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Queen's Park Today – Daily Report
October 26, 2021
Quotation of the day
 
“As for my buddies, I don’t know anyone in these big, huge corporations, but I can tell you who I do know. I know the mom-and-pop shops.”

Premier Doug Ford responds to the opposition’s attack that he is only looking out for his well-connected and big business “buddies.”  
 
Today at Queen’s Park
 
Written by Alan S. Hale
 
On the schedule
Today, MPPs will begin second-reading debate on Bill 13, Supporting People and Businesses Act, the PC’s latest red-tape reduction legislation. Debate is expected to run through the morning and afternoon.
 
During private members’ time, MPPs will debate PC MPP Daisy Wai’s Bill 9, An Act to proclaim Non-Profit Sector Appreciation Week.
 
Monday’s debates and proceedings
Following question period, MPPs voted on NDP MPP Catherine Fife’s private member’s motion, deferred from Thursday, calling on the government to immediately implement a vaccine mandate for health-care and education workers. It was defeated (Ayes 17; Nays 37).
 
In the afternoon, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath put forward an opposition day motion urging a plan to hire and retain health-care staff. She argued the shortage of nurses and other personnel is “spiralling out of control” in part because of the Ford government’s policies, including the annual one per cent pay increase cap.
 
“It's frightening to see what's happening to our nursing profession. Those folks deserve us to have their backs ... and that's not the signal they're getting from their government. In fact, quite the opposite,” said Horwath. “We should be doing everything we possibly can to support them, to show them how much we appreciate their worth.”
 
That perception, she argued, has not been helped by the PCs handing out raises to its own caucus, namely the promotion of government house leader Paul Calandra to the newly created role of minister of legislative affairs. 
 
PC MPP Robin Martin took the lead on the PC’s rebuttal, stressing the millions it has spent to train and hire new nurses since September 2020.  
 
When it came to a vote, the motion failed (Ayes 18; Nays 33). 
 
Labour Minister Monte McNaughton introduced a new piece of government legislation: Bill 27, Working for Workers Act (more on this below). 
 
Liberal MPP Stephen Blais tabled private member’s Bill 26, Uploading Highways 174 and 17 Actwhich would return Ottawa Road 174 and Country Road 17 to provincial ownership.
 
“For nearly 25 years, residents of Orleans and the property taxpayers of Ottawa have been stuck with the cash cow that is Highway 174. A previous Conservative government downloaded the highway to Ottawa, and while it was a convenient way to relieve fiscal pressures here at Queen’s Park, they stuck property taxpayers with the bill,” Blais told reporters on Monday. 

At the park
The Centre for Mental Health Transformation will hold a rally on the Queen’s Park lawn to voice support for NDP Michael Mantha’s private member’s Bill 298, Abuse Prevention Week Act, which died on the order paper when the PCs prorogued and has not yet been reintroduced.  
 
Premier watch
Premier Doug Ford was in the house to field question period queries Monday, before leaving halfway through. Ford indicated the government is still waiting to hear from CEOs on his letter regarding vaccine mandates for health-care workers, despite the Ontario Hospital Association, which serves as the voice for the province’s hospitals, already coming out in favour of them.
 
“I’m still waiting for a response from the hospitals,” said Ford. “I went to the experts. I went to the CEOs and asked them ... what is their plan to catch up on the backlog of surgeries? What are their plans for diagnostics? What are their plans to catch up on the cancer surgeries? That’s what we need to know before we determine that.”
 
Health Minister Christine Elliott said “virtually all” the responses from individual hospitals have arrived, but the province needs time to analyze them due to different situations in certain areas of the province, such as the north. Without getting into specifics, Elliott said most feedback was in favour of a vaccine mandate.
 
Elliott said a final decision on the issue would be made as early as this week. Her office quickly backtracked that comment, however, saying a decision would not be coming this week. 
 
In other Ford news, the premier commemorated the 11-year anniversary of his late brother Rob Ford’s election as the mayor of Toronto.
 
“Our family was so proud,” recalled Ford on Twitter. “There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t think about him, his passion for politics, and his love for his community.”
 
With two high-priced PC fundraisers on the docket in Ottawa today, expect the premier to make some face time in the capital region.
 
