Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report May 9, 2019

Quotation of the day

“I’ve had raging grannies at an office I’ve worked at … in 20 years I never had to call the police on anybody.”

Liberal Interim Leader John Fraser chides PC MPP Sam Oosterhoff after his office called ​ ​ ​ ​ police on a seniors’ book club staging a silent “read-in” protest over library cuts.

Today at Queen’s Park

On the schedule The House convenes at 9 a.m. The government could call either of the following pieces of legislation for morning and afternoon debate:

● Bill 107, Getting Ontario Moving Act; and ​ ● Bill 108, More Homes, More Choice Act. ​

There are three private members’ bills up for second reading on the afternoon docket:

● PC MPP ’s Bill 97, Genocide Awareness, Commemoration, Prevention ​ ​ ​ ​ and Education Month Act — which would proclaim the month of April for the memorial;

● NDP MPP France Gelinas’ Bill 75, 9-1-1 Everywhere in Ontario Act — which would ​ ​ require the government to provide additional resources, including staffing, to 9-1-1 call centres in Ontario; and

● NDP MPP ’s Bill 101, End the Public Funding of Partisan Government ​ ​ ​ ​ Advertising Act — a word-for-word reintroduction of a Progressive Conservative bill from the party’s opposition days that would restrict the use of government advertising for political reasons.

Treasury Board President is expected to table the much anticipated ​ ​ Expenditure Estimates for 2019-20 today (which is the Standing-Order deadline).

Wednesday’s debates and proceedings

Housing Minister Steve Clark kicked off second-reading debate on Bill 108 in the morning. ​ ​ ​ ​

Bill 87, Fixing the Hydro Mess Act, passed a third-reading vote after question period, with PC ​ caucus support (Ayes 66; Nays 40).

Transportation Minister led second reading on Bill 107 in the afternoon. ​ ​ ​ ​

In the park Hot off the press! Tickets to the Queen’s Park Press Gallery’s spring fling are now available from gallery reporters, including Queen’s Park Today, at $40 apiece. The annual off-the-record ​ ​ event returns to the University of Toronto’s Hart House on May 29, following a hiatus for last year’s election campaign. Premier and all three opposition party leaders have ​ ​ RSVP’ed and will deliver short speeches and video skits.

GM to convert Oshawa plant and save 300 jobs, but NDP say PCs could have done more Call it a silver lining. General Motors and Unifor announced a deal Wednesday to convert the Oshawa plant slated for closure later this year into a parts-production facility and autonomous vehicle test track.

The automaker and union said the investment will round out at $170 million and save 300 jobs with “the potential to grow and generate significant additional jobs in the coming years.”

However, GM says roughly 2,300 current employees are still expected to be out of work.

Economic Development Minister said the investment isn’t saving auto ​ ​ manufacturing in Oshawa, “but it is going to save 300 jobs there and they’ll be making parts, and that’s great news.”

Smith said he’s “really happy” GM and Unifor “have been able to get to the table and iron this out.”

But NDP Leader said the PCs could have done more to advocate on behalf of ​ ​ workers to save more jobs, pointing to efforts made by US lawmakers.

Horwath directed similar criticisms at the Tories back when GM announced plans to shutter its Oshawa operation. At the time Premier Doug Ford said the decision was in the works for ​ ​ months and there was nothing the government could do to persuade the automaker to change track.

“It’s pretty rich now that the government’s celebrating this,” Horwath told reporters. “It’s no big victory for our premier, who threw up the white flag, threw in the towel, on day one.”

Sam Oosterhoff confirms police called on library-loving seniors PC MPP Sam Oosterhoff isn’t heeding opposition demands he apologize after his constituency ​ ​ office called the cops on a group of elderly constituents who wanted to stage a “read-in” at his Beamsville office.

Oosterhoff’s staff phoned the police on the book club, which had planned to silently read outside his constituency office in protest of cuts to library services, The St. Catharines Standard ​ reported Tuesday. The province eliminated funding for the inter-library loan program in southern ​ Ontario, which the women said they utilized in order to access enough copies of books for their book club.

