Quotation of the day
“Join the accessible side of the Force!”
Seniors and Accessibility Minister Raymond Cho, wearing a hooded cloak and wielding a lightsaber, issued a Star Wars-themed Halloween video greeting on Sunday.
Today at Queen’s Park
Written by Alan S. Hale
On the schedule
Today marks another opposition day, as MPPs will debate a motion this afternoon from NDP Leader Andrea Horwath calling on the government to create an affordability strategy that includes measures like “speculation and vacancy taxes to help cool the market and fund affordable housing.”
The house will then begin second-reading debate on Bill 27, Working for Workers Act.
A deferred vote on the second reading of Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner’s private member’s Bill 32, Carbon Budget Accountability Act, will take place today as well.
Health Minister Christine Elliott has promised the province will release its plan for providing third vaccine doses to all Ontarians this week after the National Advisory Committee on Immunization “strongly recommended” that people get a booster.
Thursday is the day the PC’s Fall Economic Statement will be released.
Committees this week
It’s another light week for committee meetings.
On Tuesday, the government agencies committee will resume consideration of the appointment of Toronto lawyer Gina Saccoccio Brannan as a member of the Metropolitan Toronto Convention Centre Corporation.
The committee will also begin consideration of the appointment of Caroline Fletcher-Dagenais as vice-chair of the Ontario Civilian Police Commission and Ontario Parole Board. Fletcher-Dagenais is a parole officer and current member of the parole board.
On Wednesday, the public accounts committee will meet in closed session to work on four separate auditor general reports:
- Acute-Care Hospital Patient Safety and Drug Administration;
- Value-for-Money Audit: Virtual Care: Use of Communication Technologies for Patient Care;
- Covid Chapter 1: Emergency Management in Ontario Pandemic Response; and
- Public Accounts of the Province.
On Friday, the emergency management oversight committee will hear from Health Minister Christine Elliott on why emergency powers should be extended.
Premier watch
On Friday, Ontario’s highest court heard an appeal from former OPP deputy commissioner Brad Blair, who is challenging a previous ruling that dismissed a defamation claim against Premier Doug Ford.
After Blair asked the provincial ombudsman to investigate the appointment of Ford’s long-time friend Rob Taverner as OPP commissioner in 2018, alleging possible political interference, the premier suggested the former violated the Police Services Act. (Taverner later withdrew his name from consideration.)
Blair sued for defamation, but his case was dismissed by the Ontario Superior Court in January on the premise that it was similar to a SLAPP lawsuit (strategic litigation against public participation), where legal action is used to silence critics, and that Ford’s remarks about Blair were in the public interest. The Ontario Court of Appeal heard arguments from Blair’s lawyer Julian Falconer and Ford’s lawyer Gavin Tighe Friday and will present its ruling on whether it was right to dismiss the lawsuit at a later date.
Meanwhile, Ford issued a statement confirming he and Lieutenant-Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell will attend a memorial at Roy Thomson Hall on Thursday for former premier Bill Davis, who died in August.
“Premier Davis was a giant of Ontario politics, and his legacy is felt by both his loved ones and the people of Ontario,” said Ford. “I look forward to celebrating the life of Premier Davis with his family and friends next week.”
Ford also took to Twitter on Saturday to congratulate Heather Stefanson on her election as the new leader of Manitoba’s ruling Progressive Conservative Party, thereby becoming the next premier of that province and the first woman to hold the position.
“What an inspiration,” declared Ford. “Best of luck, Premier-designate Stefanson. I look forward to working with you!”
On Sunday, Ford wished Ontarians a happy Halloween, issuing a video statement encouraging people to take steps to protect public health while trick-or-treating.
‘Miigwetch’: Ontario regional chief praises PCs for approach
Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare commended the PCs for “working government-to-government” with First Nations on Friday, heaping rare praise for a provincial government, while adding further support for Indigenous communities is needed now more than ever.
“It’s awesome,” said Hare during a press conference on Friday. “I can only hope that you carry on how we’ve been working from here forward.”
