What the Premiers will talk about
Booze ban
Paid subscribers received this edition bright and early this morning. Don’t play catch-up — sign up to get the Legislature’s favourite newsletter before everyone else:
Presented by Cancer Action Now
ABOVE THE FOLD
PREMIERS’ PRIMER — DOUG FORD is hosting his fellow First Ministers today. Topping the agenda is — you guessed it! — U.S. President-elect DONALD TRUMP’s tariff threat and the brewing trade war.
While some Premiers like Ford are taking a hard line and warning of their own retaliatory levies, others like Alberta’s DANIELLE SMITH — who is worried about cutting off oil and gas exports in Wild Rose country — prefer a more diplomatic approach.
Also on the agenda: Health care, “including the importance of accelerating patient access to new and life-saving medications,” energy security, and Northern infrastructure.
A hint on Ford’s approach to today’s talks: The Premier went deeper into the tariff tango with Trump and more at his Friday presser. Highlights:
On whether Ford is considering a levy on U.S.-imported booze at the LCBO in response to Trump’s tariff threat: Ford said he’s willing but would rather not. While all provinces are working with the feds on a list of potential retaliatory tariffs (including Ontario’s energy and critical minerals), Ford insisted he would “prefer to make a deal.”
“We put a tariff on bourbon last time. The LCBO is one of the largest purchasers of alcohol in the entire world. But I’d prefer not to do any of this.”
Mixed mixers: Craft brewers say that an alcohol tax would be good news for domestic boozemakers, but could also lead to higher prices for everyone. Via CTV News.
Ford also boasted about getting Trump’s attention with his threat to shut off the lights in key states — and low-key pointed the finger at the feds, who he has accused of being slow to act.
“There’s two areas that we can move this forward a lot quicker: Making sure we secure our borders is absolutely essential. And second, we make sure that we hit our two per cent [of GDP on defence spending] commitment to NATO. We’re about 1.4 per cent right now.”
We’ll get details on Ottawa’s border plan in today’s federal Fall Economic Statement. The Premiers were briefed last week. Trump also got the rundown.
Ford, meanwhile, continues to make the media rounds stateside with an appearance on one of the most listened-to stations.
Closer to home: Asked why the PCs adjourned the House until March 3, two weeks later than scheduled — especially with long-awaited encampments legislation languishing on the Clerk’s table, and buzz of an early election — Ford wouldn’t bite and stuck to his talking points.
“We have a lot of work, and there’s a misnomer out there that you don’t work if you’re not in the Legislature...You work twice as hard when you’re outside the Legislature.”
A couple theories floating around the Pink Palace: I asked for your hot takes on the timing of the Legislature’s return last week, and two guesses came out on top: That the election could be called in February, or that the PCs could table the budget when the House returns in March, then quickly dissolve the Leg and take their budget-turned-platform to voters. Over to you, Mr. Premier.
The actual announcement: Uncle Ford wants you! The Premier was up alongside TREVOR JONES, a former OPP sergeant and current Emergency Preparedness Minister, to launch Ontario Corps — which will recruit volunteers who can help when disaster strikes in their community. Volunteers would work with professionals and First Nations groups to help on-the-ground response efforts to deal with flooding, heavy snowstorms and more.
HAPPENING TODAY
DOUG FORD’S MONDAY — As this year’s chair of the Council of the Federation, the Premier hosts his fellow First Ministers at the Hilton Hotel in Toronto. A formal press conference is slated for 2 p.m.
9:30 a.m.: Natural Resources Minister GRAYDON SMITH is in North Bay.
FUNDRAISING WATCH — 6 p.m.: PC DOUG DOWNEY is hosting in Mississauga for $1,000 apiece…6:30 p.m.: Also in Mississauga — BONNIE CROMBIE’s turf — PC STEPHEN LECCE is holding a meet-and-greet for $500 apiece.
— 6:30 p.m.: Liberals BONNIE CROMBIE and ADIL SHAMJI are shilling in North York in support of Don Valley East for $650 a pop.
THE HOUSE IS OUT. But there’s no rest for the Standing Committees…
ON THE COMMITTEE CIRCUIT — Pre-budget consultations continue at Finance and Economic Affairs, which is hitting the road this winter to hear what stakeholders want to see in the spring budget. SCOFEA heads to Stratford today. Witness roster.
Sponsored by Cancer Action Now
Cancer care wait times are rising — and the Premiers can do something about it today.
Queen’s Park Observer is speaking with stakeholders from around the province to learn about the causes that are important to them — and what they want to see from Ontario’s decision-makers. Here, we chat with Cancer Action Now Steering Committee Member LOUISE BINDER about cancer care wait times and what actions policy makers need to take.
Binder, who is also a health policy consultant with Save Your Skin Foundation, discusses cancer care wait times and what it means to be truly responsive to patient needs so that those living with cancer are not just surviving but thriving.
Why did Cancer Action Now come together and what goals is the alliance looking to advance? Cancer Action Now was formed when 40+ pan-Canadian, pan tumour organizations came together to raise awareness about the challenges people were experiencing as they were trying to navigate the cancer care systems in different parts of the country. Our work is anchored in amplifying the voices of people with lived experience and bringing forward tangible solutions that policy makers can implement to improve timely access to cancer care and treatment across the board.