“We deal with sensitive subject matter and constituents deserve privacy when in my office,” he tweeted Wednesday. “After the individuals would not leave my office following their protest, in order to protect individuals coming in for private meetings the staff needed assistance to clear the office.”

Oosterhoff acknowledged the situation “could have been handled differently” and said his staff will be reaching out to the women to discuss their concerns face-to-face.

Opposition critics called on Oosterhoff to apologize.

“These are women who are wanting to save their library services. They went there peacefully,” said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath. ​ ​

Liberal Interim Leader John Fraser said he’s “had raging grannies at an office that I’ve worked ​ ​ at” over the years but never had to call in police.

It’s not the first time the Tories have called the cops on protesting grandmothers. PC MPP Jim ​ McDonnell’s office alerted police to a peaceful protest by a grandmother, two moms and three ​ ​ ​ five-year-olds upset with changes to the autism program. Premier Doug Ford and a handful of ​ ​ his caucus’ staff have also asked the fuzz to step in during demonstrations at their offices. ​ ​

MacLeod stands by PC fundraising on mock guillotine Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod said she’s “standing by” a PC Party fundraising email ​ ​ signed under her name that suggested May Day protesters wanted to “cut off” the premier’s head.

MacLeod had said the demonstrators that brought a mock guillotine also decapitated an effigy of Premier Doug Ford, and that the complaint was referred to the OPP. ​ ​

No evidence has emerged to back up her claim about the beheading; MacLeod said she was given photos by her staff but did not specify what they depicted. (Ford’s office says it’s no longer pursuing the police complaint.)

Meanwhile, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath charged MacLeod “lied” about the incident. ​ ​

“She’s making it up,” Horwath said. “She needs to apologize to the House for making that accusation.”

Today’s events

May 9 at 9 a.m. – North York ​ ​ Environment Minister Rod Phillips and Economic Development Minister Todd Smith will ​ ​ ​ ​ discuss the federal carbon tax at Drewry's Variety Convenience store.

May 9 at 9:15 a.m. – Scarborough ​ ​ Solicitor General and Health Minister will make a mental health ​ ​ ​ ​ announcement at the Toronto East Detention Centre.

May 9 at 10 a.m. – Toronto ​ ​ Treasury Board President Peter Bethlenfalvy will make an announcement about “building ​ ​ financial sustainability” in the media studio ahead of the tabling of the estimates.

May 9 at 12 p.m. – Toronto ​ ​ Solicitor General Jones will also attend a ceremony honouring correctional officers who have ​ ​ fallen in the line of duty at the correctional workers’ monument outside Whitney Block.

Topics of conversation

● Treasury Board President Peter Bethlenfalvy penned a op-ed explaining ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ the budget’s controversial cuts, which he said are not based on ideology — “it’s math.”

● Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie and Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown go ​ ​ ​ ​ head-to-head and make their case for whether Mississauga should exit Peel region (or not), in the Star. Crombie says “yes,” arguing the city is ready to stand on its own; Brown ​ ​ ​ ​ counters that de-amalgamation would lead to “skyrocketing tax hikes” in Brampton. He also says Queen’s Park needs to stay out of regional governance. (A review of the province’s eight regional governments is in process.)

● “Why aren’t the news media calling [Lisa] MacLeod a liar?” That’s the question from ​ ​ ​ ​ Globe and Mail media writer Simon Houpt. Houpt notes the Ford government has ​ ​ ​ refused to provide evidence to back up MacLeod’s claim that protestors with a mock

guillotine beheaded an effigy of Premier Doug Ford last week, yet the media seems to ​ ​ be letting them off the hook. ○ He notes the U.S. administration of Donald Trump as an example, where the ​ ​ president has been documented to have made hundreds of false statements, but it is rare that mainstream outlets will explicitly call them lies.

