Decisions, decisions
Plus: Premier poaches a top staffer from the House Leader, an ethics complaint in Scarborough, and John Campbell speaks
Good Wednesday morning. This is Queen’s Park Observer — and pickleball is…er…having a moment, as many people learn about the pandemic-banned paddleball sport.
ABOVE THE FOLD
Ontario’s ever-evolving reopening plan is on deck.
But first — an ethics complaint about a candidate promo in Scarborough, and former Toronto councillor JOHN CAMPBELL dishes on the Liberal nomination drama in Etobicoke Centre.
NDP Ethics critic TARAS NATYSHAK is asking Integrity Commissioner J. DAVID WAKE to investigate whether PC MPP VIJAY THANIGASALAM (Scarborough—Rouge Park) breached parliamentary convention by allegedly “misusing constituency resources to promote” ALICIA VIANGA, who’s running for the party in neighbouring Scarborough—Guildwood.
Using constituency office resources for partisan purposes is a major no-no under the Members’ Integrity Act.
Natyshak laid out the scene in a sworn affidavit: Last month, Thanigasalam and the PC Scarborough caucus — CHRISTINA MITAS, RAYMOND CHO, and ARIS BABIKIAN — hosted a virtual town-hall event to talk about Covid vaccines. According to Natyshak, Mitas introduced Vianga as “our candidate” and later on, attendees received thank-you emails from Thanigasalam’s MPP account.
Natyshak claims Thanigasalam used his constit office resources to plan an event at which Vianga “was given special recognition” on par with elected MPPs, “thereby promoting her partisan campaign.” He added: “Thanigasalam made the choice to put partisan politics above the stated purpose of the event.”
Why it matters: This could serve as a warning shot to MPPs and prospective candidates in the run-up to the 2022 campaign period. While it’s too early to trigger campaign laws, the situation smacks of the federal Morneau-Anand controversy. (To wit: ex-Liberal Finance minister BILL MORNEAU was found to have violated the rules when he pumped up prospective candidate, now-MP ANITA ANAND while acting in his capacity as minister.)
Meanwhile JOHN CAMPBELL spoke to me about his now-defunct bid for the Liberal nomination in Etobicoke Centre, where he previously represented at City Hall — and where NOEL SEMPLE is poised to be acclaimed the 2022 provincial candidate, under questionable circumstances.
Catch up on the background here. And here’s what Campbell had to say about his own experience and impressions in Etobicoke Centre:
— On being red-lit by the Grits: “I was asked by a couple members of the riding association executive to put my name forward, so I did. Then, subsequent to the [vetting] interview they said, we’re not proceeding because it’s been brought to our attention that you wrote a letter to the Star supporting DOUG FORD…The fact that I wrote this letter, basically saying ‘give the guy a chance’ — they held all this against me.”
— On the riding association publicly stating that Semple was the only one to file all the requisite paperwork, when leaked emails show that wasn’t the case (as he still needed 25 signatures): “This was completely orchestrated…What JAMIE [HUNTER, riding association president,] said is that Noel Semple was the only one to file his papers. He filed his papers in Etobicoke—Lakeshore. None of us that went for the interview were told to file our papers…He’s sort of gerrymandering this nomination.”
— As for his own prospects: “They did not want an open nomination. And I was fine with that, because I thought that I would have been fortunate enough to have been selected. But had they gone with an open nomination, I would have had no trouble getting lots of members to probably be successful.”
Hunter hit back, noting that at least eight people besides Semple had requested nomination papers from the party — but Semple was the only one who turned them in. “Writing a letter to the editor supporting Doug Ford is not going to be helpful in pursuing a Liberal nomination, but it was not a single defining factor in the committee’s thinking,” he said. “We tried to assess all the strengths and weaknesses of everybody we interviewed. We definitely didn’t have our minds made up and discussed everyone at length. At the time we interviewed John, Noel wasn’t even available yet.”
REOPENING PLAN INCOMING — T-minus two weeks until the stay-at-home order expires on June 2. Ontario will ditch the colour-coded framework for Covid restrictions (roundly scoffed at for being confusing) but further details remain scant. Health Minister CHRISTINE ELLIOTT promised a blueprint “very soon” and vaguely laid out the key benchmarks.