It may seem like an innocuous gesture on the part of the Ontario chief, but for several years, Indigenous leaders and activists have demanded that First Nations be recognized by Canadian and provincial governments as their equals, with negotiations affecting Indigenous peoples conducted on that basis. This stance is the cornerstone of a push for greater self-determination and autonomy of First Nations within Canada.
Hare’s comment was specifically in reference to an announcement of $36 million in funding for mental health programs and supports for Indigenous peoples. He has been critical in the past toward the province’s broader relationship with First Nations, noting after last month’s throne speech he worried about the impact of the PC’s standoff with optometrists on Indigenous seniors and students.
The mental health money will fund programs across several different ministries, including $20 million for Indigenous-focused mental health and addiction programs, and $16 million in new annualized funding for “cross-government investments” in line with the PC’s Roadmap to Wellness plan released this spring.
Several cabinet members came out for the announcement, including Associate Mental Health Minister Michael Tibollo, Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford, Solicitor General Sylvia Jones, Attorney General Doug Downey, Colleges and Universities Minister Jill Dunlop and Associate Children and Women’s Issues Minister Jane McKenna.
“All of the ministers here today have presided over the information and the engagement that we have put together for the purposes of today's announcement,” said Rickford.
It wasn’t all praise from Hare, who noted the funding package does not include anything from the Ministry of Long-Term Care, and that supports are urgently needed for Indigenous people of all ages.
“We are under the crest of a perfect storm of the opiate crisis, the pandemic, and now the recent explorations of residential school burials of children in unmarked graves. This is going to result in an ever-increasing need for support, which has already started,” he said.
Injured workers call for sweeping WSIB reform in labour bill
A newly created consortium of injured workers groups, dubbed the Occupational Disease Reform Alliance, is calling on Labour Minister Monte McNaughton to use Bill 27, Working for Workers Act, to address long-standing issues with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board when it comes to compensating people who had their health compromised while on the job.
In a press conference held with NDP Workplace Health and Safety critic Wayne Gates on Friday, the group blasted Bill 27’s inclusion of a new fund to give surplus WSIB cash back to employers, noting many injured workers are being “left in poverty” due to insufficient compensation and overly strict criteria to receive it.
Group spokesperson Sue James said this is unacceptable, given the recommendations from the operational review of the WSIB conducted by Linda Regner Dykeman and Sean Speer have not been implemented since their report was released a year ago.
“We need reform that would truly reflect the needs and outcomes of workers and their families through a fair, just and timely process,” said James.
In particular, the group is calling on McNaughton to give workers WSIB entitlements whenever “clusters” of an occupational disease among people in a certain workplace exceed that in the general community, such as illnesses experienced by pulp and paper workers in Dryden.
They also want the WSIB to be required by legislation to use the legal standard of “available evidence” when deciding whether to compensate workers, rather than “scientific certainty.” Such evidence may be collected by the workers themselves. The lists of diseases that qualify as presumably work-related should also be expanded, the group said.
Gates said he plans to bring these demands up, as well as issues with the surplus fund, during debate on the bill this week.
“This time we are not asking the WSIB to solve this, because we know they won’t,” he said. “We are asking this wrong to be righted through legislation.”
Today’s events
November 1 at 12:15 p.m. — London
Energy Minister Todd Smith will make an announcement.
Topics of conversation
- New daily cases of COVID-19 hovered between mid-300s to low-400s over the weekend, with a decrease of almost 17 per cent from Thursday’s case levels to Sunday, when 340 new cases were confirmed.
- The province also reported 104 patients in hospital (down 93 since Thursday), as well as 133 in ICU with a Covid-related illness (up one since Thursday). As usual, the caveat that not all hospitals report data on weekends applies.
- There were six deaths added to the provincial toll, putting it at 9,871.
- There were 93 new Covid cases in schools confirmed on Friday, 85 of which were among students.
- There were 15,740 vaccine doses administered on Saturday.
- Thwarted PC nomination candidate Stella Ambler was unsuccessful in the courtroom Friday, as the Superior Court denied her application to order the PC Party to hold a new nomination contest in Simcoe—Grey. Justice Edward Belobaba ruled the party was within its rights to acclaim Brian Saunderson and accused Ambler and her lawyer of not going through all of the party’s internal appeal machinations before heading to the courts. She was ordered to pay the PC’s legal fees.
