SCOOP: Stiles rallies the troops, preps for snap vote
Plus: Peel deal
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ABOVE THE FOLD
First in Observer — PROVINCIAL COUNCIL PRIMER — For New Democrats, this weekend’s annual provincial council meeting is the unofficial kickoff for the next campaign — whenever that happens to be.
I’ve got the inside track on what’s going down, from what MARIT STILES will say in her big speech to changes to the party’s candidate nomination process.
Stiles on the stump: The NDP Leader rallies the troops — about 150 delegates — in a keynote at the Sheraton Centre Hotel in Toronto on Saturday afternoon — and it’s going to be “feisty” according to one source. She might even drop a curse word or two.
Think of it as her unofficial stump speech as early election chatter revs up. Stiles is going to address those rumours head on as she looks to rally the party faithful and kickstart momentum as they set their sights on DOUG FORD.
The theme, per one source: “Ford can bring it. We’ll be ready — because people are ready to get rid of these guys.”
“The theme they want to shine through is an invitation to party faithful and progressive people to ‘be a part of history,’” added another insider. “Internally, it’s not just rhetoric — the party is cranking up an election machine.”
The stakes have never been higher: To be competitive, Stiles needs more name recognition, according to a veteran operative. “There’s a sense that Stiles is doing a great job at holding Ford to account with freedom of information releases and keeping his feet to the fire in the chamber, but needs more name recognition.”
Game plan: “When people see her, they really like her — but not enough people are seeing her yet. So they’ve cooked up a tour plan to get her out of the Queen’s Park bubble and into target seats, and they’ll match it with some advertising. Stiles comes from a communications background, and I’ve learned that she’s flexing those muscles to put together some innovative stuff like influencer and guerilla marketing.” (That may or may not include those bold TikToks.)
Strategists say Stiles’s speech will serve as the starting gun to a summer of pounding pavement.
“Marit’s a straight shooter with a tell-it-like-it-is vibe. She should make that work for her by taking big swings to make sure she’s heard and seen,” said ERIN MORRISON, a veteran of the Oppo Leader’s Office who now leads her own namesake comms firm.
“She’s fiercely competitive and will want to be getting out on the road meeting people in areas the party is targeting to pick up,” said JASON WAGAR, the party’s former comms pro. “A summer tour under the shadow of a potential early election is a golden opportunity to draw a further contrast between with-the-people Marit and insiders-first BONNIE [CROMBIE] as the best replacement to a Premier Ontarians see as corrupt.”
Officially: Card-carrying NDPers will hear about the latest work from the Election Readiness Committee that was struck back in March (scooped here). There’s also an executive byelection and a special report from the Ontario Federation of Labour.
Unofficially: A little birdie tells me the party is rejigging its candidate nomination rules and procedures, with an eye to making them “clearer” “more robust” and “transparent.”
New Democrats had their fair share of nomination drama in the last round, but as one cheeky NDPer noted: “We ended the [2022] campaign with all of our candidates. Can’t say the same for the other guys.” That’s a reference to when the Liberals were forced to drop problematic contenders in the eleventh hour.
Speaking of the Grits…
Recall: The Liberals also triggered electoral urgency this week, which suggests they’re about to start nominating contestants posthaste. And because they only have a handful of incumbents, they’ve got a long way to go to vet and greenlight a full slate of 124 candidates. While they’re now able to expedite nominations, party captain BONNIE CROMBIE still only has five candidates she can automatically acclaim. Catch up.
Oppo parties, Elections Ontario — and some ruling PC operatives — have been gearing up amid early election buzz that we could go to the polls as soon as next spring. Go deeper.
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HAPPENING TODAY
12 p.m.: Ontario’s Big City Mayors are meeting in Chatham-Kent. On the docket: “Municipal priorities such as housing and infrastructure for Ontario’s largest municipalities, and updating their Health and Homelessness Strategy.”
8 p.m.: A candlelight vigil for LANDYN FERRIS — who died after being left alone in an isolated school room — in Trenton.
SAVE THE DATE — JULY 15 to 17 — The all-Premiers’ Council of the Federation summer meeting goes down in Halifax. Full lineup.
THE HOUSE IS OUT. It’s (extended) summer! MPPs get back at it October 21.
ON THE COMMITTEE CIRCUIT — Tumbleweeds. It’s Friday! But there’s no rest for those MPPs: They’ll continue reviewing Ministry spending estimates over the summer, with Health, the Attorney General, and Municipal Affairs and Housing covered this past week.
CLIPPINGS
— PEEL DEAL: Mississauga is feeling envious of the 416 and 613. “Just days after electing a new mayor, Ontario’s third-largest city is setting its sights on changing the way the provincial government works with cities and getting in line for a new deal from Queen’s Park.” Global News reports.
