Open season for vaccines
Plus: McVety decision incoming, hot-spot mayors brace for 18-plus clinics, and more nomination drama in Etobicoke Centre
Good Tuesday morning. This is Queen’s Park Observer.
ABOVE THE FOLD
The big question at Queen’s Park is whether outdoor recreation will reopen before the stay-at-home order is set to expire on June 2. The answer from Health Minister CHRISTINE ELLIOTT suggests that’s not so far off.
“It will happen on or before June 2,” Elliott said in Monday’s Question Period, putting a finer point on Premier DOUG FORD’s hint from last week that activities like golf and basketball could resume by then.
“But today is not the day to open everything up. I believe that’s irresponsible,” Elliott said — moments before the PCs shot down an NDP motion to lift the restrictions immediately.
With spring in the air and mounting calls from experts to safely reopen outdoor recreation, people were out and about in droves over the weekend, notwithstanding the stay-at-home order. Official Opposition Leader ANDREA HORWATH said the status quo is unfair, not rooted in science, and amounts to “punishing people” who are wearing thin amid prolonged shutdowns and “need that outlet.”
“What we see here is a government that continues to not follow the science and not follow the advice of public health and their own science table.”
On the flip side — good news on the vaccination front: As of 8 a.m. this morning, every adult across Ontario is eligible to book a shot — a week ahead of schedule. Now that supply is flowing, associate chief medical officer Dr. BARBARA YAFFE is also hoping to have shorter intervals between doses.
But mayors and chairs from around the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area were quick to burst the province’s bubble. They’re worried about the 18-plus crowd making a dash for vaccines and jointly pointed out that hot-spot allocations — 50 per cent of the province’s vaccine arsenal over the past two weeks and 25 per cent the week prior — have come to an end. “We know this will create increased demand…and require additional supply.”
HAPPENING TODAY
— At 9 a.m., Labour Minister MONTE MCNAUGHTON and MPPs LORNE COE (Whitby) and LINDSEY PARK (Durham) will make a virtual announcement about employment and training.
— Also at 9 a.m. on Zoom, four of the province’s major unions — the Ontario Nurses’ Association, CUPE, SEIU Healthcare and Unifor — will team up to call for the immediate repeal Bill 124, the Ford government’s legislation that capped annual public-sector wage increases at 1 per cent for three years.
— Coming soon: A decision on whether to give controversial evangelical pastor and Ford friend CHARLES MCVETY’s Canada Christian College degree-granting powers and university status. PEQAB, the independent body considering the College’s contentious application, will make its recommendation to the minister today.
— 2022 WATCH: The Liberals are poised to nominate AMBER BOWEN as their next candidate in Ajax (currently represented by ex-Finance minister ROD PHILLIPS). Bowen, an elementary school teacher, will be acclaimed at a virtual meeting this evening. She’s also scored a high-profile endorsement from former longtime MPP and minister GERRY PHILLIPS.
— The Greens are hosting an all-women panel tonight featuring community organizers who will chat about their experience coming up against barriers in the political arena.
— Liberal Leader STEVEN DEL DUCA is back at the virtual podium at 10 a.m. to pump up his campaign-style pledge for $10-a-day child care alongside TIM VINE, who will carry the party’s banner in Algoma—Manitoulin next election.
ON THE ORDER PAPER
First up on the docket is third reading of Bill 282, Transportation Minister CAROLINE MULRONEY’s legislation regulating e-bikes that critics say could make many motor-assisted bicycles illegal. That’s followed by debate on a not-yet-tabled private member’s motion from PC MPP AMARJOT SANDHU.
MONDAY’S CATCH-UP: NDP Deputy Leader SARA SINGH’s non-binding motion urging the Ford government to reopen outdoor recreation is dead in the water after failing a vote — 63 to 21 — without support from the majority-enjoying PCs. NDP MPP TERENCE KERNAGHAN’s assistive devices bill was also killed at second reading, 64 to 21.
