'So insulting:' Draft Mike fallout
Also: Meet Ford's new policy director, big health bill breakdown, Question Period kicks off with a bang and loads more
ABOVE THE FOLD
SCHREINER’S STICKING AROUND — “So insulting.” “Humiliating.” “Taking weeks to decide he’s still with us? It’s just disrespectful — full stop.”
The Draft Mike saga may be over, but the Greens and Grits are still reeling.
After dragging it out for weeks, Green Leader MIKE SCHREINER has turned down the plea from dozens of high-profile Liberals to cross the floor and run to be their leader. Schreiner said he’s spoken with “thousands” since the Grits made their request last month — and he’s decided to stick around with the Greens.
“I’m a Green for life,” Schreiner said. “I’ve asked myself and others how I can best make a positive difference in building the Ontario we truly want. The answer for me is as the leader of the Ontario Green party.”
Schreiner shocked politicos when he said he would take some time to consider the Grits’ request. The move sent both Greens and Grits into a tizzy.
Schreiner said the Green Party made “contingency” plans in case he decided to defect to the Liberals, including a hunt for a replacement leader. Our sources previously said the Greens also locked Schreiner out of the party’s database, lest he take precious voter contact data with him to the Grits.
Now that he’s put an end to the tug-of-war, both parties are dealing with more fallout. I spoke with several Greens who say the fact that Schreiner took so long to reject the Liberals was insulting and disrespectful.
“Timing was totally cringe,” texted one Green insider. “We’re the ones making headlines for something so humiliating on the same day the Leg is back? Shouldn’t we be holding DOUG FORD to the fire instead?”
Some Grits say the Draft Mike movement was salt in the wounds of current leadership contenders who are actually Liberals. That includes MPs YASIR NAQVI, NATE ERSKINE-SMITH and MPP TED HSU.
“It’s gonna be awkward for the next OLP leader. Some are going to see them as a consolation prize,” said one Grit insider.
Meanwhile, Liberal MPP STEPHEN BLAIS has proposed an amendment to the party’s constitution that would have blocked Schreiner’s now-moot bid, by requiring leadership contestants to be card-carrying Grits.
Details of the Liberal leadership race — including timelines and rules of entry — are expected at the party’s convention in Hamilton on March 3 to 5.
BIG HEALTH BILL — Health Minister SYLVIA JONES’s Bill 60, the Your Health Act, hit the Clerk’s table yesterday.
The Ford government’s first bill of the spring session lays out the fine print for expanding private delivery of certain OHIP-covered procedures, with an eye to helping hospitals cope with the backlog.
Here’s what you need to know:
— While there are patient safeguards, the government can’t say who will inspect those expanded clinics yet. “Expert organizations” will eventually be in charge of inspections, Jones said. “We will, through regulation, ensure that the appropriate regulator — whether that is an outside regulator or in-house — is happening.”
— As for the current safeguards: Patients will not have to pay out of pocket, as some critics have warned. “Upselling” will be banned, as clinics would not be allowed to refuse patients who decline to pay out-of-pocket for extra services, nor will they be allowed to charge extra for jumping the queue. The clinics will fall under the Patient Ombudsman’s office, and there will be a process for complaints.
— When it comes to concerns about poaching staff from strapped hospitals: Jones said clinics will have to show their human resources plans so that they’re not cannibalizing much-needed staff from the public system. That’s part of the application process for a licence, but Jones wasn’t clear on how the province can actually stop the potential bleeding.
— The bill also includes the new “as of right” rules, which would automatically credential health workers registered in other provinces, so they can get to work right away in Ontario.
— Oppo reacts: NDP Leader MARIT STILES warned “this government is opening the door…to a two-tier system.” She slammed the lack of transparency and accountability, saying it’s not clear who will inspect and regulate the clinics. “There’s no oversight — there’s the promise of some oversight, sometimes, somewhere, to be determined.”
HAPPENING TODAY
— 9:15 a.m.: NDP CHANDRA PASMA is in the Media Studio to pump up her private member’s Bill 47, Protecting Human Rights in an Emergency Act, which is up for second-reading debate this evening. It would require landlords to keep emergency power generators.
— 10 a.m.: Another PMB teaser from NDPers KRISTYN WONG-TAM, JILL ANDREW and Liberal co-sponsor MITZIE HUNTER, on their Chosen Family Day Act. Also on hand: Representatives from Friends of Ruby, a supportive space for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth.
— 2 p.m.: Lieutenant Governor ELIZABETH DOWDESWELL will present the Lincoln M. Alexander Award in the LG’s suite. Also in tow: Citizenship and Multiculturalism Minister MICHAEL FORD and Education Minister STEPHEN LECCE. Livestream.
ON THE ORDER PAPER
First up: Health Minister SYLVIA JONES will kick off second-reading debate on Bill 60. That’s expected to continue through the afternoon sitting.
Later on, the NDP will move second reading of Bill 47, on emergency power generators.
TUESDAY’S RUNDOWN — A pair of PMBs hit the Clerk’s table yesterday:
Bill 61, Making Psychotherapy Services Tax-Free Act, from NDPers JILL ANDREW and FRANCE GÉLINAS
Bill 62, Farmland and Arable Land Strategy Act, from Independent BOBBI ANN BRADY (In case you missed it, catch up on Brady’s historic election victory.)
ON THE COMMITTEE CIRCUIT — Committees get back at it tomorrow. For now, sate yourselves with the Public Accounts committee’s value-for-money studies — hot off the presses!
