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“Deeply Disappointing.” Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report September 30, 2019 Quotation of the day “Deeply disappointing.” Education Minister Stephen Lecce on school support workers launching job action. ​ ​ Today at Queen’s Park On the schedule The House is on extended recess until Monday, October 28. Premier watch Premier Doug Ford stopped by a community barbeque hosted by Scarborough Centre PC MPP ​ ​ Christina Mitas on Sunday and attended a gala for A-Supreme Foundation, a charity that ​ advocates for low-income seniors, in Etobicoke on Saturday night. In the park On Friday, thousands flocked to the legislature’s lawn for the global climate strike rally. Neither Premier Doug Ford or his Environment Minister Jeff Yurek attended, but their climate policies ​ ​ ​ ​ were called out. ● Ex-environmental watchdog Dianne Saxe — a vocal critic of the PCs before and after ​ ​ they closed down her office and axed her position last year — said Ontario’s government is now an “international embarrassment” and “the biggest obstacle” to climate action. “The reason no one from the Ford government is here, I think, is that their record is abominable,” Saxe told the crowd. ● NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and Green Leader Mike Schreiner were equally critical ​ ​ ​ ​ of the PCs record. Schreiner penned an open letter to Ford that same day, appealing to the business-minded premier by putting an economic lens on climate policy. “As a business person, I would hope that you understand how important it is to invest in where the public is going instead of where it has been,” Schreiner wrote. ● Yurek put out a self-congratulatory statement on the “significant” emissions reductions the province has made over the past decade, most of which occurred under the Liberals. On Sunday, flags were at half-mast until sunset in recognition of the Police and Peace Officers’ ​ ​ National Memorial Day, which commemorates fallen officers. School support staff launch work-to-rule campaign after CUPE, province hit a wall at the bargaining table this weekend School support staff will launch a work-to-rule campaign today after last-minute talks between CUPE and the province broke down over the weekend. Education Minister Stephen Lecce said it is “deeply disappointing” the parties couldn’t hammer ​ ​ out a deal to avert job action “despite a limited number of outstanding items at the table.” He called the Crown’s latest offer “reasonable.” “We have offered proposals to address compensation, job security and funding for additional staffing,” Lecce said in a statement Sunday evening. A sticking point for the province is “resolving rising absenteeism rates, and the impact that has on students and schools.” Laura Walton, president of CUPE’s education faction, told CP24 the union is also disappointed ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ no deal was reached. “We wanted a deal. But ‘reasonable’ isn’t enough,” Walton said. The Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA), which represents the school boards that employ educational support staff, said it regrets the Council of Trustees’ Associations, the Crown and CUPE’s failure to reach a collective agreement. At issue, according to the OPSBA, is its proposed reduction to the amount it pays workers when they are on short-term disability. School boards are concerned about high rates of absenteeism and hope a “modest alteration” to leave wages would deter the practice, but CUPE has “refused to agree to any changes to the plan,” the association said, echoing the minister. Currently, support workers can access 131 days of short-term disability leave per year with 11 days paid at 100 per cent of wages, and the rest at 90 per cent. The OPSBA says this plan has “driven a significant and continuous rise in absenteeism rates” that negatively impact boards’ budgets and the services provided to students. Total legislative recall: Coteau demands Ford resume sitting in the ‘public interest’ Meanwhile, Liberal MPP and leadership hopeful Michael Coteau is calling on Premier Doug ​ ​ ​ Ford to end the extended recess in the “public interest” as negotiations with the five main ​ education unions roll on. In a letter to Ford Friday, Coteau said it is “critical” Opposition parties are able to hold his government accountable in the wake of an explosive report from Financial Accountability Officer ​ ​ Peter Weltman, which forecasts 10,000 fewer teaching positions over the next five years. ​ ​ ​ Coteau accused the premier of shutting down the legislature to “avoid drawing attention to [his] unpopular policies in order to assist [his] friend and federal Conservative colleague, Andrew ​ Scheer” on the campaign trail. ​ The fall session was slated to begin September 9 under the original parliamentary calendar. On his way into last Wednesday’s cabinet meeting at Queen’s Park, House Leader Paul ​ Calandra told reporters the province is waiting for the federal “election to be done” on October ​ 21 and there are no plans to sit before October 28 as scheduled. “Nothing’s changed. We’re looking at the 28th, and