Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report October 7, 2019

Quotation of the day

“Let’s get ‘er done.”

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney kicks off his campaign stint for CPC Leader Andrew ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Scheer in Nepean Friday. ​

Today at Queen’s Park

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

Premier watch Premier Doug Ford, Solicitor General Sylvia Jones and Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Dowdeswell attended and addressed the annual firefighters’ memorial ceremony on the ​ legislature’s grounds Sunday. Flags were at half-mast until sunset.

The premier said he is “forever grateful” for the 46 fallen firefighters added to the memorial this year, and all who save lives “at the risk of their own” and “make the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.” His government will always have their backs, Ford said.

On Friday, Ford, his wife Karla and Education Minister Stephen Lecce were spotted with ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Ontario Chamber of Commerce head Rocco Rossi at the Canadian Italian Business and ​ ​ Professional Association’s annual gala event in Vaughan.

Ontario, CUPE education workers reach tentative deal, avert strike Schools will be open today after CUPE reached a tentative deal with the province and school boards, averting a possible strike by thousands of education workers.

Weekend negotiations stretched into Sunday night and Education Minister Stephen Lecce ​ addressed the media shortly after 9 p.m.

On absenteeism, a sticking point for the province, Lecce said the agreement — which still has to be ratified — “strengthened the integrity of the sick leave system” and ensures it remains “compassionate” for workers who need it.

Asked whether education workers should be made an essential service (and therefore limited in their ability to strike), Lecce said that’s “not a policy priority of this government.”

Laura Walton, CUPE’s lead negotiator, said the turning point was when changes to sick leave ​ were taken off the table, allowing the union to focus on services for students. While more details are expected after ratification at the end of the month, Walton said sick leave provisions will be maintained. The agreement also comes with a “modest” wage increase and $20 million in additional funding.

Walton said the deal ensures services for students and “secure jobs” for workers with “decent benefits and paid leave when they’re sick or injured.”

As for her message for Minister Lecce, Walton said, “thanks for opening the piggy bank.”

Walton also said the decision to reach the deal was not impacted by the ongoing federal election campaign.

The union had given the requisite five-day notice for a strike last week, putting them in a position to walk off the job today, which is the English-language federal debate, days before advance polls are set to open and two weeks out from the vote on October 21.

In a statement, Premier Doug Ford said he is “proud” of Lecce’s work on the file, which he said ​ ​ met the government’s goal of establishing an agreement “that respect[s] taxpayers, students and families, while also recognizing the important contributions of our front-line education workers.”

Cathy Abraham, president of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association, called the ​ agreement “fair” and “responsible,” and “a recognition that we value the contribution [workers] make to the educational experience of our students every day.”

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath blamed the Ford government’s policies for causing “chaos” in the ​ ​ classroom and uncertainty for families.

“After an unnecessarily stressful weekend, parents and students across Ontario will be relieved to hear that school is on,” Horwath said in a statement. “While we have narrowly avoided school closures tomorrow, it’s clear that Doug Ford’s devastating education cuts are hurting kids in classrooms across Ontario.”

Parents were scrambling to find alternative care while students took to Tik Tok to weigh in on ​ ​ ​ ​ the possible strike.

Many school boards, including the Toronto District School Board, the biggest in the province, said they would shut down if workers walked off the job and told parents to look into alternative options if no deal was reached over the weekend.

CUPE — which represents 55,000 custodians, early childhood educators and clerical staff — began working to rule last week after an earlier round of weekend bargaining broke down.

The tentative deal with CUPE doesn’t mean Ontario is clear of possible labour action in the education system. Negotiations with high school and elementary teachers are ongoing; the latter is holding strike votes and the former is publicly posting bargaining updates.

Meanwhile, federal Liberal Leader will meet with teachers in Ottawa during a ​ ​ Monday morning campaign stop.

Kenney campaigns for Scheer in Ontario without Ford Alberta Premier Jason Kenney was stumping for Conservative Leader in ​ ​ ​ ​ Ontario this weekend without Premier Doug Ford. ​ ​

One of the pit stops was in Etobicoke, the heart of Ford Nation. On Saturday Kenney was featured at a $300-a-ticket fundraiser for the Conservative candidate in Etobicoke Centre, Ted ​ Opitz. ​

Speaking to reporters at another event, Kenney downplayed Ford’s absence, saying he has no illusions his Ontario tour will have a “decisive” impact on the October 21 vote.

“The federal party doesn’t need me down here,” he said.

The Alberta premier kicked off his tour in Nepean alongside the local Conservative candidate Brian St. Louis. Kenney told the crowd Justin Trudeau is the “least popular prime minister in ​ ​ ​ polling history” in his province whose policies have hindered Alberta’s oil and gas industry. His message for Ontario, he said, is “let’s be partners in prosperity” and turf the Liberals for putting a price on carbon and overhauling the environmental assessment process.

Simon Jefferies, spokesperson for the Conservative Party campaign, told , ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ “As the Premier of Alberta, Premier Kenney is able to share a compelling message about the consequences of Justin Trudeau’s policies.”

Kenney’s tour was organized by the federal campaign; Ford’s office said there were no plans to join Kenney. Scheer has also campaigned in Ford’s political stronghold of Etobicoke without Ford, and the premier has said their offices aren’t in touch about joint campaigning.

Ford maintains he’s more focused on governing the province than on joining the federal election fray. That said, the Toronto Star has reported Ford is “getting sick of the cheap shots” and raring ​ ​ to defend the repeated blows coming from Trudeau, who repeatedly drags the premier’s name into the campaign as a cautionary tale of Conservative-led austerity.

