For this special Thanksgiving edition, I asked big players around the Pink Palace what they’re thankful for and how they’re spending this holiday weekend.
PREMIER DOUG FORD — “This Thanksgiving, I’m so grateful for all the Ontarians who have made so many sacrifices over the past 18 months. From following public health advice, like wearing masks, to rolling up your sleeve to get a COVID-19 vaccine, we couldn’t have made it this far without you. I hope all Ontarians get a chance to safely spend time with their families this weekend.
“I’m certainly looking forward to spending time with mine while enjoying turkey dinner with all the classic fixings and one of my favourite desserts — apple crumble with a nice helping of vanilla ice cream and some whip cream to top it off.”
DONNA DUNCAN, CEO of the Ontario Long-Term Care Association — “I’d like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who stepped up to support residents in long-term care throughout this challenging period: families, staff, leaders, partners, and all those who have been vaccinated. After some time with friends and family, I’m looking forward to long walks with my dog, who will make sure we go rain or shine.”
ROBERT BENZIE, the Toronto Star’s Queen’s Park bureau chief — “We always have rice and peas, which is a Jamaican dish — which is not peas, it’s actually kidney beans — and we always have sweet potatoes. In terms of food traditions, those would be the two that we’ll definitely have at my mother’s. She’s a very very good cook — she went to cooking school in Scotland.”
GRAYDON SMITH, president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and Mayor of Bracebridge — “I’m thankful for all those who make municipal government tick, from the elected officials to the many staff who have all gone the extra mile to keep services running throughout the pandemic. I’m looking forward to a great Thanksgiving weekend with my family, with a little F1 and football in the background while dinner is being prepped.”
OPPOSITION NDP LEADER ANDREA HORWATH — “People become very frustrated when they don’t have advance information or when they have to go through a guessing game as to what they might or might not be able to do for big events — and that shouldn’t be the case.”
“In terms of what I’m going to do, I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend with my son and I. We are going to cook together, argue over who’s going to make which dishes — and then have a heck of a lot of leftovers afterwards.”
SpeakerTED ARNOTT — “Like so many, I am grateful for family, friends, the people I work with, good health, that I live in Canada...I could go on and on forever. I feel truly blessed. I am also very grateful to have the chance to serve in elected public office, and be in a position to make a positive difference in the communities I’m privileged to represent.”
STEVEN DEL DUCA, Ontario Liberal Leader, “will be enjoying a dinner with his family, who will be giving thanks for good health after a difficult year for so many. He will also be making a donation to his local food bank to help make sure those less fortunate are able to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner this year.”
GREEN LEADER MIKE SCHREINER — “I do both — every year, I do one apple [pie] and one pumpkin.”
RECIPE: A TORY’S TWOFER THANKSGIVING PIE
MICHAEL DIAMONDknows his way around the kitchen. If you can’t decide between pumpkin or pecan pie to top off your turkey dinner, the veteran Tory campaign strategist, lobbyist, and former chair of the Ontario Trillium Foundation (a controversial appointment) has you covered with this Thanksgiving Twofer Pie.
“This is my favourite Thanksgiving pie — it’s also emblematic of governing and politics: addition and compromise,” says Diamond. “Why have just one pie when you can have two — in this case pumpkin and pecan. The mullet haircut or coalition government of the pastry world.”
Last year’s pie. Photo supplied by Diamond.
This recipe originally appeared in Baking: From My Home to Yours by DORRIE GREENSPAN. Full recipe on Saveur.com.
INGREDIENTS:
— 9-inch pie crust
— 1 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin purée
— 2⁄3 cup heavy cream
— 3⁄4 cup (packed) light brown sugar, divided
— 2 large eggs, plus 2 egg yolks, divided
— 2 tsp. dark rum
— 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract, divided
— 3⁄4 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided
— 1⁄4 tsp. ground ginger
— 1⁄4 tsp. plus 1/8 tsp. salt
— 1⁄2 cup light or dark corn syrup
— 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
— 1 1⁄2 cups pecan halves or pieces
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Make the pumpkin filling: In a food processor, combine pumpkin, cream, 1⁄2 cup brown sugar, 1 egg, 1 egg yolk, rum, 1⁄2 tsp. vanilla, 1⁄2 tsp. cinnamon, ginger and 1⁄4 tsp. salt. Pulse to combine. Set aside.
2. Make the pecan filling: In a bowl, combine corn syrup, 1⁄4 cup brown sugar, butter, remaining egg and yolk, 1⁄2 tsp. vanilla, 1⁄4 tsp. cinnamon, and 1⁄8 tsp. salt; whisk until smooth.
3. Preheat oven to 450°. To assemble: Give the pumpkin filling one last quick pulse, then remove bowl, rap it on counter to debubble batter, and pour filling into crust. Top pumpkin filling evenly with pecans, then pour over pecan filling. Poke down any pecans that float to the top and aren’t covered with filling. Bake pie for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300° and bake for another 35–40 minutes, or until it is evenly puffed and a slender knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer pie to a cooling rack and let it stand until it reaches room temperature.
MAYORS ON TOP LOCAL CAUSES TO GIVE TO
The holiday season is all about giving back to the community. So, here are leading Mayors from around the province with one good charity, organization or cause to give to in their cities and towns.
PATRICK BROWN, MAYOR OF BRAMPTON — Brown “really appreciates the vital role that The Knights Table and Regeneration Brampton both play in supporting Brampton’s community, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. As members of the COVID-19 Social Support Taskforce, The Knights Table and Regeneration provide food and services to individuals disproportionally impacted by the pandemic. They are also partners with the City of Brampton’s Backyard Garden Program and provide fresh produce to members of the community.”
