Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report August 15, 2019 Quotation of the day “They’re too long. No one is watching (one minute and 30 second) packs on social.” PC insiders tell the Toronto Star they don’t want Ontario News Now accused of “fake news” ​ ​ ​ ​ anymore and are considering a major overhaul of the taxpayer-funded promotional service. Today at Queen’s Park On the schedule The House is adjourned until Monday, October 28. Mitzie Hunter enters Liberal leadership race The Liberal leadership contest is heating up with Liberal MPP and former cabinet minister Mitzie Hunter throwing her hat in the ring Wednesday evening. ​ Hunter officially announced her bid in her riding of Scarborough—Guildwood, where she’s held a seat since 2013. “I am ready,” Hunter told supporters at the Boys and Girls Club of East Scarborough. “I have the background and experience to lead the Ontario Liberal Party and to take on Doug ​ Ford and his conservatives,” she went on to say. “That’s why I invited you all here tonight — to ​ let you, my friends and supporters, be the first to know that I am running to lead the Ontario Liberal Party into the next election so that we can win in 2022.” Hunter said her platform is rooted in “affordability” and “opportunity.” Much of her speech centered on making “bold moves” to address the changing nature of work and technology, invest in education and skills development, and improve access to mental health care. That includes achieving a 90 per cent student graduation rate, bolstering online education for post-secondary and employee retraining in rural areas, expanding OHIP to cover mental health care for people under 30 and providing financial support to at-home caregivers. She also wants to convert shuttered manufacturing plants into “attractive hubs for tomorrow’s economy of advanced manufacturing, technology research and entrepreneurship.” But first, she’ll have to secure the leadership and steer the Liberal Party to an election victory after it was decimated to seven seats and lost recognized party status in the legislature last spring (now a six-seat caucus with the departure of Nathalie Des Rosiers). ​ ​ In order to “reboot” the Liberal Party and “reconnect” with Ontarians, Hunter set a goal of knocking on one million doors by 2022 “to get ready to bring down the Ford government.” “I’ve been energized about taking the fight to Doug Ford,” Hunter said. “He has cut the things ​ ​ Ontarians value most — like health care and education — without cutting the deficit. He’d rather waste millions fighting Ottawa than fight climate change.” Hunter is the fourth declared person in contention for leader. Former cabinet minister Steven Del Duca was the first out of the gate to register with Elections ​ ​ Ontario the day after the contest was called on July 18; Liberal MPP Michael Coteau officially ​ ​ became a candidate a week later. One-time provincial Liberal candidate Alvin Tedjo has said ​ ​ he’s planning to formally register this summer. Card-carrying Grits will decide who will permanently replace ex-leader Kathleen Wynne on ​ ​ March 7, 2020, using a delegated convention. Party members shot down a proposal — put forth by Hunter — to switch to the more common, but less dramatic and entertaining one-member-one-vote system at their AGM in June. Today’s events August 15 at 8:30 a.m. – Toronto ​ Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney and Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster will make an ​ ​ ​ ​ announcement at Union Station. August 15 at 9 a.m. – North York ​ Environment Minister Jeff Yurek and Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark will make an ​ ​ ​ ​ announcement about the blue box program at Canada Fibers, a waste and recycling plant. August 15 at 10 a.m. – Toronto ​ The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation is holding its annual leadership conference at the Westin Harbour Hotel. Union president Harvey Bischof will deliver remarks ​ ​ ​ ​ addressing the Ford government’s “devastating” cuts and to “prepare members to continue resisting the unconscionable attacks on our publicly funded education system.” August 15 at 11:30 a.m. – Ottawa ​ OPSEU is planning a picket outside the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services offices to call on the ministries of health and education to further support the autism program. August 15 at 12 p.m. – Toronto ​ Finance Minister Rod Phillips will be in the Queen’s Park media studio to discuss the ​ ​ province’s first quarter finances for 2019-20. August 15 at 5 p.m. – Stratford ​ Interim Liberal Leader John Fraser will attend a barbeque with supporters and members of the ​ ​ Perth—Wellington Ontario Liberal Riding Association at the Knights of Columbus Banquet Hall. Topics of conversation ● Less than a half-hour into a tense town-hall-style event in London that was designed to glean community feedback and explain