Inside the PC exec director's quiet exit
And the AG unleashes
Brought to you by the Ontario Association of Optometrists
ABOVE THE FOLD
First in Observer — PC BRASS BOOTED — Just six months after taking the gig, PC Party executive director GARETH NEILSON was abruptly shown the door this week, Queen’s Park Observer has learned.
Neilson, a longtime organizer with decades of party work under his belt, was fired “without cause” at the behest of Premier DOUG FORD.
Neilson is keeping pretty tight-lipped on the matter — reached by phone last night, he only said “the party is going in a different direction.”
“You serve at the will of the leader. It is what it is,” he told me. “I’ll be back when Doug Ford’s gone.”
It isn’t the first time Neilson’s been let go from the party, he was turfed as director of organization around the 2022 election, before returning as exec director this spring. (Fun fact: Neilson was previously partner to Independent MPP BOBBI ANN BRADY.)
This time around, his ouster caught many card-carrying loyalists off guard, including one sitting caucus member who said, “wow.”
Word on the street is party brass weren’t happy with some of the budget cuts Neilson was pushing for. And while he says he has “no hard feelings,” Neilson is no longer planning on attending the upcoming party convention at the end of January.
The timing of his firing and its proximity to the convention is also raising eyebrows, but Neilson said most of the planning on that front is already done.
Executive directors are crucial to a political party’s function — they’re in charge of pretty much every facet of the operation, from overseeing memberships to election prep and beyond. It’s a full-time paid position.
MELANIE CALANDRA, the PCs current director of organization (and wife of Education Minister PAUL CALANDRA), is sliding into the ED role.
MEA CULPA! An earlier version of this story mentioned Brady was married to Neilson, but in fact, they only dated. I know, I know.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE AUDITOR GENERAL’S REPORT
If you’re reading this newsletter, you probably already have a good sense of what Auditor General SHELLEY SPENCE dropped in her annual report yesterday. Here are the takeaways that actually matter…
Ontario still isn’t properly policing doctor billings…The AG found years of red flags that the Health ministry’s 1980s-era billing system can’t automatically catch — including doctors billing more than 24 hours in a day, working 365-plus days a year, and in some cases seeing 500-plus patients in a single day.
Not helping: Only eight provincial staff handle billing audits. They recovered $8.1M over three years, but the AG says more staff equals more oversight, so this could be the tip of the iceberg.
Bottom line: Money lost to overbillings could have been redirected to expanding primary care — something the Ford government isn’t exactly performing so hot on, either.
Despite the PCs claim that its cutting wait times, the AG poked serious holes in the government’s goal of connecting every Ontarian to a family physician. Just 11 per cent of doctor-less Ontarians are registered for Health Care Connect, and a measly 7 per cent of docs who partake are accepting patients from that list. That has meant wait times of over a year for more than 100,000 people.
Record-breaking ad spend…The PCs blew threw nearly $120 million on government advertising in the last fiscal year, the highest amount in provincial history — and conveniently timed ahead of February’s snap election.
Patting themselves on the back: Spence said that if she had her old oversight powers back — something the Liberals gutted and that the PCs campaigned on restoring, but never followed through — major campaigns wouldn’t have passed the smell test. TV spots like the “It’s Happening Here” ads lacked public information and were more about promoting the governing party.
While the anti-tariff ads weren’t covered in the AG’s audit, which only dealt with the last fiscal year, Ontario shelled out more than $40 million on U.S. ads alone, which were part of a charm offensive to stop Trump-era tariffs.
Taxpayer-funded PR: NDP Leader MARIT STILES accused Premier DOUG FORD of “trying to gaslight the people of our province with their own money.”
Recycling rules…Ontario’s recycling watchdog, the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority, isn’t cracking down on smaller “free-rider” producers, the AG found — allowing hundreds of “low priority” companies to avoid registering and paying for the recycling of tires, batteries and electronics.
More than 1,800 potential cases were identified, but enforcement has focused almost entirely on large producers, leaving major gaps in oversight and data.
Unmasking PPE…Ontario has written off more than one billion pieces of PPE at a cost of $1.4 billion since 2021, the result of pandemic-era purchasing levels that never slowed even as demand collapsed.
Supply Ontario, which was created to manage the stockpile, still lacks a proper inventory system and has incinerated 780 million expired items so far, with loads more pouring in. Despite the massive stockpile, a fraction (two per cent) is going to hospitals, which say the province can’t meet their needs. Without better tracking and value-for-money analysis, PPE waste will continue.
Environmental consultations (or not)… The Ford government is routinely pushing ahead with environmental decisions before consultations finish — and in some cases skipping them entirely — undermining the Environmental Bill of Rights. The pattern, the AG warns, is eroding the public’s ability to shape policy.
