Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report March 10, 2020 Quotation of the day “I should be the minister of women’s issues because with five women, I know every woman’s issue you could possibly think of.” Premier Doug Ford jokes about his family life during a fireless fireside chat at Communitech the ​ ​ ​ ​ day after International Women’s Day. Today at Queen’s Park On the schedule The house convenes at 9 a.m. The government could call either of the following bills for second-reading debate: ● Bill 159, Rebuilding Consumer Confidence Act; or ​ ● Bill 175, Connecting People to Home and Community Care Act. ​ Monday’s debates and proceedings In the afternoon, the house debated NDP Leader Andrea Horwath’s first Opposition Day ​ ​ motion of the year, calling on the government to reverse the planned cancellation of the double-fare transit discount, which shaves off $1.50 for commuters transferring between GO transit or the UP Express to the TTC. It failed (Ayes 35; Nays 62). Second-reading debate of Bill 175, the government’s legislation overhauling the home and ​ ​ community care system, continued for the remainder of the afternoon sitting. This was the fourth day of debate on this stage of the bill. In the park The Catholic Health Association of Ontario is slated to lobby MPPs at a breakfast reception; the Public Affairs Association of Canada and Shaw Communications have evening receptions planned. Newly elected Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca spent part of his first Monday on the job at the ​ ​ legislature, where he watched question period from the visitor’s gallery and took the lead for the Liberals in post-question period scrums. ​ ​ MPP-elect for Orléans Stephen Blais was also at the Pink Palace to check out his new digs. ​ ​ Blais told Queen’s Park Today the election of him and Lucille Collard, who won the tandem ​ ​ ​ ​ byelection in Ottawa—Vanier, will be announced in the Ontario Gazette this week; they will be ​ ​ sworn in after the March Break constituency week, on Monday, March 23. Billboards, e-learning and federal cash transfers: Ford sits down for fireside chat in Kitchener At a “fireside” chat at Communitech in Kitchener Monday morning, Premier Doug Ford held ​ ​ forth on e-learning, billboard sales along the 400-series highways and economic immigration. The premier pumped up the PC’s move to allow students to opt-out of e-learning using an anecdote about a parent who told him online courses would help free up his son’s afternoons so that he could get a part-time job. Ford said he believed the flak flying from teachers’ unions underestimates high school students’ online learning skills. “I’ve seen my four girls, they can run circles around me on online learning,” he added. Ford also teased the March 25 budget, revealing the OPP delivered his confidential copy to his house over the weekend. As is customary, Ford is keeping details close to the vest, only saying it will be a “fiscally prudent” plan to get the books back in the black by 2023-24. But he did offer one hint, about the possibility of selling billboard space along provincial highways to generate new revenue streams, a la the major U.S. Interstate-75 highway. ​ ​ “You go down I-75, you see these signs everywhere; you go down the 401, the 400-series highways, you see very little signs. That would create a couple hundred million more for the province that we can allocate to education and transportation,” Ford said. “It’s kind of a no-brainer. We have to think like the private sector does,” he added. Green Leader Mike Schreiner scoffed at the possibility, saying Ford’s upcoming budget should ​ ​ focus on “real” issues such as climate change, affordable housing and public health — not “roadside distractions copied from down south to make a quick buck.” “As if the Premier hasn’t made enough gaffes with stickers and license plates, he’s now getting into the billboard business,” Schreiner said in a statement. “The Premier should end the Extreme Makeover: Ontario Edition.” Ford is headed to Ottawa later this week for a first ministers’ meeting with Prime Minister Justin ​ Trudeau. Topping the docket for the premier is expanding Ontario’s economic immigration ​ nominee program, federal funding to cover 40 per cent of the $28.5-billion GTA transit expansion plan, greenlighting joint grants for outstanding infrastructure projects and increasing the health transfer by 5.2 per cent annually. While in the capital region, Ford will also make a guest appearance at an Economic Club of Canada luncheon speech by Treasury Board President Peter Bethlenfalvy on the ​ ​ government’s public service reforms. PCs eyeing COVID-19 contingency plans Ontario’s health and finance ministers say there are contingency plans in place to deal with a mass coronavirus outbreak in the