Meanwhile, Peel’s breakup may be off, but we’ve got an answer to the question raised earlier this week: The transition board is poised to recommend downloading waste collection and road maintenance to the municipalities (as opposed to being handled by the Region). There’s also changes to wastewater management coming.
In case you missed it: Get my exclusive scoop on the Ontario Liberal connections to the Mississauga Mayoral race.
— DIGITAL DETOX: “‘Our base hates the idea’: Insiders say politics and privacy concerns halted DOUG FORD’s promise to put drivers’ licences and health cards on digital wallets.” More from the Star.
Blind item: Word on the street is a certain powerful lobbyist and their clients weren’t happy about the proposal, which was also a factor.
— AFFORDABLE HOUSING BY ANY OTHER NAME II: “Ontario’s bid to build new affordable housing amid a cost-of-living crisis is hitting a bump as builders turn their noses up at a list of affordable sale prices released by the government for developers who want to qualify for rebates.”
Global News got the numbers: “The definition is broken down by housing type and location across the entire province. In Toronto, for example, a detached house would need to be sold at $366,500 for it to be considered an affordable home and therefore excluded from some development fees. It would need to sell for $438,300 in Ottawa and $434,800 in Mississauga.”
Building at a loss? Fat chance, says NDP Housing critic JESSICA BELL. “I doubt that developers are going to build affordable housing to sell because it costs more to build the home than they’re able to sell it for.”
— IT’S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE: “Ontario awarded nearly $1 million in contracts to various companies to write a business case on moving the Ontario Science Centre to Ontario Place on Toronto’s waterfront, The Canadian Press has learned.”
— GASSED UP: Fresh off trips to France and Romania, STEPHEN LECCE, “Ontario’s new energy minister, is unapologetic about the province's use of natural gas to partly fuel growing energy needs, calling opposition to it ‘ideological.’” CP has the story — plus details of that nuclear SMR deal inked with Romania.
— PARKS AND WRECK: “Ontario is planning to open its first urban provincial park briefly on Canada Day to give people early access to the space as work continues to open it permanently.” But: “With little government work done to convert the land into a full provincial park, the Canada Day preview will be limited.” Environment Minister ANDREA KHANJIN with the teaser.
— MO’ MONEY, MO’ PROBLEMS: The Tories are throwing shade at Liberal BONNIE CROMBIE’s lucrative Wednesday night garden party fundraiser hosted by NOEL SEMPLE, their 2022 candidate for Etobicoke Centre who landed in hot water for “hurtful” remarks about the LGBTQ community. “During Pride Month, Bonnie puts herself and money first,” tweeted the PC Press Office account.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
NEW FIRM ON THE BLOCK — Veteran political operatives and Navigator alumni AMANDA GALBRAITH, MIKE VAN SOELEN and JAMES SANDERS have debuted their own crisis comms firm: Oyster Group.
BEYOND THE BUBBLE — KEANIN LOOMIS is leaving the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, where he was VP of member services, and headed to the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction as president and CEO.
LOBBYING DISPATCH
Here are the new, renewed and amended registrations over the past 24 hours:
Stephanie DiNucci, Atlas Strategic Advisors: Veyron Inc.
Chris Benedetti, Sussex Strategy Group: ENGIE Canada Inc.
Emily-Jean Gallant, Wellington Dupont Public Affairs: Ontario Personal Support Workers Association, Town of Saugeen Shores
Michelle Mackenzie, Michelle Mackenzie Consulting: Emergency Services Steering Committee
Amber Irwin, The Capital Hill Group: Ontario Dental Hygienists Association, Dvele Ontario Inc
David Angus, The Capital Hill Group: Intel of Canada, Ltd.
Philip Baldwin, Tactix Government Relations and Public Affairs: Kidde Canada
In-house organizations: Ontario Road Builders’ Association — Uber Canada — Red Bull Canada — Sheridan College — Mastercard Canada — Organon Canada — Alliance of Community Medical and Rehabilitation Providers.
🥳 HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Ex-PC JOHN YAKABUSKI…Oyster Group’s AMANDA GALBRAITH…Liberal strategist and podcaster DAVID HERLE…ON SATURDAY — Ex-PC, now-Independent KALEED RASHEED (Mississauga-East Cooksville)…Liberal MP and ex-provincial leadership contender NATE ERSKINE-SMITH…ON SUNDAY — Liberal LUCILLE COLLARD (Ottawa-Vanier).
🍽️ ON THE MENU: Vegetable lasagna with green salad and garlic bread is on tap for lunch in the basement cafeteria.
⏳ COUNTDOWN: T-minus 129 days until the House reconvenes.