AT COMMITTEE
— Two government appointees are in the hot seat at the Government Agencies committee this morning. Kicking things off is lawyer THEODORE NEMETZ, who’s up for a position on the Ontario Parole Board. Next is BRIAN SMEENK, a veteran labour and employment lawyer, to talk about his role as vice-chair of the Ontario Labour Relations Board. (Something that may come up at committee: Smeenk also chairs the Public Service Grievance Board and is on Elections Ontario’s disclosure record for donating to both the PCs and NDP.)
— ROUND TWO: the General Government committee continues public hearings on Bill 276, Associate Minister PRABMEET SARKARIA’s latest red-tape reduction legislation. The witness roster includes the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, CUPE and the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association. At Estimates, MPPs will continue to scrutinize the Ministry of Health’s 2021 spending plan.
AROUND THE PRECINCT
Pack the galleries (virtually) — the Ontario Health Coalition says it’s rallied hundreds of people from all over the province who are angry at Long-Term Care Minister MERRILEE FULLERTON’s response to the LTC Commission’s recent report and who want to push the Ford government to “finally take action” to fix it. Since they can’t ratchet up the pressure from the perch of the public galleries in the chamber under current restrictions, they’ll attend Question Period via Zoom.
MAKING HEADLINES
—More drama unfolds in Etobicoke Centre. A source tells me JOHN CAMPBELL, former Toronto city councillor in the riding, was apparently told that he can’t run under the Ontario Liberal Party flag there, or anywhere else in the province because of his public comments in support of the Ford government.
— Shoppers Drug Mart is now peddling rapid Covid tests for $40-a-pop in Ontario and Alberta. Meant to “complement” public health testing, which is free, the rapid tests can provide results in roughly 20 minutes and will be available for asymptomatic folks and those who haven’t been in contact with a confirmed case.
— Environmental groups are in court this week battling it out with the Ford government over omnibus Bill 197, which they argue bypassed the public consultation requirements laid out in the Environmental Bill of Rights.
— “The government has lost the people.” National Post columnist Matt Gurney waxes optimistic following a weekend of spring weather and minimal rule-breaking. “No one is paying attention to the stay-at-home order anymore and the thing is, that doesn’t mean they’re being irresponsible…We’re not doing the stupid stuff the government has ordered us to do where we all are just going to stay in our homes as the weather gets beautiful.”
— Premier DOUG FORD’s “off the cuff” announcement about summer camps getting the green light comes “too late” for some operators.
— The Globe and Mail’s Laura Stone delves into Ex-PC Leader, now-Brampton Mayor PATRICK BROWN’s so-called political renaissance.
— “The cost of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT is set to increase and its official opening date pushed back, after the company building the massive midtown transit project scored a legal victory against the province over the effects of COVID-19,” the Toronto Star’s Ben Spurr reports.
— Blowback from education stakeholders over a proposal to permanently embed online learning delivered by TVO: “It seems like an unnecessary expense of time and money to not just take it out of the hands of school boards but to have another non-education-based entity develop that which we’ve already done effectively,” said CATHY ABRAHAM, president of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association.
— A serious “blind spot” when it comes to preventing virus spread in essential workplaces: “Provincial COVID-19 public health guidelines that downplay the risk of aerosol transmission are putting Ontario’s essential workers in jeopardy and sidelining critically important workplace protections. More from the Star’s Sara Mojtehedzadeh.
SPOTTED:
— Another statement from Premier DOUG FORD on the border issue: “As of last week, there were 45 confirmed cases of the B.1.617 variant in Ontario…The fact remains, this new COVID-19 variant, as well as the others, is here because of travel and, as a result of a quarantine system riddled with loopholes, has spread to the community.”
— On last night’s episode of TVO’s The Agenda, budget watchdog PETER WELTMAN unpacked last week’s report on health spending that falls far short of what’s needed — something Weltman said he’s “frustrated” by. Weltman also teased an upcoming report on long-term care, a follow-up to his pre-pandemic look at what the PCs pledge for 30,000 new beds over 10 years will do for the waitlist (Spoiler Alert: it barely makes a dent, in part because of a rapidly aging population).
