Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report July 22, 2019

Quotation of the day

“He’s trying to do the same thing here for the economy Trump has for the United States. is terrific. He can do the job if they let him do the job.”

Don Cherry gives Toronto Sun columnist Joe Warmington a play-by-play on the premier. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Cherry also feels “sorry” for Sens owner Eugene Melnyk — the recent target of Sport ​ ​ Minister Lisa MacLeod’s profane tirade — because “he is losing money and is hated.” ​ ​

Today at Queen’s Park

On the schedule The summer recess is on until Monday, October 28.

‘I was an accomplished lacrosse player’: 26-year-old appointee linked to Dean French addresses cronyism controversy Dean French’s 26-year-old lacrosse connection is breaking his silence on the patronage ​ scandal.

Tyler Albrecht — whose now-revoked agent-general posting to New York City spurred the ​ ​ ​ resignation of the premier’s chief of staff in June — said he wanted to “set the record straight” because his character has been “attacked repeatedly and without merit.”

“Stories have constantly referred to me as a 26-year-old lacrosse player who received a patronage appointment from a close friend for a high-paying job,” reads the lengthy statement ​ posted to social media on Friday.

He went on to deny he is “a close personal friend” of French or his son. “Yes, I know both of them from when I was a teenager playing high school sports,” Albrecht wrote. “Mr. French’s son also earned a US sports scholarship in lacrosse at another college and we follow each other on social media. I am not distancing myself from the French family. I do like them and am thankful that Mr. French offered me an opportunity that any young person would love to have.”

Albrecht said he’s proud of his “numerous accomplishments,” such as earning a finance degree from Loyola University and being selected for a “prestigious” internship with a well-known Wall Street firm.

Albrecht took issue with reports characterizing the $164,910-a-year public appointment as high-paying.

“I do not dispute it was attractive compensation, especially for someone my age. But as a finance graduate with friends who work in the finance sector in New York and Toronto, I can honestly say several of my fellow graduates are earning that much and more,” he said.

Albrecht also apologized for offensive Facebook posts dating back to 2012 in which he used the terms “fag” and “no homo,” which were scrubbed after his provincial gig was announced.

“I am embarrassed by the thoughtlessness of my 16-year-old self,” he wrote. (The posts mentioned in news reports were from when Albrecht was at least 18). The premier’s office previously denounced the offensive posts.

Albrecht was one of two French-linked agents-general; Taylor Shields’ posting in London was ​ ​ revoked after reports revealed she is French’s second cousin-in-law.

Today’s events

July 22 at 8 a.m. – St. Catharines ​ ​ Housing and Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark will address the Niagara Chamber of ​ ​ Commerce and make an announcement at Rockway Vineyards.

July 22 at 11 a.m. – Brantford ​ ​ Minister Clark and local MPP will make an announcement. ​ ​

July 22 at 11:30 a.m. – Toronto ​ ​ NDP co-deputy leader will be in the Queen’s Park media studio with two ​ ​ constituents living with kidney failure to highlight the impact of the PC’s move to cut out-of-country OHIP coverage. The NDP says it will share correspondence with Health Minister regarding coverage for dialysis patients. ​

July 22 at 11:30 a.m. – Brampton ​ ​ Education Minister will make an announcement at Dolson Public School. ​ ​

July 22 at 2:30 p.m. – Hamilton ​ ​ Minister Clark and PC MPP will make an announcement at a social housing ​ ​ complex on Wentworth Street.

Topics of conversation

● The has the inside track on how Dean French spent his second-last day as ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Premier Ford’s right-hand man orchestrating a major shakeup at the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario, a $60-billion public pension board. ○ Meanwhile, Jeff Coles, a former elevator salesman, has stepped down from the ​ ​ Ontario Power Generation board following concerns about his longstanding ties ​ to French. ​

● Attorney General is appealing to Justin Trudeau in the fight to get more ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ federal funding for refugee legal aid, saying he hasn’t heard from the PM’s ministers on the file since taking over the portfolio in last month’s cabinet shuffle. ○ Echoing his predecessor, now-Transportation Minister , ​ ​ Downey wrote to federal Justice Minister David Lametti and Finance Minister ​ ​ Bill Morneau calling for the proper funding of immigration legal services. ​ ○ The provincial government is slashing legal aid funding by about 30 per cent, which advocates and experts say will slow down cases and leave vulnerable refugees without legal support. ○ Ontario wants Ottawa to provide $25 million to help make up the funding shortfall. Downey said Ontario isn’t getting its fair share compared to other provinces that have about 90 per cent of the costs covered, while Ontario only gets 35 per cent. ○ The federal government denied the lack of communication and noted all provinces and territories signed off on the funding formula based on caseload and available resources.