HAPPENING TODAY
9 a.m.: Green captain MIKE SCHREINER is leading a presser in the Media Studio to call out the Ford government’s “affordability failures” over the course of this legislative session and to introduce a suite of motions aimed at making life more affordable.
9:30 a.m.: Education Minister PAUL CALANDRA will release delayed EQAO results — something he withheld to understand better, much to the chagrin of critics.
10 a.m.: NDPers ROBIN LENNOX and FRANCE GÉLINAS are in the Media Studio for a cross-partisan presser re: federal pharmacare, which may be on thin ice. Featuring: Liberal ADIL SHAMJI, Green AISLINN CLANCY and family physician and ex-chair of Canadian Doctors for Medicare Dr. DANYAAL RAZA.
11:30 a.m.: Labour Minister DAVID PICCINI will deliver a sold-out luncheon speech at the Empire Club. The theme: “Delivering a Nation-Building Workforce.” The moderator: AMANDA GALBRAITH. It’s a much friendlier room for the SDF-battle-worn minister, who’s been up against Oppo barbs and sharp reporters almost daily.
Save the date: Housing and Municipal Affairs Minister ROB FLACK will address the Empire Club on February 17.
1 p.m.: Liberal STEPHEN BLAIS is front and centre in the Media Studio to pump up his private member’s Bill 66, the Kids’ Online Safety and Privacy Month Act, which is up for debate tonight.
2 p.m.: Economic Development Minister VIC FEDELI is up in Hamilton alongside Mayor (and former political rival) ANDREA HORWATH.
6 p.m.: Project Ontario, the Tory offshoot that argues DOUG FORD isn’t conservative enough, continues its hot streak of in-person events with a social in Ottawa. The theme: “Conservative Renewal in Ontario.” Tickets go for $25 a pop. Invite.
ON THE ORDER PAPER
First up: Bill 45, the PCs legislation that deals with the (watered-down) dissolution of Peel Region, plus Deputy Provincial Land and Development Facilitators, continues to chug through second-reading debate.
After the morning’s Question Period, a deferred vote: On Liberal MPP ANDREA HAZELL’s private member’s Bill 70, to require Metrolinx to facilitate the integration of routes, fares and schedules of municipal bike share systems, and to establish mandatory maintenance standards for Highways 11, 17 and 69.
On the PMB docket: Liberals STEPHEN BLAIS and LUCILLE COLLARD will move second reading of their aforementioned Bill 66, to proclaim every October Kids’ Online Safety and Privacy Month.
TUESDAY’S RUNDOWN:
Passed I: Bill 27, the government legislation that deals with carbon storage, cleared a third-reading vote, with Liberals voting aye alongside the PCs. The NDP voted against.
Passed II: Bill 25, the PCs move to empower the new-ish Emergency Preparedness minister to lead the province’s strategy (rather than the SolGen), also cleared third reading, with Liberal support.
Tabled: NDP MPP FRANCE GÉLINAS’s Bill 85, the Transparent and Accountable Health Care Act, which would require major health sector organizations that receive at least $1 million in funds subject to salary disclosures and scrutiny by the Auditor General and Ontario Ombudsman.
ON THE COMMITTEE CIRCUIT
9 a.m.: Red Tape Reduction Minister ANDREA KHANJIN will be the opening act for public hearings on Bill 46, the latest regulation-cutting package that the Liberals warn could put loyalty reward points in jeopardy (something the PCs deny). Also on the witness roster at Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy: Police Association of Ontario and the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs. Full lineup.
COCKTAIL CHATTER
Tonight’s the night! It’s DONNA SKELLY’s first time hosting the Speaker’s annual holiday party. The must-attend mixer is the one evening when everyone at the Pink Palace can loosen up as the busy session winds down. If you work here, you’re going.
The YMCA of Toronto is also hosting a lunchtime reception in Room 230.
ON THE SOUTH LAWN (OR NOT)
The Palestinian flag-raising isn’t the only hoisting at the Legislature that’s been blocked by the PCs (scooped here). A little birdie tells me the Tories also vetoed the Polish flag-raising that was planned for this week.
The Romanian flag went up on the courtesy pole yesterday, and the Kenyan flag is slated for later this week, but some staff are buzzing about the possibility that Speaker DONNA SKELLY — who quietly changed the rules to require all three recognized parties’ approval — could do away with ceremonial flag-raisings altogether.
CLIPPINGS
— CROSSTOWN COUNTDOWN: Transportation Minister PRABMEET SARKARIA says there’s “a possibility” that the Eglinton Crosstown LRT could open this year, after the years-delayed line completed testing on Tuesday. Still, there’s no firm launch date. Global News has the story.