PC’s new omnibus bill could turn the tide on labour record
Opposition parties indicated Monday they would be willing to support a bill containing a string of worker-friendly policies announced by the PCs over the past week, as strategists say the reforms could flip the switch on the narrative surrounding the government’s labour track record.
 
Labour Minister Monte McNaughton tabled omnibus Bill 27, Working for Worker Act, yesterday, which contained policy changes that are unlikely to be controversial with the opposition. The bill makes it easier for skilled immigrants to get their foreign credentials recognized, gives truck and delivery drivers the legal right to use bathrooms at businesses, and introduces a new licensing regime to crack down on exploitative temp agencies.
 
It also includes a requirement that employers have policies in place to allow workers to “disconnect” from emails or other work communications after work hours and bans most non-compete clauses in employment contracts. 
 
Rahul Bedi, principal at Earnscliffe Strategy Group, said the new bill is a natural extension of the “thoughtful populism” the PCs have shown under Ford, and that the party enjoys considerable authenticity with blue-collar workers who will welcome these reforms. 
 
“I think that helps a long way in terms of the message that Minister McNaughton, the premier and others around government are pushing,” said Bedi, who formerly served as Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli’s chief of staff. “Ultimately, it’s clear they have done their homework.” 
 
Although he considers giving drivers the right “not to pee in a bottle” a low bar for protecting workers, Bluesky Group consultant Cam Holmstrom agreed the bill is politically savvy.
 
“The NDP has not locked up every single unionized voter on the planet. There are a lot of unionized workers who will flip back and forth between orange and blue. You see it in a place like Oshawa where federally it’s blue and provincially it is orange,” he said. 
 
Grits keen to support pro-worker legislation, but New Democrats remain skeptical 
Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said he hopes Bill 27 is a signal that the PCs are embracing the more cooperative brand of policy-making he has been espousing.
 
“I don't think political leaders or political parties should be afraid to acknowledge when political opponents have good ideas and are doing the right thing,” he said. “I know a lot of Ontarians don't think it's necessarily genuine. If it's going to produce a positive outcome for workers and their families, it deserves support and it has merit.”
 
Others are more cautious. With the PCs positioning themselves as the “party of yes” in recent ad campaigns and attempting to paint the opposition as chronic naysayers, Holmstrom warned the government may boost that narrative through poison pills in the text of the bill to get opposition parties to vote against it.
 
“The people who are around Doug Ford are the same people who are around [former Prime Minister] Stephen Harper, and he did that all the time,” said the NDP strategist in a phone interview that was conducted before the legislation was tabled. “They don’t really care about the result, they care about the rhetoric.”
 
Although NDP deputy leader Sara Singh said her party is prepared to support the bill’s measures as they were described by McNaughton, she questioned the government’s track record on labour laws, pointing to its move to quash the $15-per-hour minimum wage at the beginning of its term.
 
(Queen’s Park Today reviewed the legislation after it hit the clerk’s table and did not find anything that could be described as a “poison pill.”) 
 
When asked if the PCs have a credibility problem on workers' issues, McNaughton said the government has always had workers’ best interests in mind.
 
“This government’s mission is to ensure workers have higher incomes, bigger paycheques, stronger worker protections, and we are ensuring that we’re creating opportunities for workers to have jobs with pensions and benefits,” said McNaughton in response to a question from Queen’s Park Today. “These meaningful reforms are going to help workers across the province.”
 
The initial response from the labour movement was positive, with the bill’s disconnect from work provisions being praised by Unifor as “a start” when it comes to improving work-life balance and combating the “unspoken expectations” many employees face.
 
PCs take another shot at Michael Gravelle over more emails 
Liberal MPP Michael Gravelle is in hot water again after the PCs released two more emails where he appeared to advocate on behalf of vaccine-hesitant people in his riding. 
 
Rather than seeking “accommodation” for someone defying a vaccine mandate at their workplace, this time Gravelle forwarded two emails from constituents and asked the government to be “much more forthcoming” about its policy regarding unvaxxed workers and “looming job shortages” in health and long-term care. He also sought an “urgent response.” 
 
The emails are dated October 22, which was two days after Gravelle apologized for his initial email and said he “deeply” regretted sending it. 
 
“Once again the [Steven] Del Duca Liberals continue to speak out of both sides of their mouths by publicly calling for mandatory vaccinations while MPP Gravelle continues to privately advocate against the same policy,” declared Health Minister Christine Elliott’s spokesperson Alexandra Hilkene.
 