I’ve not seen anything that’s crossed my desk that would require us to change that,” Calandra said. Both Premier Doug Ford and Lecce have been cagey when asked if the PCs would recall the ​ ​ legislature ahead of schedule to avert a possible teachers’ strike — like they did last December to head off a power workers’ strike. As part of Monday’s work-to-rule campaign, CUPE has told clerical staff not to supervise students and custodians not to sweep hallways, gymnasiums or other spaces that aren’t funded by the ministry. The elementary teachers’ union is currently holding provincewide strike votes and the high school teachers’ union has launched a website with on-the-go bargaining updates for the public. ​ ​ The unions also held a rally outside Associate Energy Minister Bill Walker’s constituency office ​ ​ in Owen Sound on Friday. Ford government cancels Ontario’s film-rating agency It’s curtains for the Ontario Film Authority, the arms-length agency in charge of rating mainstream and adult flicks. On Friday the Ford government quietly announced that as of October 1, it will use British Columbia’s system to rate movies screened in Ontario while developing a new framework for film classification. The move is part of broader consultations to bring Ontario’s system up to speed with digital streaming services. Consumer Protection BC has agreements in place with the governments of Manitoba and Saskatchewan to provide film classifications for those provinces. “Ontario has no role in classifying or approving films shown online or through online subscription-based streaming services. Over the past decade, an increasing volume of the entertainment market has moved to this type of medium,” reads the consultation paper posted to the regulatory registry website. “There is a need to review Ontario’s Film Classification Act and find ways to modernize the legal requirements to better reflect today’s film market.” The film industry stands to save about $2 million a year in classification and licensing costs, according to the government. That’s also approximately how much it costs to operate the current program. “For the Ontario Film Authority to continue operating, significant and unsustainable fee increases imposed on film industry participants would be required.” For pornography, the government will require approval from “any Canadian jurisdiction that reviews and approves adult film product.” The discussion paper also notes there’s been a “significant decrease in the classification market for DVDs and adult films” over the past decade. The deadline to weigh in is October 28. Today’s events September 30 at 9:30 a.m. — Toronto ​ Liberal MPP Michael Coteau will speak to reporters in the Queen’s Park media studio about his ​ ​ call to recall the legislature. September 30 at 10 a.m. — Nobleton ​ Seniors and Accessibility Minister Raymond Cho and Education Minister Stephen Lecce will ​ ​ ​ ​ make an announcement at St. Mary Catholic Elementary School. September 30 at 10 a.m. — Toronto ​ NDP MPP Chris Glover, critic for Colleges and Universities, will be in the media studio with ​ ​ post-secondary students to call on the Ford government to reverse OSAP changes. September 30 at 1:30 p.m. — Orillia ​ Solicitor General Sylvia Jones and new(ish) OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique will attend ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ the ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new cyber operations centre at police headquarters. Topics of conversation ● Doug Ford doesn’t appear to have lost any cool points despite Justin Trudeau’s ​ ​ ​ repeated invocation of Ontario’s premier at federal election campaign events. That’s the upshot from Angus Reid’s quarterly survey on the premiers’ popularity, which suggests ​ ​ Ford’s approval rating is virtually unchanged at 37 per cent. ○ Ford ranks second-to-last among Canada’s first ministers, with Nova Scotia Liberal Premier Stephen McNeil clocking 27 per cent support. In December, ​ ​ Ford’s approval rating sat at 42 per cent, according to the pollster. ○ An earlier Angus poll suggested Ford and his government’s policies will be a major factor in the October 21 election, with the Andrew Scheer-led ​ ​ Conservatives taking a hit at the ballot box. ○ Angus Reid was in the field September 16 to 18 to survey 3,817 Canadian adults online; the poll is considered accurate within two percentage points, 19 times out of 20. ● Ontario’s retail pot licensing process was given the green light by the Divisional Court on Friday, according to the Canadian Press. ​ ​ ​ ○ A three-judge panel dismissed the legal challenge sparked by 11 disqualified winners of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario’s second lottery, lifting a hold on the process that was imposed while the case was being heard. ○ The group was disqualified for not submitting paperwork on time; the AGCO replaced them by pulling from a waitlist. ○ Counsel for the disqualified winners told the court the AGCO failed to properly notify them, pointing out that the original emails the agency used to congratulate the winners bounced back.
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