“The Risk of a Carbon Tax Recession Is Very Real.”
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Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report January 22, 2019 Quotation of the day “The risk of a carbon tax recession is very real.” Premier Doug Ford takes fresh aim at Ottawa’s carbon backstop in an Economic Club speech. Today at Queen’s Park On the schedule The House is recessed until February 19. In the park Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell hosted the Lincoln M. Alexander Awards ceremony in the LG Suite Monday afternoon. The award honours young folks who have made a difference in their community when it comes to eliminating racial discrimination and promoting social equality. This year’s winners are Manaal Chasso, Lisa Wang and Fiqir Worku, and you can read more about their projects here. Ford: Beware “carbon tax recession” The premier took fresh aim at Ottawa’s carbon backstop Monday, saying it will trigger a recession in Ontario. Speaking to more than 1,000 business-minded people at an Economic Club luncheon at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Premier Doug Ford warned of tough economic times ahead thanks to the federal government’s carbon pricing. “A carbon tax will be a total economic disaster and there are already economic warning signs on the horizon,” Ford said in his prepared remarks. “There couldn’t be a worse time to impose a massive, job-killing tax on Ontario families and small businesses.” “The risk of a carbon tax recession is very real,” Ford said. But critics were skeptical. NDP environment and climate change critic Peter Tabuns accused Ford of “making things up to justify cash handouts to big polluters,” a reference to the $400-million taxpayer-funded “carbon trust” in the PC’s new climate action plan, which incentivizes businesses to reduce emissions. Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner accused Ford of “misleading” people about carbon pricing and climate change. “Alberta and B.C. continue to lead the country in economic growth and both provinces have carbon pricing in place,” Schreiner said in a news release. A spokesperson for federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna fired back in a statement that Ford plans to “make it free to pollute and hope for the best.” Premier Ford re-upped many of his government’s greatest policy hits in his Monday speech, including cancelling the cap-and-trade system and introducing a tax credit for low-income families. Attendees were given five-page printouts of the Tories’ track record. “I would put our track record over the last six months up against any government in Canadian history … We have accomplished the impossible and at your table in front of you is a list to prove it,” Ford said. Ford also committed to providing a “clear plan to get back into the black” in the spring budget. The premier went off script with shout-outs to the waitstaff and his “best” Deputy Premier and Health Minister Christine Elliott. Elliott has been in the news recently with reports of a big health-care shakeup and speculation about her standing in Ford’s administration. OPSEU-commissioned poll suggests Ford is “biggest problem facing Ontario” Meanwhile Warren “Smokey” Thomas of the Ontario Public Service Employees’ Union (OPSEU) released public opinion data that may have dampened the premier’s parade. The union, which has not been shy about opposing certain Ford-branded policy, commissioned a Nanos poll that suggests most Ontarians aren’t happy with the premier. Asked to name the number one problem facing Ontario, 15 per cent of respondents said Doug Ford — a tie with the deficit. Another 68 per cent of those surveyed said they dislike or somewhat dislike when Ford uses the motto “for the people,” and 58 per cent said they think he’s failing at being transparent and accountable. Sixty per cent of people say Ford is moving Ontario in the wrong direction, but the province is split on whether the PCs are sticking to their campaign pledges. Thirty-three per cent of respondents said the Tories are doing a good job of keeping their promises, while the same number felt they were doing a bad job, or weren’t sure. Thomas noted a majority — 70 per cent — are worried about cuts to public services. He said that should be a wake up call for the premier that Ontarians “won’t stand idly by for his slash-and-burn circus.” “Despite this government's efforts to paint themselves as the party 'for the people,' that message just isn't sticking,” Thomas said. Nanos surveyed 1,000 Ontarians from December 10 to 17, 2018; the poll is considered accurate within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. 