Just like last time, the PCs waited until the Liberals were taking questions in the Queen’s Park media studio to release the emails, catching Del Duca off guard. 
 
The Grit leader said he would need to read the missives to decide how to respond and what, if any, consequences there will be for the long-time member for Thunder Bay—Superior North. 

From now on, Del Duca added, Liberal MPPs are not to go out of their way to help constituents who are advocating against vaccine mandates or other public health measures, even if it’s simply by forwarding an email.
 
“I understand, having served as an MPP, of course, sometimes you will deal with constituents that don’t necessarily share the opinion you might have across every policy issue. But MPPs are also elected to exercise judgement, not simply to serve as clearinghouses to send information to the government.”  
 
If anti-vaxxers want to make their grievances heard, they can send their own letters to the government, the Liberal leader said. 
 
The party’s house leader, John Fraser, defended Gravelle, saying he was “only asking for clarity” on the PC’s potential mandate. He accused the government of playing politics to distract from delaying a decision on the policy.
 
Del Duca would not say whether Gravelle could be removed from the seven-member Grit caucus, but the NDP called on him to give his MPP the boot. 
 
“It’s important that Queen’s Park sends a clear message to Ontarians to get vaccinated, and that anti-vaccine ideology has no place here,” said NDP deputy leader Sara Singh.
 
“I think that protecting public health is more important than Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca’s priority of holding on to one of his party’s remaining seven seats.”
 
Today’s events
 
October 26 at 10 a.m. — Queen’s Park
Long-Term Care Minister Rod Phillips and Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy will make an announcement about accountability, endorsement and transparency in the long-term care sector. 
 
Upcoming events
 
October 28 at 9 a.m. — Toronto
Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner and deputy leaders Dianne Saxe and Abhijeet Manay will make a “major announcement” ahead of the June election. 
 
Topics of conversation
  • The province confirmed 326 new Covid cases on Monday. The province also reported 163 patients in hospital (up 25), as well as 138 in ICU with a Covid-related illness (up one). There were no new deaths, keeping the provincial toll at 9,846. 
    • There were 88 new Covid cases in schools confirmed on Monday, 74 of which were among students (take-home rapid tests are coming to Toronto schools this week).
    • There were only 9,687 vaccine doses administered on Sunday — a dip of nearly 10,000 doses since Saturday.  
       
  • The Canadian Civil Liberties Association wants to know how many third-party election financing complaints have been filed with Elections Ontario since the PCs changed the rules around the practice earlier this year — and how many of those were filed by members of the government.
    • The callout comes after it was revealed Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark officially complained about three grassroots groups in his riding that were raising awareness about an incoming prison and parks protection (all but one of those complaints was dropped by Elections Ontario). 
    • CCLA’s Cara Zwibel said Clark’s complaints fly in the face of the PC’s claim that election reform was needed to keep U.S.-style Super PACs out of Ontario’s campaigns, and the rule change is instead having a “chilling effect” on community activism.
    • Colleen Lynas, head of the Coalition Against the Proposed Prison in Kemptville, told reporters the “heavy-handed approach” by the minister made her feel like the government “was trying to silence us” over a small rally and GoFundMe campaign for postcard mail-outs, which were non-partisan and not tied to the election.
    • The fight against the PC’s use of the notwithstanding clause to extend pre-campaign advertising limits to 12 months will be heard by the Superior Court on November 22. The CCLA is an intervenor.
       
  • Meanwhile, the Superior Court issued an injunction against University Health Network’s move to fire unvaccinated employees. Six workers within the hospital network brought the injunction request Friday, per the Toronto Sun, and a judge opted to pause the firings for a week. In all, UHN is trying to terminate 180 employees, per the newspaper; another 19 are poised to join the legal action.
Appointments and Employments
 
More committee changes 
  • Estimates committee — PC MPP Goldie Ghamari will replace newly Independent MPP Lindsey Park after her resignation from the PC caucus;
  • Public accounts committee — NDP MPP Mike Mantha is replacing France Gélinas; and
  • Legislative assembly committee — Gélinas is replacing Mantha.
Funding announcements
 
