Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report September 17, 2020

Quotation of the day

“It's good to be free.”

Turfed PC 's first words in the house as an Independent. ​ ​

Today at Queen’s Park

Written by Sabrina Nanji

On the schedule The house reconvenes at 9 a.m. The government could call the following items for debate:

● Bill 202, Soldiers' Aid Commission Act, which would make changes to how the board ​ operates; ● Three of the private members' bills that were fast-tracked for third reading: Bill 182, ​ ​ Franco-Ontarian Emblem Amendment Act; Bill 180, Somali Heritage Month Act; Bill ​ ​ ​ 131, Tibetan Heritage Month Act; and ​ ● The government's motion shaking up the standing orders.

NDP and Liberals say they won't support that motion because it eliminates reasoned ​ amendments, which they believe are an important transparency tool. The government says ​ they've been abused as a stall tactic.

While the motion would also change the schedule for private members' business debates, they will go ahead as usual this afternoon.

● NDP MPP will put forward a motion calling on the government to provide ​ ​ "immediate urgent assistance" to Peel's Public Health Unit for more staffing, testing, community outreach and proactive workplace inspections.

● NDP Leader will move a motion urging the PCs to fund "the safest ​ ​ classroom environment possible" with a maximum of 15 students. (Motions are non-binding but have symbolic value.)

● PC MPP Jane McKenna will put forward her private member's Bill 201, Magna Carta ​ ​ ​ ​ Day Act (In Memory of Julia Munro), for second reading. The bill would proclaim June ​ ​ 15 Magna Carta Day and is named for the late MPP for York—Simcoe, who introduced her own version during her tenure.

Wednesday's debates and proceedings Amendments on amendments: MPPs continued debate on the standing-order motion yesterday, inching closer to the 6.5 hours required for a vote.

The debate has dragged on because the PCs tacked on a few housekeeping amendments, while NDP house leader is seeking Opposition-friendly changes. Bisson's ​ ​ amendment would, among other things, require 48 hours' notice and the full text of a government bill before it's introduced.

Two bills also hit the clerk's table:

● Social Services Minister introduced Bill 202, Soldiers' Aid Commission Act. ​ ​ ​ ​

● NDP MPP introduced private member's Bill 203, More Than A Visitor Act, ​ ​ ​ ​ which would enshrine the right to access essential caregivers for people in congregate care settings.

Premier watch Heavily teased rollbacks to gathering limits in hot spots topped the docket at Premier Doug ​ Ford's cabinet meeting yesterday. No official announcement emerged, but according to the ​ Sun, they won't apply to business settings, which will still face a cap of 50 people ​ indoors and 100 outdoors.

As Covid cases climb, Ford has pointed the finger at private parties and weddings. But he was asked by reporters to defend his own social behaviour, including hosting Premier François ​ Legault and Mayor Patrick Brown for intimate dinners, and attending MPP Stan ​ ​ ​ ​ Cho's walk down the aisle. (Ontarians are supposed to keep two metres apart from those ​ outside their 10-person social circle.)

"That wedding that I went to, 's, all the protocols were followed. Every single person in that room had a mask, they got their temperature taken. If I stretched my legs, I stood up from the table and didn't have my mask on and then sat back down. Wandering around that room, everyone had their masks on," Ford told reporters.

While Ford pledged to levy “severe, severe fines” for partying scofflaws, Toronto's bylaw officers aren't breaking up indoor parties out of fear they could contract the coronavirus. ​

The premier held his daily press conference at Queen's Park and used it to launch an online screening tool to help parents decide if they should keep their kids home from school. ​

No joint Independent caucus 's 12 Independent MPPs won't be banding together to form a recognized party, even though there are now enough of them to achieve that status — and the added legislative time and resources that come with it.

"We will not be officially recognized," Liberal house leader John Fraser told reporters this week. ​ ​ That motley crew of Liberals, ex-Progressive Conservatives and a Green have "a divergent group of interests."

"We don't want to create any confusion," added Green Leader . ​ ​

Both prefer to negotiate with the government for more rights and resources for the Independent MPPs, who, according to Fraser, get about $160,000 less than their counterparts in recognized parties.

The Independents work together to divvy up speaking time in the house. Fraser said it's "pretty exciting" Speaker gave the eight-member Liberal group four extra minutes to debate ​ ​ second- and third-reading of government bills — thanks to two byelection wins that brought and to their bench. ​ ​ ​

There were faint rumblings about the possibility of a joint caucus, and some Independents had even asked the clerk what it would take to team up back in the summer, after Belinda ​ ​ ​ Karahalios was turfed from the PC caucus for voting against Bill 195. Karahalios took the ​ ​ ​ twelfth seat on the bench this week.

The PCs raised the threshold for recognized status from eight to 12 around the time Amanda ​ Simard defected from the government benches over cuts to French language services. She ​ joined the Liberal party just over a year later.