— SDF LATEST: “Bowing to pressure, the Ontario government will soon require that groups hiring lobbyists for help getting millions of dollars from the $2.5-billion Skills Development Fund will now have to report those connections in their application.” The Star digs in.
— PATRICK BROWN’S BIG BUY: Also from the Star: “A numbered company registered to Mayor Patrick Brown and his wife has bought two properties on Main Street in downtown Brampton at the city’s historic centre.” Go deeper.
— BIKE LANE BAN, WHO? “Toronto has found a way to install 20 kilometres of new bike lanes while still complying with provincial legislation that places significant restrictions on new cycling infrastructure.” More from CTV News.
— GOING NUCLEAR: Ontario has inked an agreement with Bulgaria to export its nuclear know-how, with Energy Minister STEPHEN LECCE joining Bulgarian Energy Minister ZHECHO STANKOV in Sofia to unveil a plan to support two new reactor units at the Kozloduy nuclear station. Details.
— WHISKY WOES: “Premier DOUG FORD is standing by his threat to remove Diageo products from LCBO shelves should the company move forward with the closure of its Amherstburg bottling plant in February 2026.” CP24 has the latest.
— IN-OFFICE POLITICS: Has Ontario started a back-to-in-person-work trend for civil servants? “A group representing federal public servants is calling on the government to clarify whether it’s planning to order employees to work in the office up to five days a week as early as next year.” CBC reports.
— GOT SOY MILK? Economic Development Minister VIC FEDELI was in Morrisburg on Tuesday to announce a $1.5 million investment in Canada’s first non-GMO soy milk powder processing plant. Details.
Sponsored by the Ontario Association of Optometrists
Emergency Room Relief Is Within Reach: The Untapped Power of Ontario’s Optometrists
Dr. SHAINA NENSI makes the case for unlocking the full potential of Ontario’s optometrists — and why doing so could ease the pressure on emergency rooms and an overstretched health system.
Ontario healthcare has a blind spot. As an optometrist, I would know. But it doesn’t take an expert to figure out that emergency rooms are overcrowded or that family doctors are strained. Recent reports have shown that nearly 300,000 Ontarians left emergency rooms without treatment. Wait times are excruciatingly long, and pressure is building on an overburdened system.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. A solution to some of these pressures is already within reach — one that leverages the skills and accessibility of Ontario’s optometrists.
Thousands of Ontarians go to the emergency room every year for eye related issues, despite the fact that the vast majority of them could be treated by optometrists in our clinics. Optometrists are the province’s most accessible primary eye care providers, available in urban, rural and northern communities across Ontario.
We also detect early signs of disease including diabetes, hypertension and even brain tumours, before they become emergencies. With rigorous four-year doctoral programs, extensive clinical training and mandatory continuing education, our expertise covers a wide range of human anatomy, pharmacology, ocular pathology and disease management.
Modern optometry clinics are also equipped with leading-edge technology including advanced imaging, diagnostics and laser equipment that matches or exceeds what is available in many hospital settings. Optometrists are trained to use this equipment and to manage a wide range of ocular diseases and injuries. In fact, optometrists are more accurate at diagnosing and managing eye conditions than emergency physicians, underscoring our pivotal role in delivering frontline healthcare.
In many jurisdictions, optometrists have been safely performing vital procedures, including laser treatments for glaucoma and foreign body removal with a miniscule complication rate of a thousandth of a percent.
This is at a time when ophthalmological surgery wait times are growing. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of patients waiting for surgery grew by 74%.
Despite these trends and a clear ability to fill a growing gap in the healthcare system, optometrists are woefully underutilized.
Existing funding models and limited scope of practice mean that thousands of patients with urgent eye conditions are sent to crowded emergency rooms, when they could have been treated by their local optometrist. In fact, research shows that two out of every three ER visits for eye-related problems are for conditions optometrists can safely and effectively manage in our clinics.
Further, the current fee structure makes urgent-care slots financially unsustainable for private practices — reducing primary care access for Ontarians and straining hospital capacity.
By empowering optometrists to provide the minor procedures they are trained for, Ontario can immediately expand access to timely care, reduce unnecessary ER visits, and free up hospital resources for the most complex cases. This is particularly critical in rural and northern regions, where specialist coverage is often sparse and where optometrists are the only eye care providers for hundreds of kilometers. It is a pragmatic solution that makes the most of the province’s existing workforce, reduces wait times, and ensures that patients receive care closer to home.
Those who claim to be concerned about patient safety offer no indication that their apprehensions are rooted in data or facts. The reality is that in Ontario, optometrists’ education is accredited by the same North American standards as in jurisdictions where expanded scopes are already the norm. The College of Optometrists of Ontario, whose mandate is public protection, would oversee any implementation, ensuring that optometrists meet stringent requirements. This would include courses in advanced procedures and supervised clinical experience where required.