More money for high-speed internet
  • The province is spending $1.5 million to help bring broadband internet access to 900 homes in the Rideau Lakes, Saugeen Shores, Kincardine and Lucan Biddulph areas, as part of the Improving Connectivity for Ontario plan.
Food industry supports in Thunder Bay
  • Ontario is providing $2.2 million to 13 agriculture, aquaculture and food processing businesses in Thunder Bay via the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation. Money will go to projects such as a new roti-making business, “potato production capacity” equipment, a heritage breed cattle farm and coffee roasting capacity improvements. 
Question period 
 
NDP lead-off
 
No more for-profit nursing homes
  • With NDP Leader Andrea Horwath not in the house, deputy leader Sara Singh asked why the province is not doing away with for-profit long-term care after the sector’s failures during the pandemic, accusing the PCs of protecting their “buddies” among nursing home operators. 
    • “Why — after all we’ve learned throughout this pandemic — is the premier rewarding his buddies in the for-profit care sector with even more contracts instead of helping this province transition to more public not-for-profit homes in Ontario?”
  • Long-Term Care Minister Rod Phillips said the government has a plan to create thousands of new long-term care beds, adding that to make the whole system public would require compensating companies an enormous amount of money.
    • “We’re not going to spend billions and billions of dollars to pay private companies to expropriate their assets,” said Phillips.
Turning up the pressure for more business grants
  • Singh asked the premier why the government has not done more to help support small businesses by authorizing another round of support grants, something the PCs have resisted calls to do for months. 
  • Premier Doug Ford said it was ridiculous to suggest that the government has not been taking care of small businesses and called Singh’s question “ironic” because the Opposition voted against every measure the government has put forward to do so. 
    • “We were taking care of payroll, we were taking care of their rent, we were taking care of their heat, we’re taking care of their taxes. We made sure that they were taken care of, because I know they were struggling,” said Ford, while appearing to allude mostly to federal programs. 
Won’t anyone think of little Johnny?
  • NDP MPP Sandy Shaw asked the premier why the government has not followed advice from the Ontario science table and Ontario Hospital Association to impose a provincewide vaccination mandate for hospital workers. 
  • Ford said the opposition parties “sitting on the sidelines” are not thinking about the impact on rural hospitals and schools when they ask for such measures. 
    • “It’s easy to sit back and say, ‘Let’s just cut another 20,000 health-care workers off the top, or let’s cut off 40,000 people in the education system,’” charged Ford. “[But] when little Johnny is sitting at home online because we don’t have enough teachers or we don’t have enough custodians at schools or ... in the hospitals to take care of things, everyone changes their opinion.”
‘Cha-ching!’
  • A question from NDP MPP Peter Tabuns about Legislative Affairs Minister Paul Calandra’s recent promotion sparked some barbs from across the aisle. 
     
  • Calandra accused the NDP of going after him because the party is “literally bankrupt of any ideas,” as NDP MPP John Vanthof interjected repeatedly, saying “cha-ching!”  
    • Calandra turned his anger on Vanthof, saying he should give back his pay because he’s rarely in the house, which prompted MPP Shaw to retort that, in that case, Ford should return his pay too. 
Independent questions 
 
Ford takes the ‘buddies’ attack line out for a spin
  • Liberal MPP Kathleen Wynne went after the PCs for their fundraising strategies, zeroing in on the adoption of the Highway 413 project as one of the cornerstones of their campaign thus far. 
    • “[Ford]’s proud of saying ‘yes’ to the unnecessary Highway 413 and ‘no’ to environmental protection; he’s proud of saying ‘yes’ to his developer friends and sprawl and ‘no’ to responsible community building,” the former premier said. 
  • Ford shot back that his government doesn’t sell “$10,000 per seat dinners” as hers did, nor have they “touched the Greenbelt,” which he said Wynne and her “development buddies” did 17 times, echoing an attack line the opposition has used against him for many weeks.
    • “If I even took a blade of grass out of the Greenbelt, they’d be doing backflips. But not with her buddies,” said the premier. “With her buddies, it’s all about changing the lines: ‘You’re going to get a piece of property,’ ‘you’re going to get a piece of property. By the way, donate to my campaign for $10,000 a seat at a dinner.’”
PC questions
PC backbenchers asked their party colleagues softball questions about immigration and the labour shortage, municipal funding and labour law changes. 
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Queen's Park Today is written by Alan S. Hale, reporting from Ontario's legislative press gallery.

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