Funding announcements Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines ● The PCs continue to make it rain in the north. On Wednesday, Energy Minister Greg ​ Rickford announced $353,044 for two agricultural companies, which he said will create ​ ​ or retain five full-time jobs. ○ Greg and Aileen Hessels’ Farm in Cochrane will get $177,767 to build a new barn and buy equipment to expand its beef cattle ranch; and ○ Borealis Fresh Farms in Timmins will receive $175,277 to “establish a high-tech, vertical hydroponic farm.” ○ The cash is part of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation.

Question period NDP lead-off ● NDP Leader Andrea Horwath started the morning’s debate with a question about cuts ​ ​ to the Ontario Telemedecine Network, a non-profit that helps patients access health care through videoconferencing, which will have to lay off 44 staff, or 15 per cent of its workforce, following a provincial funding cut. The CBC has the details. ​ ​

● Premier Doug Ford responded with an anecdote about a Grade 11 student from ​ ​ Lindsay, “a real interesting visitor,” he met earlier this week. “He couldn’t figure out why the opposition — couldn’t figure out where all the spending went for the last 15 years that they doubled the debt,” Ford told the NDP, which has not been in power in Ontario since 1995. ○ Ford continued. “He said he’d go up to his friends and say, ‘When you turn 18, and your parents give you a credit card, and it’s just accumulated debt, and you’re paying interest, do you want to continue racking up the debt, or do you want to pay it off?’ Once he explained it that way, all of his friends in Grade 11 said, ‘Yes. It makes sense. Pay off the debt.’ My point is, Mr. Speaker, the NDP doesn’t understand it, but a Grade 11 student gets it. It’s all about spending, spending, spending, that they put our province in debt.”

Municipal funding cuts ● Horwath asked Ford to explain the cost municipalities will shoulder as the PCs shift transfer payment agreements. She noted some cities and towns, which have already approved their 2019 budgets, may be forced to hike taxes to make up the shortfall.

● Ford again cited the multi-billion-dollar deficit “created by the NDP and the Liberals.” On the follow-up, Housing Minister Steve Clark maintained the PCs have been “crystal ​ ​ clear” with municipalities about their fiscal plans.

Costly education consultations ● NDP education critic asked about the $937,000 cost of far-reaching public ​ ​ education consultations, which the PCs boasted were the “largest ever” in provincial history. Stiles had received the government’s response to her Order Paper question on the total bill, and said the ministry’s initial tender had cited a maximum cost of $200,000. She accused the PCs of forking out nearly $1 million on “sham consultations, only to ignore everything that was said.” ○ The response to her Order Paper question noted the consultations “included costs for fees related to the development and securing of online surveys, execution of 37 Telephone Town Halls, and translation costs.” ○ Following the consultations, the PCs updated the province’s sex-ed curriculum, after reverting it to the 1998 curriculum last summer.

● Education Minister Lisa Thompson didn’t address the figures directly but trumpeted the ​ ​ “absolutely historic” consultation. “We listened … People have asked us to make our education system more accountable, and that’s what we’re doing,” she said. ○ (Any MPP can ask ministers written questions via the Order Paper, and the government must respond within 24 sessional days, or provide a reason why not, according to the Standing Orders rulebook. Earlier this week Stiles raised a point of order noting her question was not answered by deadline; Speaker ​ told Thompson to indicate when the information would be provided.)

NDP MPPs devoted several questions to public health cuts and municipal funding allocations. They also asked about the impact of changes to the Endangered Species Act on First Nation communities, flood disaster relief and children’s mental health services.

Independent questions Public health cuts ● Liberal MPP wanted to know if the PCs believed cutting funding to ​ ​ public health would help prevent a future public health crisis like a SARS outbreak.

● Health Minister Christine Elliott took the opportunity to slam the Liberal government’s ​ ​ fiscal record and reiterated the government is ensuring services are sustainable.

PC friendly questions Tories lobbed softball questions about revamping the new home warranty program Tarion, the auditor general’s report showing Canada’s asylum system can’t cope with a spike in claimants and a PC backbench bill requiring police recruits are trained in administering naloxone.

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

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