Ad watch: PCs go hard on CUPE, Grits come back to life
Also: Sutcliffe snub, Ford MIA, anti-Bill 39 crowd grows, spicy spotteds, legislative tracker, deck the halls of power
ABOVE THE FOLD
On social media, the PCs went hard against CUPE while the Grits have sprung back to life — but first: have you seen DOUG FORD?
— SPOTTED (OR NOT): The Premier has been MIA all week. He wasn’t in the House for Question Period, he skipped out on this week’s Order of Ontario ceremony, and he bailed on a meeting with Ottawa Mayor MARK SUTCLIFFE (more on that below).
Word on the street is that Ford was at a big-ticket fundraiser in Brampton Wednesday night, but his office declined to confirm either way — and to share his whereabouts, or an explanation for his absence.
First in Queen’s Park Observer — AD WATCH: One of the biggest battles in education contract wars for any government: the fight for public opinion supremacy. And the PCs went no holds barred in its (now-resolved) brawl with CUPE’s education workers — who are currently in the middle of a ratification vote after landing on a tentative agreement following rocky negotiations.
According to Meta’s disclosures, the PC Party’s only ads on Facebook and Instagram since June’s election took aim at CUPE.
“ATTENTION PARENTS: NEGOTIATION UPDATE,” the mid-November spot reads. “CUPE threatens to lock kids out of class for the second time in recent weeks.”
The ads — for which the PCs forked out more than $15,000 — were shown mainly to younger folks, in particular women under 35.
The union, too, had a strong anti-PC message on social media (and in real life on billboards and other channels), especially with the hashtag #39KIsNotEnough.
Meanwhile, the Grits are running their first Facebook ads since their brutal election showing in June. About six ad campaigns kicked off this week, asking supporters to donate to the party’s cause.
“Our movement needs your support”…“Help start 2023 off strong”…“Give the gift of a better Ontario”…“Help hold Doug Ford accountable”…“Donate now,” they read.
Per Facebook stats, the ads were mainly shown to women over the age of 65.
The NDP isn’t running any ads on Facebook or Instagram at the moment. Nor is wannabe captain MARIT STILES — though she’s sitting on a pretty hefty arsenal of campaign cash, pulling in at least $65,000 for her leadership campaign so far. Catch up on our scoop here.
HAPPENING TODAY
— 10 a.m.: Rural Affairs Minister LISA THOMPSON is in Gorrie for an announcement about high-speed internet service in Huron County.
— 10 a.m.: NDP Housing critic JESSICA BELL is at a supportive housing project in Toronto to call on Ford to “create a concrete plan to address the homelessness crisis.” Also on hand: MPPs KRISTYN WONG-TAM, CHRIS GLOVER, homelessness advocate DIANA CHAN MCNALLY and KIRA HEINECK from the Toronto Alliance to End Homelessness.
— 10:30 a.m.: Labour Minister MONTE MCNAUGHTON is back in union good books and making an announcement alongside DAVE CASSIDY, president of Unifor Local 444, about supports for auto workers in Windsor.
— 11 a.m.: Long-Term Care Minister PAUL CALANDRA will make an announcement in Timmins.
— 12 p.m.: Health Minister SYLVIA JONES will make an announcement in Ottawa.
AROUND THE PRECINCT — The East Turkistanian Federation of Canada will gather on the South Lawn to push for “the closure of illegal Chinese police stations in Ontario.”
THE HOUSE IS OUT — Ditto committees. MPPs get back at it Monday. T-minus two weeks until the House rises for the winter recess.
WHAT’S UP: Another day, another red-tape-cutting bill from the Ford government. This week, Red Tape Reduction Minister PARM GILL tabled the PCs latest regulatory bill that tweaks nine pieces of legislation. Bill 46, Less Red Tape, Stronger Ontario Act, would, among other things: allow online jury questionnaires, streamlines veterinary requirements and changes agri-food technologies and loads rules for roadways to improve supply chain efficiency.
Bill 39, Housing Minister STEVE CLARK’s supersized strong mayor and regional government revamp legislation is now off to the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy after clearing second-reading debate.
NDP MPP JENNIFER FRENCH’s private member’s Bill 15, to beef up penalties for traffic violations involving death or injury, is also headed to the same committee for further study.
WHAT’S DOWN: NDP MPP FRANCE GELINAS’s Bill 24, to address unfair fees charged to patients for health care services, was killed at second reading. Ditto NDPer PETER TABUNS’s Bill 14, to create a climate health care crisis action plan.
PMB TRACKER
Here are the backbench bills that hit the Clerk’s table this week:
— NDP GUY BOURGOUIN’s Bill 43, Making Northern Ontario Highways Safer Act, to beef up standards for winter road maintenance, like snow removal.
— Green MIKE SCHREINER’s double-header on housing: Bill 44, Building More Homes by Ending Exclusionary Zoning Act, would require local official plans to contain policies authorizing the use of up to four residential units in a detached house, semi-detached house or rowhouse as well as multi-unit residential buildings of up to four stories.
