Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report February 6, 2020 Quotation of the day “As a straight, white man — wait, not white.” Liberal leadership candidate Alvin Tedjo, who is of Asian descent, makes a quip about using ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ fellow contender Steven Del Duca’s speaking notes during the party’s LGBTQ forum. ​ ​ Today at Queen’s Park On the schedule The house will reconvene on Tuesday, February 18, 2020. In the park The Ontario Autism Coalition will stage a “freeze-in” to protest the Ford government’s delay in implementing a needs-based autism program. Families and advocates will march on the legislature’s south lawn and stand still for five minutes at 11:30 a.m. Coronavirus scare shines light on need for public health funding: NDP The Opposition and government traded barbs over concerns about the coronavirus at Queen’s Park on Wednesday. That’s despite the latest update from provincial health officials that there are no new cases beyond the three previously confirmed, and as the number of cases under investigation continued to drop this week. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath held a press conference to call on the PCs to reverse future ​ ​ funding cuts to public health, while Health Minister Christine Elliott’s office fired back that ​ ​ Horwath was trying to “score political points.” “Ontario’s expert public health officials have been unanimously clear: Ontario is prepared to effectively respond to the 2019 novel coronavirus, something Andrea Horwath herself acknowledged,” Elliott’s spokesperson Travis Kann said in an email statement. ​ ​ Kann added that public health officials have briefed the NDP three times on the matter in order to ensure all MPPs are informed and “to demonstrate that the health and safety of Ontarians is and always should be above politics.” Horwath did admit Ontario’s response to the outbreak has been “outstanding” but stressed that “we need to keep it that way.” She urged the PCs to cancel planned funding cuts and asked the government to review public health resources in order to keep Ontarians safe in the future. (Facing pressure from civic leaders last year, the PCs backtracked on retroactive public health cuts but will go ahead with the funding changes this fiscal year.) Meanwhile, Elliott attended a dinner at the Royal Chinese Restaurant in Scarborough on Wednesday evening in support of the Chinese community. The event was planned in light of concerns over the new coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, and where the death toll is now nearing 500. PC MPPs Raymond Cho, Aris Babikian, Daisy Wai and Billy Pang were ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ also in tow. Babikian, who represents the area, said he’s heard from many in the community who experienced racism during the outbreak. “The attitude of some towards Ontario’s Chinese community has, at times, been racist, while some community members have reported that they have been treated with suspicion,” Babikian’s office said in a recent statement, noting that some Chinese businesses in Ontario have faced boycotts. “We should not let innuendo, rumour and fake news divide our society and turn us against each other. We are better than that,” the MPP said. More than 175 health care workers and labour advocates have also signed an open letter urging ​ ​ the Ford government to restore paid sick day policies so that people will be more likely to stay home if experiencing illness. “Many workers in Ontario cannot follow their health providers’ recommendations to stay at home and rest because it means forgoing their wages,” reads the letter from the Decent Work & Health Network. In 2018, the PCs passed a labour reform bill that nixed two paid sick days. Today’s events February 6 at 9:30 a.m. – Toronto ​ NDP Energy Critic Peter Tabuns will be in the Queen’s Park media studio to discuss electricity ​ ​ prices. February 6 at 10:30 a.m. – Toronto ​ Ontario chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams will provide a routine update on the ​ ​ province’s response to the novel coronavirus in the media studio. February 6 at 10:30 a.m. – Haliburton ​ Health Minister Christine Elliott and Infrastructure Minister Laurie Scott will cut the ribbon on ​ ​ ​ ​ the new Haliburton Youth Wellness Hub and participate in a media event at the local legion. February 6 at 11 a.m. – Markham ​ Treasury Board President Peter Bethlenfalvy, his parliamentary assistant Michael Parsa, and ​ ​ ​ ​ area MPPs Billy Pang and Logan Kanapathi will host a roundtable to discuss the ​ ​ ​ ​ government’s “smart initiatives” project at the Angus Glen Community Centre. February 6 at 12:45 p.m. – Toronto ​ Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney will address the Economic Club of Canada on ​ ​ delivering Ontario transit projects “better and faster.” The speech takes place at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. February 6 at 3 p.m. – Brampton ​ PC MPP Stan Cho, parliamentary assistant to the finance minister, will host a pre-budget ​ ​ consultation at the Snelgrove Community Centre. February 6 at 7 p.m. – Toronto ​ The Toronto