AROUND THE PRECINCT — 5 p.m.: The NDP and unions are teaming up for a rally near Queen’s Park “to protest Ford’s bill to expand private, for-profit surgeries.” Featuring: MARIT STILES, FRANCE GÉLINAS, JESSICA BELL and KRISTYN WONG-TAM, as well as leaders from the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, the Ontario Health Coalition and more.
— The Ontario Trial Lawyers Association is hosting an evening reception in Committee Rooms 228 and 230.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
First in Queen’s Park Observer — PROMOTION IN PO: SHAWN BECKETT is now Premier DOUG FORD’s director of policy. Beckett has worked in Ford’s office since last summer, as senior policy adviser, and before that, he was senior adviser to two Long-Term Care Ministers, PAUL CALANDRA and ROD PHILLIPS.
Sound familiar? Loyal Queen’s Park Observer readers will recall our scoop on the $17K-post-election bash put on by PC PATRICE BARNES, who hired event planning firm Gorilla Management, which is run by well-connected PCs including Beckett. Go deeper with our exclusive.
BEYOND THE BUBBLE — ELLIOTT SILVERSTEIN, longtime government relations pro at CAA, has been elected president of the Public Affairs Association of Canada’s Ontario chapter.
IN OTHER NEWS…
— POLL WATCH: Who’s up and who’s down in Abacus Data’s likability poll? On a scale of 0 to 100, DOUG FORD scored 41.9, which is pretty close to his election results. Still, Ford ranked behind the OBAMAS, JUSTIN TRUDEAU, POPE FRANCIS, JAGMEET SINGH, GRETA THUNBERG, JORDAN PETERSON, PRINCE HARRY and more.
— GREENBELT GRAB: “A flurry of new requests to build on Ontario’s Greenbelt is stoking fears that the province has opened the floodgates for developers to chip away at protected areas around Toronto…Housing Minister STEVE CLARK is staying mum on whether he will grant these requests.” Story from The Narwhal.
QUESTION PERIOD
Plenty of ammo for Oppo to kick off the first Question Period of the session. NDP Leader MARIT STILES led off her first debate as leader grilling Premier DOUG FORD on his cozy ties to developers, pointing to the stag and doe they attended for his daughter’s wedding. Ford bristled in response, then punted to his House Leader.
Stiles: “Can the Premier explain to Ontarians how they are supposed to believe that these developers weren’t given a heads-up about his plans for the Greenbelt?”
Ford: “Regarding any family matters, my family is separate from the political process. They aren’t involved…Again, this event was cleared by the Integrity Commissioner.”
MORE HIGHLIGHTS: On the so-called Freedom Convoy: “What does the Premier have to say to Ottawa residents now that we know the extent of his government’s failure to act?” — “In the last 12 months, emergency rooms have closed at least 158 times” — End the health staffing crisis, repeal Bill 124 — Why block MPPs from Metrolinx’s notices about tree removal in their ridings? — “How can the government justify its inaction, turning its back on the people of Ottawa?” — How will health care reforms help Ontarians access primary care? — Help the community of Weenusk get firefighting infrastructure — “Will the Premier accept the first recommendation from the Renfrew county inquest and declare intimate partner violence an epidemic?”
READ THE TRANSCRIPT. WATCH THE RECAP.
SPOTTED:
Liberal LUCILLE COLLARD at a Drag bingo fundraiser…Education Minister STEPHEN LECCE flipping a short stack for Shrove Tuesday…The OPP’s new (donated) hot rod Corvette…Streets in Bradford West Gwillimbury named for PC JULIA MUNRO, longest-serving woman MPP, and AILEEN CARROLL, ex-Liberal MP and MPP…
At Queen’s Park: the family of the late DAVID ONLEY, including wife RUTH ANN and son ROBERT, to hear MPP tributes to the former LG.
FUNDRAISING WATCH
The PCs are gauging supporters’ priorities with a winter survey that offers some insight into the government’s agenda. The latest email blast from fundraiser-in-chief TONY MIELE asks:
“How important are each of the following to you:
Making life more affordable? This includes initiatives such as providing relief at the pumps, increasing housing, cutting the costs of childcare, tolls, and taxes
Supporting local manufacturing and industry? This includes initiatives like utilizing our natural resources, and developing manufacturing
Investing in jobs and workers? This includes initiatives like making skilled trades more accessible and creating good-paying, in-demand jobs
Building more transportation infrastructure? This includes initiatives such as building more highways, public transit, and infrastructure to fight gridlock, boost the economy, and create jobs
Creating a better, more convenient healthcare system? This includes initiatives to support a more convenient health care experience closer to home, while taking action to reduce wait times and grow the health care workforce across the provinces.”
LOBBYING DISPATCH
Here are the new, renewed and amended registrations over the past 24 hours:
— Sarah Letersky, Rubicon Strategy: Novartis
— Richard Ciano, Sandfields Corporation: Canadian Advocates for Automobile Insurance Reform: Access to Justice Group
— Yaron Gersh, The CCS Group: Munsee Delaware First Nation
— Sydney Oakes, Provoke Public Affairs: Taykwa Tagamou Nation
— Douglas Jure, Douglas Jure & Associates: FCA Canada Inc.
In-house organizations: Ontario Hospital Association — Algoma Steel — Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada — United for Literacy (formerly known as Frontier College).
🥳 HAPPY BIRTHDAY: PC MPP NATALIA KUSENDOVA (Mississauga Centre).
⌛ COUNTDOWN: T-minus 9 days until the Liberal Party convention…22 days until the byelection in Hamilton Centre…37 days until the budget is legally due out.