to call for support. “When you call our Office seeking support, you demonstrate such enormous strength. Just picking up the phone to make that call takes real courage,” Elman writes. “By your example, you have given hope to so many other children — children who will, in turn, find the courage to name their worlds and find their voices.” ○ Dubé’s office previously said it will take over the advocate’s investigative functions with regard to children’s aid societies and child protection matters, but its advocacy role will end, per the PC’s fall mini-budget bill. ○ Elman said that will mean job losses, including at a soon-to-be-shuttered advocacy office in Thunder Bay focused on Indigenous youth in the north. “Staff at that office, as well as some in our Toronto office, will unfortunately not be transitioning to the Ombudsman’s Office after that date,” Elman said. ● Chief Electoral Officer Greg Essensa has wrapped up the mandated post-event report for the 2018 general election, Queen’s Park Today has learned. It’s expected to be tabled in early April and is currently being translated to French and to comply with accessibility standards, a process that can take several weeks. ● Roughly 200 people gathered at Toronto Western Hospital Tuesday evening to talk health care with NDP Leader Andrea Horwath as part of a town-hall tour against the PC government’s big health-care system shakeup. Horwath reiterated the changes will lead to a two-tiered system — something the health minister flatly denies. ● Kidsability, an autism service provider in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, laid off eight therapists and a social worker, citing uncertainty over the controversial changes to autism treatment funding, CBC reports. Meanwhile, a London-area school board committee penned a letter to the premier and education minister warning some of the 3,700 students who are signed up for intensive therapy (of which half are on a waitlist for services) will be left behind under the revamped program. ● Cannabis countdown watch: With the April 1 deadline to open retail shops fast approaching, the Record points out Waterloo region is so far without a potential store while three are proposed for nearby London. Eighteen of the first 25 pot shops (divided regionally) have been proposed and a handful have been authorized, but some are worried they won’t be ready to open for business in time, and will face steep fines. ● Banning single-use plastics like drinking straws and plastic bags is easier said than done, but some in the restaurant industry are already getting rid of the products on their own, according to Sun columnist Jerry Agar. ○ Environment Minister Rod Phillips signalled support for a single-used plastics ban on which he’s currently consulting. His shadow minister, NDP MPP Ian Arthur, has a forthcoming PMB that would eliminate certain plastics by 2025. ● Former OPP commissioner Chris Lewis, who has traded barbs with Premier Ford over the Taverner controversy, takes to the opinion pages to defend a flawed, but hardly broken, provincial police force. ● A grandmother, two moms and three five-year-olds were reportedly met by police during a peaceful protest inside PC MPP Jim McDonell’s constituency office in Cornwall. Almost two weeks ago, Doug Ford’s constituency office called police to notify them of a similar protest.