changes to autism therapy funding, Children’s Services Minister Todd Smith swapped out the open forum for one-on-ones with ​ ​ families. ○ The London Free Press reports that amid rising tensions, families were upset ​ ​ ​ they couldn’t voice their concerns publicly. ○ Smith has been touring the province to speak to families of children with autism as the Ford government again revamps the political hot-potato program so that it is based on a young person’s needs, instead of the original version that based funding on a child’s age and family income. ○ Meanwhile, his parliamentary assistant Amy Fee was photographed rocking a ​ ​ ​ ​ “Needs Based Therapy” tee outside the legislature. ● Education workers including custodians, secretaries, librarians, early childhood educators and educational assistants have endorsed a job action plan and filed for conciliation. Like teacher contracts, the agreements for 55,000 educational workers represented by CUPE expire August 31. ○ Laura Walton, president of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions, ​ said there won’t be any job action before the start of the academic year. ​ ○ Strike mandate votes still have to take place at local CUPE chapters, which will be completed in the first two weeks of September. ● Environmental Protection Act charges against the environment minister and three wind companies are being heard in court this week. Chatham-Kent resident Christine Burke ​ alleges the installation of two local wind farms that began in 2017 made her home’s water supply unsafe and caused it to turn black. ○ In a statement to The Chatham Voice, Environment Minister Jeff Yurek blamed ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ the environmental disruption on “Liberal environment ministers like Glen Murray ​ who forced wind projects into the backyards of unwilling communities and municipalities across Ontario” and recounted the PC’s early move to axe 700 green energy projects. ○ In July, Chatham-area MPP and Labour Minister Monte McNaughton appointed ​ ​ a five-member panel to conduct a health hazard investigation into the area’s wells. ● OPG’s multi-billion-dollar gas-plant shopping spree was in part prompted by the planned shutdown of the Pickering nuclear generating station. In an interview with the Financial ​ ​ Post, Ontario Power Generation president and CEO Ken Hartwick said there’s a “very ​ ​ ​ good earnings stream off of the assets,” which will benefit taxpayers. ○ “Although not a direct offset to Pickering, it also factors into our thinking as to our relative size in the province and how we can use that to benefit ratepayers,” he added. ○ At the end of July, Calgary-based TC Energy, the Canadian pipeline giant behind the Keystone XL project, agreed to sell its holdings in three natural gas-fired power plants to OPG for about $2.87 billion. ○ The deal, which still needs regulatory approval, is for the 683-megawatt Halton Hills plant, the 900-megawatt Napanee generating station and 50 per cent of the 550-megawatt Portlands Energy Centre. ● Meanwhile, Hydro One stocks have soared by nearly 25 per cent since last summer. The Globe’s investment reporter chalks up the rally to investor confidence now that Premier ​ ​ ​ Doug Ford has taken a more hands-off approach to the utility since prompting the ​ high-profile resignation of former CEO Mayo Schmidt. ​ ​ ○ After Schmidt’s exit last July, Hydro One’s share value hit a record low of $18.84. Shares are now trading at $23.89 — well above the initial public offering price of $20.15. ● Richmond Hill is poised to become the second city in the province after Innisfil to accept ​ ​ property tax payments in Bitcoin. Appointments and employments Ministry of Labour ● The provincial government is extending its operational review of the WSIB by almost six months “to provide more time for the special advisers to perform their work.” According to an order-in-council dated July 26, the term for Sean Speer and Linda Regner ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Dykeman, the special advisers leading the review, has been extended from August 26 ​ to January 1, 2020. ○ Another OIC says Dykeman, as an expert in the insurance field, will earn $950 ​ ​ per diem up to $63,650, while Speer, as a governance expert, will rake in $700 a day to a maximum of $65,100. ○ When then-labour minister Laurie Scott announced the special advisers in May, ​ ​ she said the review will focus on the financial oversight, administration and efficiency of the injured workers’ agency. She initially said their report would be due by the end of this year. ○ Speer is a former economic adviser to ex-prime minister Stephen Harper and ​ ​ currently a senior fellow in public policy at the Munk School of Global Affairs. Dykeman is the head of Midcorp Canada. ○ The PCs said they would review the WSIB in the Fall Economic Statement last November. 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.