More recently NDP Leader has also tried to capitalize on the smorgasbord of ​ ​ public-opinion surveys that suggest Ford’s policies are hurting the Conservatives electoral prospects in Ontario, where voters can make or break federal governments.

Meanwhile, Liberal candidates showed up to criticize Kenney’s Ontario tour and the lack of Ford.

Mark Holland, who is carrying the Liberal banner in Ajax and was a rumoured contender for ​ provincial Liberal leader, told reporters Kenney is “grasping for straws” because the Conservatives aren’t “connecting” in Ontario.

Earlier in Nepean, Grit candidate for nearby Gatineau Steve MacKinnon said it “must be quite ​ ​ an embarrassment” for Ford, who is laying low while Kenney hits the hustings on his turf. Liberal candidate for Mississauga—Malton pulled a similar move ahead of a Kenney ​ ​ ​ campaign stop with CPC candidate Pawanjit Gosal Sunday. ​ ​

Ontario Liberal leadership hopeful Steven Del Duca chimed in to call out Kenney’s policies ​ ​ “guttting” LGBTQ rights and protections in Alberta, including cancelling a working group for banning conversion therapy and lifting the prohibition on parental notification if a child joins a gay-straight alliance at school.

Today’s events

October 7 at 10 a.m. — Toronto ​ NDP Leader Andrea Horwath will hold a news conference in the media studio on the PC’s ​ ​ “harmful education cuts.”

October 7 at 7 p.m. — Gatineau ​ Federal political leaders Justin Trudeau, Andrew Scheer, Jagmeet Singh, , ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Yves-François Blanchet and Maxime Bernier go head-to-head for the first time in tonight’s ​ ​ ​ English-language debate at the Canadian Museum of History.

Upcoming events

October 10 at 11:45 a.m. — Toronto ​

Finance Minister Rod Phillips will address the Canadian Club of Toronto at the Hilton in a ​ ​ luncheon speech billed “Ontario is back on track.” Phillips will “look at the state of the province’s fiscal outlook and the government’s plan for a better Ontario.”

October 15 at 12 p.m. — Toronto ​ Infrastructure Minister Laurie Scott will be at the Toronto Region Board of Trade to detail the ​ ​ province’s new unsolicited infrastructure proposals program for the private sector.

Topics of conversation

● Here’s a handy roundup of all the cuts and changes the Ford government has walked back, courtesy of the Canadian Press. ​ ​ ​

● The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation turned $2.47 billion over to the province during the 2019-19 fiscal year, according to the agency’s annual report. Overall OLG revenues hit $8.3 billion last year, up from $7.8 billion in 2017-18. ○ Lottery revenues were up by $387 million to $4.2 billion, and digital gaming — the OLG’s newest venture that competes with international online markets — grew by 25 per cent to $90 million. However, casino gaming, which earned about the same as the lottery in 2017-18, grew by just 1.6 per cent last year. ○ OLG president and CEO Stephen Rigby touted the agency’s ongoing casino ​ ​ modernization strategy, which included last year’s hand-off of the West GTA and Central gaming bundles to Great Canadian Gaming and Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Limited, respectively, and said land-based gaming is “well positioned for continued growth.” ○ The OLG is also in the process of procuring a service provider to set up an online and mobile system for international sports betting. A contract announcement is expected this fall.

● Halton’s police chief is calling the provincial government’s move to stop funding police liaison officers in large prisons “one of the worst decisions I have ever seen.” Chief Stephen Tanner said the force has three officers who conduct criminal investigations ​ inside the Maplehurst correctional complex and Vanier Centre for women in Milton, but he was recently informed by the Ministry of the Solicitor General the agreements would be terminated at the end of the year. ○ While the government says correctional services will leverage their own intelligence resources to identify potential criminal activity, Tanner said that isn’t the kind of work his officers did. The Oakville Beaver has the story. ​ ​ ​

● Christine McMillan, secretary general for the Ontario Liberal Party’s 2020 leadership ​ contest, released the official call for the March 7 convention on Thursday evening.

Delegates will be elected during provincewide “Leadership Election Meetings” on the weekend of February 8, 2020. ○ Delegates and members with ex-officio status must cough up $499 to register. Paid observers will be charged $1,600 to attend the convention.

● Ontario Federation of Labour president Chris Buckley offered up his union’s official ​ ​ endorsement of federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. “In the last 18 months, Ontarians ​ ​ have learned first-hand just how much social and economic damage a Conservative government can do,” Buckley wrote in a Hamilton Spectator op-ed. ​ ​ ​ ​

News briefs — governmental Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade ● Minister Vic Fedeli formally announced he will lead a business delegation to India from ​ ​ November 18 to 22 with an eye to opening up the market for infrastructure and information and communication technologies. ○ Fedeli and Agriculture Minister Ernie Hardeman are embarking on a week-long ​ ​ trade mission to South Korea and Japan on October 12. ○ Meanwhile, Toronto Mayor John Tory is in London, UK, today and tomorrow to ​ ​ promote Ontario’s capital as a “competitive global business centre” and “pitch the Toronto advantage to specific companies looking to invest in the city.”

Funding announcements Ministry of Northern Development, Energy and Mines ● Wisk Air, a charter helicopter service in northern Ontario, is getting a $1-million government grant to purchase a third Bell 412 helicopter for its fleet. The government says the acquisition will improve search and rescue and emergency services in northern communities, support electrical powerline development projects and expand emergency relief to people in remote Indigenous communities.

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

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