Board of Trade will hold its annual dinner at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Toronto Mayor John Tory is scheduled to attend. ​ ​ February 6 – Fredericton ​ Federal, provincial and territorial ministers of labour will convene in New Brunswick. Topics of conversation ● Treasury Board President Peter Bethlenfalvy allegedly used taxpayer resources for PC ​ ​ Party business, in particular ministerial officials’ preparation of a digital strategy that would get the cabinet minister more social media “likes” and followers. Bethlenfalvy told ​ CTV Toronto he shut down the social media plan as soon as it was presented to his ​ riding association because he recognized it was an inappropriate mix of government and party business. Despite Bethlenfalvy coming clean, the NDP is calling on the integrity commissioner to investigate. ○ Some PC MPPs are taking flak for the opposite approach to social media, as citizens tell CTV they’re upset after being blocked by their representatives on ​ ​ Twitter. ● The Ontario’s English Catholic Teachers’ Association is ramping up its ongoing work to rule campaign starting next Tuesday, which targets administrative duties. The union says its members will only participate in scheduled teaching and supervision duties, but not go beyond to accept additional tasks or assignments. ○ Elementary teachers are also staging another provincewide walkout today. ○ Meanwhile the #FireLecce hashtag trended nationwide a day after the official Opposition called for Education Minister Stephen Lecce to be removed from the ​ ​ file amid tough contract negotiations with teachers’ unions. The NDP also sought partisan support in an email blast using the same subject line. ● Concerned Ontario Doctors president Dr. Kulvinder Gill is blaming Brampton’s ​ ​ health-care crisis on institutional racism. ○ “Brampton is the most ethnically and racially diverse city in Canada, where 73 per cent of our residents identify as persons of colour. I think this needs to be named and it needs to be acknowledged, because it will not be addressed until we acknowledge it,” Gill told Brampton City Council. ​ ​ ○ Last month, Brampton declared a health-care emergency over hospital overcrowding. ● Prominent Ontario economist Mike Moffatt breaks down Statistics Canada data to show ​ ​ ​ ​ the 416 and 905 are seeing an “exodus” of young families moving to regions in the 705 and 613, such as Ottawa, Middlesex, Simcoe and Waterloo, in search of more affordable real estate. ● The Star crunched the numbers on the Ford government’s cashback program for ​ ​ ​ families that may have to find alternative child care if strike action closes their schools, finding that more than three quarters of those eligible have not applied. ○ At the same time, City News is reporting some parents are getting overpaid, with ​ ​ one mother saying $360 was deposited in her bank account when she should have only received $65. ○ As of Tuesday, the government had received 342,856 applications for the rebate, which would provide between $25 and $60 per day per child, depending on their age. The government payout will be offset by not having to pay teachers’ salaries during strikes. ● Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has RSVP’ed to this Friday’s U.S. State ​ ​ ​ Governors’ meeting alongside Tory Premiers Doug Ford, Alberta’s Jason Kenney, ​ ​ ​ ​ Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe, Quebec’s François Legault and New Brunswick’s Blaine ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Higgs. ​ ● Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner weighed in on the PC’s draft forestry strategy, ​ ​ which aims to open up 15 million more cubic meters of Crown land to logging. Schreiner notes the federal government has required provinces to come up with their own caribou recovery strategies, but said instead of moving forward with a plan for vulnerable herds, the PCs are “swallowing up more of their important habitat with a rip-and-ship forestry plan.” ○ Other provinces, including Alberta and British Columbia, have established task forces for caribou recovery in recent years, while the Northwest Territories reached a deal with Ottawa in 2019. The federal government has said it could enforce protections if provinces don’t come up with their own conservation plans. News briefs — governmental Highway 17 twinning chugs along ● Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney and Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg ​ ​ ​ Rickford signed off on an MOU with First Nation leaders with a stake in the Highway 17 ​ twinning project, between Kenora and the Manitoba border. The agreement sets out engagement processes with the community “in the spirit of cooperation and collaboration,” the government said in a release. ○ Shovels are expected to break ground by this summer. Queen's Park Today is written by Sabrina Nanji, reporting from the Queen's Park press gallery. What did you think of this Daily Report? What else would you like to see here? Email [email protected] and let us know. ​ ​ Copyright © 2020 Queen’s Park Today. It is a violation of copyright to distribute this newsletter without permission.