province, but they were cagey over specifics. “We do have a plan in place, and we will escalate as and when we see the need to do so,” Health Minister Christine Elliott told reporters Monday. ​ ​ Thus far many of Ontario’s confirmed COVID-19 cases have been treated and diagnosed in emergency rooms, and Elliott said the plans would allow the government “to move things around within hospitals” so they can continue doing their work. If a hospital has to go into lockdown, the government is looking at testing in other locations. “We are going to have situations available where … other hospitals will be able to take over their primary responsibilities.” Elliott is also looking at advanced screening of those entering long-term care homes. “We know that these are very, very vulnerable, often very ill people, and we want to keep them safe,” Elliott said — moments before B.C. recorded the country’s first coronavirus-related death in a nursing home. Finance Minister Rod Phillips said the upcoming budget will allow the government “to make ​ ​ adjustments if they are necessary.” But he wouldn’t say what measures may be on the table to deal with a potential recession triggered by coronavirus concerns. “Clearly COVID-19 is having economic impacts in Ontario,” Phillips said following a temporary halt in market trading that morning. Phillips acknowledged the budget is based on economic forecasts that are now over a month old and “we’re in a very dynamic environment” but he said it’s too early to assess the full brunt of COVID-19. A one-per-cent drop in Ontario’s GDP equals a $700 million hit to the provincial purse, but the government typically counts a $1-billion reserve fund toward the bottom line. Coronavirus hits #onpoli Also on Monday, health officials announced three new COVID-19 cases, bringing the provincial tally to 34. The government is now updating its coronavirus update website twice daily. Reuters also reported millions of N95 face masks and other medical equipment stockpiled in Ontario after the SARS epidemic in 2002 and 2003 have expired. Toronto city Councillor Josh Matlow announced he is self-isolating after coming into contact ​ ​ with an individual last Thursday who was later diagnosed with COVID-19. Matlow was among ​ the 2,500 attendees at the Ontario Liberal Party convention last weekend. Ontario’s former attorney general John Gerretsen and his wife are among 230 Canadians who ​ ​ have been stranded on the Grand Princess cruise ship off the coast of California. At least 21 people onboard the vessel have tested positive for the virus; the federal government plans to airlift the Canadians to the Trenton air force base where they will be quarantined for 14 days. Gerretsen told the Globe and Mail he and his wife are “feeling healthy.” ​ ​ ​ ​ Finance Minister Phillips is considering backup plans for the budget lockup, which would see about 2,100 people holed up at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (instead of the usual spot in Macdonald Block due to ongoing renovations). Today’s events March 10 at 8:30 a.m. – Scarborough ​ Premier Doug Ford, Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney, Associate Transportation ​ ​ ​ ​ Minister Kinga Surma and the Tory Scarborough caucus will make an announcement at an ​ ​ MTO maintenance garage. March 10 at 9:30 a.m. – Toronto ​ A group of law professors will be in the media studio to “sound the alarm” on the government’s planned changes to the Legal Services Act embedded in Bill 161, Smarter and Stronger Justice ​ ​ ​ ​ Act, which is currently at committee stage. ● When the bill was introduced last year, the union representing Legal Aid lawyers warned it would “radically alter Legal Aid Ontario’s mandate” by removing the phrases “access to justice” and “low-income individuals” from the law’s purpose statement. March 10 at 10 a.m. – Toronto ​ NDP MPP Faisal Hassan will be in the Queen’s Park media studio to tease his forthcoming ​ ​ private member’s bill to proclaim the last week of June Somali Heritage Week in Ontario. March 10 at 10 a.m. – Cambridge ​ Labour Minister Monte McNaughton will make an announcement about improving training ​ ​ programs for laid-off manufacturing workers. March 10 at 12:50 p.m. – Toronto ​ Finance Minister Rod Phillips will tease the March 25 budget in a luncheon speech to the ​ ​ Empire Club at the Sheraton Centre Hotel. Topics of conversation ● Elementary teachers and the province are set to return to the bargaining table Wednesday. If no deal is reached, the union said Monday it will resume rotating strikes starting March 23, after March Break. ○ “Let’s be clear; ETFO has been ready to resume negotiations since February,” union vice-president Karen Campbell said, adding that the mediator’s callback ​ ​ came “just before” the union’s scheduled press conference.