Today’s events

September 17 at 11 a.m. – Sudbury ​ Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca will host an education roundtable with parents in Sudbury. ​ ​

September 17 at 1 p.m. – Toronto ​ Premier is expected to hold his daily press conference at Queen's Park. ​ ​

September 17 at 2 p.m. – Online ​

Economic Development Minister will give a virtual speech to the Canadian Club on ​ ​ “Ontario-made” solutions to the economic recovery.

September 17 at 3 p.m. – Toronto ​ Chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams and associate CMOH Dr. Barbara Yaffe will ​ ​ ​ ​ provide their regular COVID-19 update

Topics of conversation

● Ontario's Covid count shot above 300 for the second time this week. There were 315 new cases reported Wednesday, as well as two more deaths of residents in long-term care, after more than 28,000 tests were processed. Folks under 40 accounted for 64 per cent of new infections. ○ Some hotter spots are emerging, in addition to the usual suspects of Toronto (77), (61) and Peel (54) — York (37), Durham (24) and Windsor (10). All other public health units had fewer than 10 new cases. ○ Schools saw a dozen new cases, pushing the total to 41, while four more cases in child-care centres brings the overall count to 52. ○ A high school in Pembroke became the first in the province to shut down after a symptomatic teacher came to work and even more went without masks before an ​ outbreak. ​

● Long-Term Care Minister defended the government's so-called ​ ​ hands-off approach to the LTC commission, which hasn't yet decided whether to hold public hearings, despite Fullerton's assurances that it would. Fullerton clarified Wednesday that the commission has the power to hold hearings out in the open, and "we do not influence them." The commission told the NDP it hasn't made a decision because of the pandemic and tight timeline to investigate. ○ Meanwhile, for-profit care giant Chartwell is pushing the province to allow new ​ ​ residents to move into retirement homes without a 14-day quarantine.

● The shuttering of casinos is having a ripple effect on municipalities’ bottom lines. The 25 towns and cities that have a Municipalities Contribution Agreement with OLG are losing out on tens of millions of dollars without gamblers at the slots, TVO reports. ​ ​ ​

● Cue snap election speculation. The PCs are angling to have their 72 incumbent MPPs renominated for the next general election by the time the house rises on December 10, the Star reports. ​ ​ ​ ○ A source tells Queens Park Today the PCs are also hoping to nominate the ​ ​ remaining 52 candidates by the end of February. ○ The Tories have at least one potential contender in North Frontenac Mayor Ron ​ Higgins, who is seeking to replace as the PC’s next candidate in ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston.

● Labour Minister Monte McNaughton is in isolation awaiting Covid test results after ​ ​ having dinner with Erin O'Toole last week. The federal Conservative leader announced ​ ​ yesterday that one of his staffers had tested positive.

● Add virtual lobbying days to your Covid bingo card. The Tourism Industry Association of ​ ​ Ontario held “Tourism Day at Queen’s Park” via Zoom Wednesday and got some facetime with Minister Lisa MacLeod. ​ ​

Question period

NDP lead-off Long-term care outbreaks ● Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath kicked off the debate by asking about Covid ​ ​ creeping back in long-term care, citing a for-profit home in Ottawa that's grappling with 46 infections and six resident deaths.

● In defence, LTC Minister Merrilee Fullerton pointed to a CMAJ report that suggested ​ ​ there was no additional risk of outbreaks in for-profit homes — but she failed to note the report also showed for-profit homes had bigger and deadlier outbreaks. ​ ​

Indigenous treaty rights vs. Bill 197 ● Reconciliation critic asked about omnibus Bill 197, which is staring down ​ ​ ​ ​ a legal challenge from First Nation groups. "It is disrespectful to bury legislation that ​ ​ affects our rights and our lands in omnibus bills," Mamakwa said, suggesting the government did not follow the duty to consult First Nations when it passed the bill.

● Attorney General said the government values the "relationship" and ​ ​ "input" of Indigenous partners.

New Democrats also asked about a 15-student classroom cap and long lines for Covid testing.

Independent questions Karahalios debut ● Booted PC Belinda Karahalios asked her first question from the Independent bench, ​ ​ about the Ford government's plan for future lockdowns. She wanted to know if it will be based on "objective criteria like the rate of increased cases" or "will such a decision be made on a gut feeling?"

● Solicitor General responded to her former parliamentary assistant. "We're ​ ​ going to continue what we have done since the beginning, and that is listen to experts

and get that information from the command table, from medical experts who understand what COVID-19 is."

PC friendly questions After skipping out on the last two days, Premier Doug Ford was in the house and was roused to ​ ​ respond to a friendly question about securing made-in-Ontario PPE. The Tories also lobbed each other softballs about postponing the 2021 Canada Summer Games in Niagara, ​ ​ back-to-school and economic recovery.

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

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