That includes vaccination rates and hospitalization levels. The plan will be “sector-specific — looking at what different types of sectors could perhaps be reopened and what their specific needs and timelines are as well,” Elliott told reporters.
Oppo reacts: NDP Leader ANDREA HORWATH isn’t happy with the “slow” response, “but what I really want to make sure happens this time is that the government has learned its lesson and then it listens to the experts in developing that plan.”
Liberal Health critic JOHN FRASER is open to the notion of a regional reopening with public health units leading the charge, but he’s not putting a lot of stock in the PCs: “The government’s paralyzed…They’ve made so many bad decisions that they’re afraid to make a decision right now.”
Green Leader MIKE SCHREINER is all about the timely benchmarks, which he called “the most effective way to combat pandemics and to have the public on side.”
HAPPENING TODAY
— Decisions, decisions: After considering controversial pastor and pal to the premier CHARLES MCVETY’s application for degree-granting status for his Canada Christian College, PEQAB, an independent body, is expected to hand its recommendation to the minister, who will make the final call in the coming days.
— Horwath will hold a press conference at 9:10 a.m. to demand a full-fledged independent inquiry into the Ford government’s Covid response, to be launched in September.
— Liberal Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca is virtually touring his $10-a-day licensed child care plan alongside 2022 candidates. Up today is AMANDA PULKER-MOK, the contender in Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, at 12 p.m.
— Top-tier PC donors who are part of the “Loyal Blue Club” will get to rub virtual elbows with Solicitor General SYLVIA JONES, Education Minister STEPHEN LECCE and Social Services Minister TODD SMITH at a fundraising event tonight. Price of admission is up to $1,000.
ON THE ORDER PAPER
Jones will kick off third-reading debate on the PCs’ anti-human trafficking legislation, Bill 251, which critics say would empower police and put already-marginalized sex workers at a greater risk of being targeted.
Later on, Liberal MPP LUCILLE COLLARD will move second reading of her private member’s Bill 287, which would ensure the school curriculum includes lessons on historic and ongoing racial and social inequities in Ontario, and establish an Education Equity Secretariat Initiatives Branch.
AT COMMITTEE
— Bill 283 is up for a possible makeover during clause-by-clause consideration at the Social Policy committee. That’s Health Minister CHRISTINE ELLIOTT’s proposal to create an oversight authority for personal support workers, among other things. Liberal MPP MITZIE HUNTER will take a shot at amending the legislation to require the collection of race-based data when someone gets a vaccine.
— ROUND THREE: Bill 276, Associate Minister PRABMEET SARKARIA’s latest red-tape reduction legislation, is back for public hearings at the General Government committee this morning, featuring testimony from the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations and the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health’s 2021-22 spending plan goes back under the microscope at Estimates.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
First in Queen’s Park Observer — JESSIE SALIBA is the newest-yet-familiar recruit in Premier DOUG FORD’s office, where she’s taking on the role of Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs. Saliba’s built up her legislative acumen over the past two years in House Leader PAUL CALANDRA’s office. Prior to that, she was Ford’s scheduler.
MAKING HEADLINES
— “DOUG FORD is getting gang-tackled for his pandemic prohibition on outdoor sports,” reports the Toronto Star’s Robert Benzie. “The heads of Athletics Ontario, Golf Ontario, the Ontario Soccer Association, the Ontario Tennis Association, the Ontario Volleyball Association, and Pickleball Ontario say the ban is offside.”
— Opioid overdose deaths are up 75 per cent in the province, with the homeless population and people those who were unemployed accounting for a significant portion. CP has the details.
— Bad optics: “Ontario’s optometrists are threatening to withhold services as part of a funding standoff.” More from 680 News reporter Richard Southern.
— Toronto and York Region go it alone with hot-spot targeting of vaccines.
— In the Star: “A recent round of workplace inspections shows most employers are compliant with COVID-19 workplace safety precautions, the province says — as some experts warn existing requirements are still too lax.”