— A bipartisan uncle-nephew duo thanks farmers.
— A “bold stance” for Ottawa MPP LISA MACLEOD, who’s rooting for the Toronto Maple Leafs to win the Stanley Cup, now that the Sens are out of the playoffs.
PANDEMIC TRACKER
Covid case counts continue to drop (though that could be owed in part to the usual weekend lag in reporting). There were 2,170 new infections reported Monday, along with four more deaths, while 779 patients are in ICUs.
QUESTION PERIOD
THE HIGHLIGHTS: Come clean on investigation into CAF report on LTC — Pick a side: for-profit operators or the troops — #LetUsPlay (outdoors) — Survey says: 70 per cent of teachers worried students won’t catch up academically — “Shit-pit:” LTC inspectors put up evidence backing troubling CAF report — CHARLES MCVETY’s PEQAB decision incoming — Minister meets with teachers’ unions (or not) — Decision-making by golf anecdotes — “This is an equity issue: Not everyone has a yard to play in” — Pulling extra vaccines from hot spots too soon — Long live the 50 per cent allocation to hot spots! — Lack of transparency for small biz grants.
LOBBYING DISPATCH
Here’s the latest batch of new, renewed and amended registrations:
— Michael Harris, MDH Consulting: Giampaolo Group
— Karl Baldauf, McMillan Vantage: Apple Canada Inc
— Paul Sutherland, Sutherland Corporation: Bus Patrol Inc.
— Brayden Akers, Navigator: Clorox (GLAD) Company of Canada Ltd.
— Mark Olsheski, Sussex Strategy Group: NRStor Inc.
— Cozette Dagher, 2Traverse: OnPharm
— Paul Brown, Campbell Strategies: Home Capital Group Inc.
— Christopher Froggatt and Ryan Guptill, Loyalist Public Affairs: ClubLink Corporation ULC
— Lindsay Aagaard, Aagaard Strategies: Windsor Salt Ltd./Sel Windsor Ltée
— Claudia Feldkamp and Daniel Brock, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP: Windsor Salt Ltd. / Sel Windsor Ltée
— Daniel Perry, Summa Strategies: PRIMED
— Will Stewart, Hill + Knowlton Strategies: Ontario Association of Broadcasters
— Harvey Nightingale, Hill+Knowlton Strategies: Metropolitan Plumbing and Heating Contractors Association
— Anika Christie, Grosso McCarthy: College of Respiratory Therapists of Ontario
— Regan Watts, Fratton Park: First Cobalt Corp.
— Jonathan Lee, Daisy Consulting Group: David Stevenson
— Jonathan Telch, Cumberland Strategies: Georgian Bay Preservation Alliance
— Diana Levy, Santis Health: QHR Technologies Inc.
— Amir Remtulla, Amir Remtulla Inc.: Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD)
— Troy Ross, TRM Public Affairs: Mazooma, Inc.
— Vince Amodeo, Global Public Affairs: Movie Theatre Association of Canada, Amazon Web Services, Cineplex Entertainment
— Andrew Retfalvi, Global Public Affairs: Myriad Genetics Canada
— Rick Roth, Global Public Affairs: National Ballet of Canada, Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee, Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries, ChargePoint, Cineplex Entertainment, Ontario Book Publishers Organization, Future of Infrastructure Group, Zipcar Canada Inc., Amazon Web Services
IN-HOUSE ORGANIZATIONS: AdvantAge Ontario — Cement Association of Canada — Colleges Ontario — Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association — Ontario Bar Association — BILD — Ontario Mining Association — Humber College — TC Energy Corporation — Shell Canada — Heart to Heart First Aid CPR Services — Telesat Canada.
🥳 HAPPY (BELATED) BIRTHDAY: CHRIS BENEDETTI, lobbyist at Sussex Strategy.
Got a tip? Birthday coming up? Reach out to sabrina@qpobserver.ca, or just reply to this email.