With these safeguards already firmly in place, Ontarians can rest assured that only clinicians with the appropriate training and competency would be granted additional privileges.
The conversation about modernizing optometry’s scope of practice is ultimately about delivering better patient outcomes, offering value to Ontarians and keeping our health system world class. It is about preventing vision loss, catching disease early and using every qualified provider to their fullest capacity.
Ontario’s optometrists stand ready, willing, and able to do more for our patients and our communities. By allowing and enabling optometrists to work to our full potential, Ontario can unlock a solution that strengthens the entire health system, provides relief for overwhelmed emergency rooms, and ensures that every Ontarian has access to high-quality eye care when and where they need it most.
In a time when innovation and collaboration are needed more than ever, Ontario would benefit greatly from making the best use of the professionals already on the front lines. Optometrists are ready to be part of that solution.
Dr. Shaina Nensi is the President of the Ontario Association of Optometrists.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
STAFFING UP — RANDEEP SINGH is heading over to Tourism, Culture and Gaming Minister STAN CHO’s team, as as caucus relations and board appointments adviser. Singh was previously in Education Minister PAUL CALANDRA’s office.
Energy and Mines Minister STEPHEN LECCE has poached a policy adviser from Associate Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity Minister CHARMAINE WILLIAMS: ANNA SERABIAN.
Williams has recruited another policy adviser: ROBERT DUMITRU.
LIAM MALONEY has signed on to Environment Minister TODD McCARTHY’s team as policy adviser. Maloney hails from Public and Business Service Delivery Minister STEPHEN CRAWFORD’s team.
BEYOND THE BUBBLE — SABAH KAINAT has left Premier DOUG FORD’s office, where she was most recently a day planner for the Tour team. Kainat has joined Tory operative JENNI BYRNE’s namesake firm JB&A.
QUESTION PERIOD
If you thought the Auditor General’s media lockup meant less theatre and desk-banging in the chamber, think again — debate was just as spicy.
HIGHLIGHTS: “Why didn’t the Premier have a plan to protect those jobs” at Algoma Steel? — “Did the Premier know that his minister was hand-picking low-scoring applications for the Skills Development Fund?” — “Will the Premier release the full list of Skills Development Fund applicants to this House so we can get to the bottom of this?” — “Since you’re rewarding your friends and insiders and donors, how do you look those unemployed Ontarians in the eye and say, ‘I’m helping you’?” — “Can the minister or the Premier explain to us just exactly what checks were done for all the applicants of the Skills Development Fund?” — “Exactly what background checks are being done” for SDF applicants? — “What is this government’s plan to deal with the $2.1-billion revenue loss facing Ontario universities and the $1.5 billion that our colleges need now to stay afloat?” — “Can the Premier explain why he gave $2 million to an Etobicoke dentist/donor instead of using that money to help workers?” — “Do something to make sure that our Hamilton hospitals are fully funded and fully staffed” — “Tell the people of Ontario exactly how canceling the consumer protections of the reward points could possibly help them” — “Why is the Premier making life harder and less affordable for renters and their children?” — “How can this government justify spending millions of taxpayer dollars on ads to promote themselves when we’ve got schools and hospitals in desperate need of funding?” — “We now see the Hazel McCallion LRT joining the Eglington Crosstown LRT family in a troubling legacy of delays and budget overruns.”
LOBBY LIST
Here are the new, renewed and amended registrations over the past 24 hours:
Stephanie Dunlop, Sandfields Corporation: Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario
Soobin Sung, Rubicon Strategy: Guaranteed Funeral Deposits of Canada
Tasnia Khan, Amir Remtulla Inc.: Columbus Landowners Group Inc., Tribute (Liverpool) Limited
Dan Mader, Loyalist Public Affairs: DJI Technology Inc.
Andrea van Vugt, Wellington Advocacy: Detroit International Bridge Corporation, LLC
Ryan Ross, Impact Public Affairs: Water Environment Association of Ontario
Benjamin King, Santis Health: Heidi Health Canada Inc.
Lorraine Huinink, StrategyCorp: Hullmark Asset Management
In-house organizations: Canadian Microelectronics Corp — Sanofi Pasteur — Janssen
🥳 HAPPY BIRTHDAY: JULIA CARNEVALE, executive assistant to the Premier.
🍽️ LUNCH SPECIAL: Sweet and sour pork with rice and vegetables.
⏳ COUNTDOWN: T-minus 9 days until the House recesses for winter…59 days until the PC convention in Toronto.
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Cover image: Getty