What makes Cancer Action Now unique is the diversity of perspectives and breadth of knowledge represented around the table. We know our health system and as a result, our cancer care systems are facing big challenges – lengthy wait times for access to care, the need to ensure our system is future-ready to adopt the advancements in science that are coming down the pipeline and working to address challenges such as the financial burden on people facing a cancer diagnosis due to high out of pocket costs. These are big challenges and won’t be solved alone or in silos. That is why Cancer Action Now exists, to break down that silo, bring unique perspectives around the table and work with an all-hands on deck approach to help policy makers tackle some of these big system challenges.
What challenges are people living with cancer in Ontario currently experiencing and how can these be addressed? Due to ongoing health system challenges, people in Ontario living with cancer continue to face barriers at every step of their cancer journey – in screening, obtaining a diagnosis and accessing treatment. These agonizing wait times can feel like an eternity for those living in uncertainty.
One example of these wait times can be seen in access to treatments and medications. The time between Health Canada approval for medications and their listing on public provincial formularies averaged 736 days (25 months) in 2022, double the average time reported in comparable Organization for Economic Development (OECD) countries. This is not just a statistic; it represents people living with cancer waiting years to access the medications they need for potentially life-saving treatment. Long wait times also result in patients more likely to present with late-stage cancer which further adds burden on an already strained health system.
As the Premiers are convening in Ontario today for the Council of the Federation meeting, people in Canada living with cancer and their families, their constituents, are hoping they will discuss this issue and collaborate on solutions that will help reduce wait times across the board, including access to care and getting faster access to the treatments they need.
In the context of the current affordability challenges, a recent report from the Canadian Cancer Society reveals that cancer costs the average patient nearly $33,000 in their lifetime. What are people in Ontario facing a cancer diagnosis experiencing in terms of their diagnosis adding a financial strain? Many patients in Ontario are faced with the devastating choice of putting food on the table or taking on significant debt as they struggle to afford the direct out-of-pocket costs related to cancer diagnosis and treatment. These costs can range from more than $4000 - $8,000 representing 20% of direct societal costs in 2024. Only 60% of people in Canada have private health insurance which often have maximum payouts, require deductibles or copays, and have complicated and lengthy application procedures. The people who can least afford to take on these costs are those in communities that are most underrepresented in terms of income.
Sharon, a resident of Ontario, who works closely with our alliance, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2001. She has to take on out of pocket costs of more than $5,000 per month for her medications because they were take-home medications. These are covered in many other provinces in Canada and Ontario has an opportunity to do the same.
With today’s cost of living crisis, this would greatly support people living with cancer in Ontario who have to take on a significant financial burden with thousands of dollars per month in out of pocket costs for take-home cancer medications.
What is your message to health policy makers looking to improve cancer care in Ontario?As an alliance, we are anxiously awaiting Ontario’s renewed cancer plan and hope to see the plan address some of these challenges, with solutions to reduce wait times and a focus on value based health care outcomes.
Ontario also took a positive step in 2022 and made a commitment to explore improved access to take‐home cancer medications for patients. We would appreciate the opportunity to work with policy makers to drive movement on that.
Finally, as Premiers convene in Ontario today, we are hoping to see collaboration on getting cancer treatments and life-saving medications to patients faster after Health Canada has approved them.
CLIPPINGS
— DOGGY DISCORD: “A decision over whether to expand an obscure dog sport in Ontario sparked division within Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative caucus that saw the premier agree to cancel a new licensing regime before later resurrecting it, The Canadian Press has learned. At trial and train areas, hunters can unleash dogs inside massive, fenced-in areas to hunt down prey such as coyotes, foxes and rabbits. The provincial government insists they are safe for both dogs and wildlife.”
— BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO: Bill 240, the watered-down version of Peel Region’s dissolution, is getting rave reviews from the mayors of Mississauga, Caledon and Brampton. Via The Guardian.
— ZAPPED: “Ontario didn’t inform the public about advice urging a shift away from natural gas.” From The Narwhal: “The Ontario government has pushed forward plans to boost natural gas generation to meet soaring energy demand, despite receiving expert advice [to the tune of $1.5 million] to ‘plan a partial abandonment’ of gas infrastructure by 2050.”
SPOTTED:
Civil servants flex their green thumbs…
LOBBY LIST
Here are the new, renewed and amended registrations since Friday:
John Matheson, Fraser Macdonald and Alexander Glista, StrategyCorp: EG Whitebelt Landowners Group Inc.
Saad Baig and John Matheson, StrategyCorp: CRH Canada Group Inc.
Liam Thompson, Kelly Baker, Fraser Macdonald and Ramneek Bala, StrategyCorp: College of Medical Laboratory Technologists of Ontario
Kelly Baker, Ramneek Bala and Fraser Macdonald, StrategyCorp: College of Dental Hygienists Ontario
Wil Robertson and Liam Thompson, StrategyCorp: Canadian Nuclear Association
Fraser Macdonald, StrategyCorp: Cabot Canada Ltd, Association of Canadian Search, Employment and Staffing Services
In-house organizations: Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers.
⏳ COUNTDOWN: T-minus 77 days until the House reconvenes.