- The Star and National Observer have published a joint investigation into the Bradford Bypass project, which revealed several potentially troublesome details for the PCs.
- That includes the fact the route for the proposed bypass was changed in April to avoid a golf course co-owned by Associate Transportation Minister Stan Cho’s father and run through a forested residential area instead.
- Cho’s office noted he declared a conflict of interest when he received the portfolio in June and has not been a part of any discussions about the project.
- The report also found that several large developers, many of which are prolific political donors, own 3,100 acres along the highway route, and five are using former PC officials-turned-lobbyists to advocate for them at Queen’s Park, including Peter Van Loan (the party’s former president and chair of Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney’s leadership campaign).
- The government is fast-tracking the project using a 25-year-old environmental assessment and has exempted it from further assessments. This is notable considering the government justified Bill 5, York Region Wastewater Act, by arguing the province should not be relying on the 10-year-old EA for that project.
- The investigation also uncovered that the Ministry of Transportation considered making the bypass a toll highway, with fees higher than those charged on the 407, although Mulroney’s office signalled the government has decided against doing so.
- The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, known commonly as COP26, began Sunday. In an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Green Leader Mike Schreiner called on Ottawa to adopt a carbon budgeting system, like the one he has proposed with his private member’s Bill 32, Carbon Budget Accountability Act.
- “As you head to Glasgow, I urge you to consider and even adopt the proposed policies in my bill and in my party’s Climate Plan,” Schreiner wrote to the PM. “The Ontario Greens are ready to work across party lines and in cooperation with all levels of government to crush climate pollution.”
- Also on the international relations file, the Sun reports Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli has written to top Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Washington, D.C., urging them not to support provisions in President Joe Biden’s new Build Back Better budget bill that would offer a higher tax credit on electric vehicles built in the United States.
- Fedeli warns those rules, which also hike tax credits for EVs manufactured in union shops, could disrupt the automotive supply chain and might prompt Canada to file a dispute settlement challenge through USMCA.
News briefs
Vaccine certificates are now Apple Wallet compatible
- The province announced Friday that Ontario’s QR-code enabled enhanced vaccine certificates are now compatible with Apple Wallet for users using iOS version 15.1.
Funding announcements
Finding housing for people with developmental disabilities
- The province is spending $13 million over three years to help people with developmental disabilities access affordable housing. The money is going towards housing coordinators at each of nine Developmental Services Ontario offices across the province.
Improving access to hospice care
- Up to $23 million will also go to hospices across Ontario to boost end-of-life care. The money is being billed as part of the PC’s plan to end hallway health care, but is mainly geared to help facilities cover additional Covid costs, such as PPE purchases.
Addressing court backlog
- The PCs are spending more than $72 million over two years to tackle the backlog of criminal cases before the courts exacerbated by the pandemic.
- The strategy for getting through the backlog includes hiring more court services and victim/witness services staff, and temporarily increasing trial capacity by directing prosecutors to focus on their most serious cases, such as murder and sexual assault, while also allowing them to assess bail positions more quickly.
- “We have listened to prosecutors and partners throughout the justice system to help establish a strategy that will attack the criminal case backlog from every angle to get results,” said Attorney General Doug Downey.
- Not mentioned in the release is a proposal to pay defence lawyers a flat rate to help accused individuals who are unrepresented resolve their charges by pleading guilty, or negotiating a diversion or withdrawal of charges. The idea has been condemned by the Criminal Lawyers’ Association as “coercive” since it does not pay lawyers to plead not guilty for their new clients.
More money for Sudbury businesses
- The province followed up a $4.2-million funding announcement for Sudbury-area businesses on Thursday with another $4.8-million pledge for businesses in the same region on Friday.
- This time, the money will go to 271 businesses to help them cover expenses related to the pandemic, such as PPE purchases, ventilation improvements and renovations.
Appointments and Employments
Former health minister to chair Think Research board
- Former Ontario health minister Dr. Eric Hoskins has been named chair of Think Research Corporation’s board of directors. Hoskins said the Toronto-based software firm’s mission to “help organize the world's health knowledge” aligns with his personal beliefs about universal health care.
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