● The Canadian Tulip Festival in Ottawa is selling off giant flower sculptures to get out of debt after it failed to get $100,000 in provincial grant money it has received for the past five years in time for this year’s floral parade. Tourism and Culture Minister Lisa ​ MacLeod says the government is now providing the festival with $69,000, which came ​ as a welcome surprise to the head organizer, CBC reports. ​ ​

● The People’s Party of Canada is filling up its Ontario candidate roster. Maxime Bernier, ​ ​ leader of the far-right party, introduced 35 federal election candidates in ridings across southwestern Ontario at an event in London last week. The London Free Press has the ​ ​ details. ​ ○ The party’s arguably most high-profile Ontario candidate remains Renata Ford ​ — the premier’s sister-in-law.

● Patrick Brown and wife Genevieve Gualtieri are celebrating the birth of a baby boy, ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Theodore Brown. ​

● The youngest MPP ever elected to Queen’s Park tied the knot this weekend. PC caucus members toasted Sam Oosterhoff and Keri Ludwig at a big reception in Lincoln. ​ ​ ​ ​

Appointments and employments PC Party ● The PC Party is revamping its 2022 election readiness committee as the “leader’s advisory council on election readiness” and shaking up its members, according to a memo Premier Doug Ford sent to party organizers that was obtained by Queen’s Park ​ ​ ​ ​ Today. ​ ○ The new, bigger lineup includes more women and some familiar faces from the original committee announced in January, but no one from caucus or currently ​ employed in the premier’s office. Minister Steve Clark has been removed; ditto ​ ​ Ford’s deputy chiefs of staff Amin Massoudi and Simone Daniels. Dean ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ French previously parted ways with the re-election campaign when he resigned ​ ​ ​ as chief of staff amid a patronage scandal. ○ Some original members are making a comeback: Chris Froggatt, 2018 ​ ​ campaign vice-chair who led Ford’s transition team and helms Loyalist Public Affairs; Kory Teneycke, 2018 campaign manager and founder of Rubicon ​ ​ Strategies; Brian Patterson, PC Party president; Tony Miele, PC ​ ​ ​ ​ fundraiser-in-chief; and Mike Crase, party executive director and former chief ​ ​ operating officer at ElectRight. ○ The others are: ■ John Baird; ​ ■ Jeff Bangs; ■ Shakir Chambers; ​ ■ Gaggan Gill; ​ ■ Jason Lietaer; ​ ■ Melissa Lantsman; ​ ■ Chris Loreto; ​ ■ Kelly Mitchell; ​ ■ Melanie Paradis; ​ ■ André Robichaud; ​ ■ Ginny Roth; and ​ ■ Peter Van Loan. ​ ○ Ford said the new slate comprises longtime party volunteers from all regions. “The Council will advise me on a plan leading up to the next election, as we prepare for 2022. I expect the Council to work with the Party Executive to engage riding presidents from across the province,” reads the memo dated July 19.

News briefs – governmental Ministry of the Attorney General

● Attorney General Doug Downey says charities in Ontario will be able to put $4 million ​ ​ more into the causes they support as the government is waiving provincial fees applied ​ ​ to the sale of break-open lotto tickets sometimes used in fundraising efforts. ○ The government says it collected approximately $4.7 million in administrative fees from charities running break-open lotteries in fiscal 2017-18. ○ The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario oversees break-open ticket events for eligible charities and religious organizations alongside municipalities.

Ministry of Energy ● Energy Minister and his counterparts in Alberta and Saskatchewan ​ ​ ​ refused to sign on to the federal government’s communiqué from last week’s Energy and Mines Ministers’ Conference in Cranbrook, B.C. ○ In a news release, Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage said she, Rickford and ​ ​ Saskatchewan Energy and Resources Minister Bronwyn Eyre were “profoundly ​ ​ disappointed” with the meeting’s “superficial” discussions on energy competitiveness, market access and Ottawa’s recently passed Bill C-69 and ​ ​ C-48. ​ ○ “It was clear the federal government did not want any meaningful conversation about its encroachment on provincial jurisdiction,” the ministers wrote in a joint statement.

Funding announcements Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry ● Ontario is putting up $6 million to replace the Tilden Lake Dam, Ministers John ​ Yakabuski and , who represents nearby Nippissing, announced last week. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

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

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