— Schreiner’s Bill 45, Building More Homes on Major Streets and Transit Corridors Act, meanwhile, would allow midrise housing developments ranging from six to 11 stories on major streets, including along transit corridors.
— A bunch of NDPers have signed on to Bill 47, Protecting Human Rights in an Emergency Act, to require landlords and corporations to ensure buildings have back-up power generators. It’s co-sponsored by BHUTILA KARPOCHE, KRISTYN WONG-TAM, JESSICA BELL and CHANDRA PASMA.
— Karpoche, Bell, JILL ANDREW and CHRIS GLOVER have also put forth Bill 48, Rent Control for All Tenants Act, which would revive and expand such policies.
IN OTHER NEWS…
— SUTCLIFFE SNUBBED: “Ottawa’s new mayor discussed some hot-button files with senior provincial cabinet ministers on Tuesday, but MARK SUTCLIFFE’s first face-to-face meeting with Ontario Premier DOUG FORD didn’t unfold as planned.”
The Citizen has the skinny: “Sutcliffe’s office said he met with cabinet ministers STEVE CLARK, the minister of municipal affairs and housing, Health Minister SYLVIA JONES and Community and Social Services Minister MERRILEE FULLERTON. But there was no mention of a tête-à-tête with the premier.”
“He met with the ministers to discuss, among other matters, Bill 23 — the province’s highly contentious housing-supply legislation.”
But “‘unfortunately, we had to unexpectedly cancel yesterday’s meeting with Mayor Sutcliffe, but look forward to sitting down with the mayor in the near future,’ the premier’s office said.”
Meanwhile, Toronto Mayor JOHN TORY is already flexing his strong-mayor hiring and firing powers, “putting trusted allies in place to help build housing and infrastructure, while appointing some new faces on the Board of Health and his powerful executive group.” CBC has the details.
SPOTTED I: An anti-Bill 39 crowd packs City Hall to watch councillors deliver petitions against the supersized strong mayor powers:
— MIXED REVIEWS: “A proposed bill to ensure professors are fired for sexual misconduct and banned from being rehired needs stronger protections, say students and advocates who are also calling for changes around the use of nondisclosure agreements.”
More from the Star: “While welcoming the legislation, ‘ultimately, the really powerful potential of this bill is challenged by its loopholes and gaps that could serve to create harm for survivors under the guise of being survivor-centric legislation,’ said ZIYANA KOTADIA, chair of the Safe Campus Coalition. ‘These loopholes and gaps are a direct result of a failure to consult with student advocates on the bill itself.’”
— HOSPITAL HORROR STORIES: “When a Hamilton child was rescued from a house fire and needed critical care, McMaster Children’s hospital had no beds left — the closest available was 90 minutes away in London.” Meanwhile: “An Ontario man in ‘urgent’ need of heart surgery after a 45-day Covid-related coma has had his procedure cancelled indefinitely because of a hospital bed shortage in the province, his wife says.”
— LTB BACKLOG: With an eye to clearing the backlogged Landlord and Tenant Board, the PCs are putting up another $1.4 million, “which will allow the board to hire over 35 additional operational staff to enhance scheduling and client experience, issue decisions and orders faster, and help tackle the high number of cases.”
— WELCOME TO THE GRID: A rare cross-partisan announcement from Energy Minister TODD SMITH, featuring NDP Indigenous Affairs critic SOL MAMAKWA, celebrating Kingfisher Lake First Nation’s connection to the provincial grid
— COLLEGE CRED: Education Minister STEPHEN LECCE has (re)announced $4.8 million to expand a dual credit program that allows students to earn college or apprenticeship credits.
SPOTTED II:
PC Party president MICHAEL DIAMOND and Ontario agent-general in Chicago EARL PROVOST sipping on Dr. Peppers at a deli south of the border…Ex-premiers ERNIE EVES and BOB RAE visiting their old haunt at the Leg…Minister GREG RICKFORD sporting a sartorial look…The halls of power getting decked out for Christmas:
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
ON THE CIVIL SERVICE SIDE — AMY HOANG-KIM has joined Chief Nursing Officer Dr. KARIMA VELJI’s team as a senior policy adviser.
QUESTION PERIOD
THE HIGHLIGHTS: Five health care unions band together on solutions to deal with the health care crisis — “Why hasn’t the government taken meaningful action to help children living in group homes?” — “Why have subway costs gone up by more than two and a half times under this Premier?” — “Cover the loss in development fees” for municipalities — What’s the plan to address the doctor shortage? — “Make sure that our jails are not places in which people are being tortured” — “Gas prices remain far higher in northern Ontario than in the south” — Support NDP motion so “there are no barriers to early detection of prostate cancer” — “Deal with this health human resources crisis in medical radiation sciences.” THE TRANSCRIPT.
🥳 HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON SATURDAY: Education Minister STEPHEN LECCE…(BELATED): NDP MPP JAMIE WEST.
⏳COUNTDOWN: 13 days until the House recesses…10 days until the NDP leadership candidate nomination deadline…17 days until the federal byelection in Mississauga—Lakeshore.