29 deaths in 6 years: Ontario Health Coalition report There have been at least 29 deaths over the past six years in Ontario’s long-term care homes, according to a new report from the Ontario Health Coalition. Released on Monday, the report Situation Critical shows the impact of increasing violence in long-term care homes and underscores the need for proper resources and better training from the province, the health-care advocacy organization said. “The twin issues of violence and insufficient levels of care in Ontario’s long-term care homes are a matter of policy choices, not necessities. They are also a matter of fundamental human rights and a measure of our humanity, and on both counts we are failing,” the report states. While criminal intent is not assigned to the homicides, the OHC said a resident may act aggressively toward another resident, which results in their death. “In many cases, elderly residents with dementia are both the victims and the perpetrators,” the report said. The homicides mentioned are considered “resident-on-resident” and do not include the infamous murders committed by ex-nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer. The OHC is calling on the provincial government to establish a minimum standard of four-hours per day of hands-on care for residents (up from the current levels of 2.71 hours per resident per day), improve behavioural training and support for staff, and address the offloading of hospital patients. According to the OHC’s report, Ontario hospitals are “discharging patients at a faster rate than long-term care homes can admit.” Health Minister Christine Elliott’s office said all staff who interact with nursing home residents get trained annually in behavioural management, including caring for people with dementia and mental health concerns, as well as on abuse recognition and prevention. The minister’s office blamed the previous Liberal rulers for leaving behind a “fractured” health care and said the PCs are focused on building a “sustainable” system. Today’s events January 22 at 9 a.m. – Toronto The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health will release its regular report monitoring substance use and mental health concerns among Ontario adults. January 22 at 10 a.m. – Mississauga Finance Minister Vic Fedeli and several PC MPPs will host a pre-budget consultation meeting. Unions plan to hold a pro-public healthcare rally outside the meeting. January 22 at 4 p.m. – Waterloo Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter will rally with students protesting the PC’s changes to OSAP. Topics of conversation ● CTV is reporting a privacy breach impacting thousands of people receiving social assistance through the Ontario Disability Support Program. ○ The Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services accidentally sent an email to 100 people last month that included an accidental attachment listing the contact information of ODSP recipients. ● Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter wants to overhaul how Ontario Grits pick their next captain by swapping out delegated conventions for one-member-one-vote, the Canadian Press reports. Hunter says that would put the decision-making power in the hands of individual partisans and eliminate the potential for backroom deals between leadership hopefuls. She plans to propose the motion — part of a broader package of Liberal Party reforms — at the party’s annual general meeting in June, one year after the election that decimated caucus to seven seats. ○ Delegated leadership contests are exciting to watch but are becoming less common; the Liberals on the Hill were the last federal party to do away with the system a decade ago. ○ Hunter offered up more ideas for party reform at a “fireside chat” with Ryerson students Monday evening, including open and early nomination contests to give candidates ample time to prepare for the general election. ○ She is rumoured to be one of the potential contenders for the next Liberal leader in Ontario. ● PC MPP Rudy Cuzzetto offered U of T students some insight on why the government is eliminating the six-month grace period on interest payments for OSAP. According to The Varsity, Cuzzetto said it comes down to dollars and cents. “Sometimes, we’re not going to like everything that we do. But sometimes we have to make tough choices,” he said. ● The PC government’s sex-ed rollback has put an 11-year-old transgender girl at risk because her classmates won’t learn about gender identity, argue lawyers representing the girl’s family, which is fighting the government’s move at the human rights tribunal, CP reports. ○ The provincial government is fighting tandem legal challenges over the sex-ed repeal brought forward by the elementary teachers’ union and a civil liberties organization. ● Also in court this week is a group of Ontario doctors challenging a lower court’s decision to uphold a policy that requires doctors who have a moral or religious objection to certain procedures (think: medically assisted dying and abortion) to refer patients to a doctor who will provide that care. ○ Last year a divisional court upheld the controversial policy and said that even though it infringed on physicians’ freedom of religion, the breach is justified as the benefits to the public trumped the impact on individual doctors.