DREW DILKENS, MAYOR OF WINDSOR — “The Windsor Goodfellows Club has been a cherished part of this community for 110 years. Supported entirely through donations and receiving no government grants, the Windsor Goodfellows provides thousands of area families with assistance and support throughout the year, including a food bank, school breakfast programs, children’s footwear program, and much more. The Goodfellows are a lean organization to ensure that over 83% of all funds raised go directly to those in need (only 4% fundraising cost and 13% spent on administration).”
Mayor Dilkens working the Goodfellows signature fundraising initiative — an annual paper drive that’s been a community staple for generations. Photo courtesy of the Mayor’s office.
JEFF LEHMAN, MAYOR OF BARRIE — It’s the “Barrie Food Bank, who are helping make sure nobody goes hungry on this Thanksgiving weekend. Throughout the pandemic, the Food Bank has pivoted to continue to serve our fast growing city. They do great work and I’m thankful for them this weekend, and every day.”
GEORGE PIRIE, MAYOR OF TIMMINS AND PC CANDIDATE FOR 2022 — “We have two food banks here within the City of Timmins and we have an ongoing need to keep them replenished. These food banks distribute over three tons of food per week to those families in need. Thanksgiving is an especially important holiday to recognize the bounty of our land and celebrate giving to those who need it most…Have a very Happy Thanksgiving and give thanks to the donors and volunteers who shed a little sunshine into the lives of those in need.”
FRED EISENBERGER, MAYOR OF HAMILTON — “Hamilton Food Share serves the entire greater Hamilton community. It is a fantastic organization within Hamilton that raises food and funds for emergency food programs including food banks and hot meal programs in neighbourhoods across the city. Every $1 you donate to Hamilton Food Share raises $5 worth of food for the community.”
MEMORIES OF THANKSGIVING AT THE LEG
Staff and MPPs may be grateful the House isn’t sitting around this holiday weekend. That wasn’t the case in 1975, when then-prime minister PIERRE TRUDEAU delivered a Thanksgiving television address that outlines plans to deal with the economic challenge of the day, which sparked a heated debate about a not-so-sexy subject at Queen’s Park: government bonds and pension funds. Via Hansard:
NDP MPP JIM FOULDS: We shouldn’t let the item go by without clearly indicating that the escalation clause does have an upper limit. It is eight per cent. What the minister has said earlier didn’t clearly outline that and I think we should clearly state that.
PC Minister THOMAS WELLS: The federal government copied our plan.
Foulds: The question that arises out of that is: You made that level, I believe, last July, when the amendments were brought forward; did you have a preview of the Thanksgiving message, or was that just something you pulled out of the hat with sheer blind luck?
Wells: No, it is just the good management of this government.
Fast forward to last year, when Premier DOUG FORD was blasted by the Opposition for putting out confusing policies on gatherings amid the pandemic. At the time, NDP Leader ANDREA HORWATH told the House “the government doesn’t have a plan to deal with the second wave” and “instead of trying to fix that, the Premier spent most of yesterday telling people to invite 10 people over for Thanksgiving dinner and then denying that he even said it.”
This year, the PCs were again chided for waiting until the day before the long weekend to release updated public health guidance, which includes unmasked indoor gatherings for the fully vaxxed.
The scene on Thursday, the last sitting day before this week’s constituency break. MPPs are back at it October 18.
HOLIDAY HEADLINES
— RESTAURANT BLOWBACK: “Restaurants and bars have been excluded from the list of venues in Ontario that are allowed again to operate at full capacity, leaving many owners shocked and disappointed.” CTV News has the story.
— GASSED UP: With gas prices expected to hit as high as $1.50 cents per litre in the Toronto area, NDP Consumer Protection critic TERENCE KERNAGHAN wrote to Premier DOUG FORD urging “immediate action” to address the matter, which comes “despite Ford’s 2018 election promise to rein in the cost of fuel.”
— PERIOD POLITICS: Ontario’s new deal with Shoppers Drug Mart to provide free menstrual products to students is getting lots of praise. But CATHY ABRAHAM, head of the Ontario Public School Boards Association, says more needs to be done to address the need in elementary and middle schools, and to provide more types of products.
— FUNDRAISING WATCH: The PCs are fundraising off of the NDP’s fundraising. The latest email blast, signed by DOUG FORD, takes aim at ANDREA HORWATH’s new ad spot in which she “re-introduces” herself as a “fighter for people, for workers…P.S. The NDP also released their updated 2021 fundraising numbers. We know they are using this money to pay for more ad time. Help us get our message out there, so Ontarians know who the real Andrea Horwath is…Chip in.”
By the numbers: The NDP released internal fundraising figures, as follows: Cash raised so far in “2021 hit $2,001,338.60 at the end of September. Incredibly, the average donation to the NDP was just $29.18. With months left to go in the year, the party has received a whopping 68,591 individual donations — more than all other donations to all other parties in Ontario combined.”
Context: Elections Ontario doesn’t disclose donations under $200, so the official figures are a lot less than the party’s internal tally.
— DOZENS OF UNVAXXED HOSPITAL STAFF LET GO: Windsor Regional Hospital “has fired 57 employees who failed to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by a Thursday deadline — a number it said is dwarfed by the thousands who did get their shots.”
Got a Thanksgiving anecdote about Queen’s Park and provincial politics? How are you celebrating the holiday? Did you try the pie? I want to hear from you! Reach out to sabrina@qpobserver.ca, or just reply to this email.