— West Lincoln Mayor DAVID BYLSMA, “who has peddled pandemic disinformation, is under fire after he went on Facebook to ask a woman if the COVID-19 vaccine impacted her menstruation.” The Standard’s Grant LaFleche has the story.
— A momentous MOU, via CBC: The province, feds and Grand Council Treaty #3 inked an agreement “aimed at helping improve education for Indigenous youth.”
PANDEMIC TRACKER
Sweet 1616: Covid cases clocked in at a relatively low 1,616 on Tuesday, numbers not seen since March. That came with a big asterisk: the testing turnaround was also super low with 22,915 swabs processed overnight. Seventeen more deaths were added to the toll, while at least 764 patients are in ICUs.
SPOTTED:
— WHERE ARE THEY NOW? — Former longtime Liberal minister BOB CHIARELLI is mulling a bid for Ottawa mayor.
— The Queer Evangelist, a new book from CHERI DINOVO, ex-NDP MPP and self-proclaimed backbencher with the most successful private members’ bills under her belt. KATHLEEN WYNNE, Ontario’s first openly gay premier, penned the foreword.
— MEDIA WATCH: “The tea is piping hot!” Brandon Gonez in a candid interview with NDP Leader ANDREA HORWATH, who says, “Well, you know what, I’m going to actually force [DOUG FORD] to step down next year when the election happens.”
— The Press Gallery graciously chasing each other’s scoops.
— Premier DOUG FORD on a Twitter rant about — you guessed it — the border.
QUESTION PERIOD
Since pandemic restrictions kept them from packing the public galleries in person, families of long-term care residents did so virtually, facilitated by the Ontario Health Coalition.
Opposition MPPs played proxy and relayed their questions and messages to the government — but the two politicians who bear the most responsibility for the troubled file — LTC Minister MERRILEE FULLERTON and Premier DOUG FORD — were MIA. Ford’s office says he was in meetings and briefings, so House Leader PAUL CALANDRA was up at bat.
THE HIGHLIGHTS: Justice halfhearted is justice denied — “Why did you make it so ordinary people can’t sue long-term-care homes?” — “I’m raising my voice in memory of my mom” — PSWs not wearing full PPE during outbreak at Orchard Villa — Whipping the vote on motion to reopen outdoor recreation — “We need more PSWs” — Vaccine hunters picking up the government’s slack — Sending in the troops (or not) — Covid-positive manager allowed to work at Ottawa home — “The isolation contributed to her death.”
READ THE HEART-WRENCHING TRANSCRIPT HERE.
LOBBYING DISPATCH
Here are the new, renewed and amended registrations over the past 24 hours:
— Sarah Letersky, Rubicon Strategy: Sonderbloom
— Alanna Clark, Earnscliffe Strategy Group: CUPE Ontario
— Marisa Maslink, McMillan Vantage: Global University Systems
— Jenessa Crognali, Navigator: Tourism Industry Association of Ontario
— Brayden Akers, Navigator: The Royal Conservatory of Music, Novo Nordisk
— Henry Boyd, Stosic & Associates: Liquid Avatar Technologies Inc. (formerly known as KABN Systems North America Inc.)
— Michael Chappell, Safety Innovations and Solutions: Ontario Window Cleaning Association
— William Greene, Impact Public Affairs: Mortgage Professionals Canada
— Sarah Domino, Leonard Domino & Associates: The Medical Laboratory Professionals' Association of Ontario
— Leonard Domino, Leonard Domino & Associates: Ontario Association of Medical Radiation Sciences, The Medical Laboratory Professionals' Association of Ontario
— Jill Wilson, Jared Burke, Mykyta Drakokhrust and Dan Mader, Loyalist Public Affairs: ClubLink Corporation ULC
IN-HOUSE ORGANIZATIONS: Young People’s Theatre — Canadian Steel Producers Association — Canadian Snowbird Association — College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists — Boehringer Ingelheim Canada.
🥳 HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDA FRASER.
Do you know what the next reopening framework will look like? Got a birthday coming up? I want to hear from you! Reach out to sabrina@qpobserver.ca, or just reply to this email.