Winter recess is coming
And 905 rebound
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ABOVE THE FOLD
Lots of #onpoli action over the past 24 hours. Let’s get to it.
RECESS! — Rumour has it the House will adjourn today, eight days ahead of schedule.
Multiple sources tell me the Ford government is expected to rise after the day’s proceedings. MPPs aren’t slated to return until after the Family Day long weekend in February. While there are still items on the Order Paper, the PCs have been holding midnight sittings and chugging through their agenda — and they’re now on track to enshrine the biggest-ticket items today.
Legislative clues: Lieutenant Governor EDITH DUMONT is expected to be in the House to give Royal Assent to a bunch of bills. Private members’ business was cancelled for Thursday. MPPs will sit earlier than usual this afternoon, at 1 p.m. — giving them more time to see legislation through due process. A crop of private bills will also be dealt with, something that typically happens on the final sitting day.
Politically speaking, the PCs may not be looking forward to Question Period over the next few days as the Auditor General’s office releases its critical annual report — and as the Ford government gears up for yet another policy flip-flop.
Speaking of which…
GETTING BACK TOGETHER IN THE 905 — I’ve confirmed reports that the Ford government is poised to backtrack on the dissolution of Peel Region, something the Premier promised former Mississauga mayor HAZEL McCALLION on her deathbed.
Official word is expected Friday, and the move would require legislation to repeal the original law, which is named for the Hurricane mayor. Also on the chopping block: More hot-potato housing policies, including some MZOs and certain aspects of Bill 23, which scrapped developer fees municipalities rely on.
The 905 rethink comes after stark numbers from Brampton Mayor PATRICK BROWN — who is staunchly opposed to becoming a standalone city with Mississauga and Caledon — that suggested property taxes would go up by an extra $1.3 billion over a decade. That prompted Caledon Mayor ANNETTE GROVES — the self-proclaimed child in the divorce — to also call for a rethink on the dissolution.
Outgoing Mississauga Mayor BONNIE CROMBIE isn’t happy, telling reporters at Queen’s Park that the Ford government wouldn’t want to be known for walking back legislation. Crombie, who has disputed Brown’s numbers, said she wants to “put politics aside” and make the cities independent. She and DOUG FORD don’t agree on a lot of things, but breaking up Peel Region was one of them, Crombie added.
The NDP is framing the soon-to-be-moot dissolution as a “Ford-Crombie deal.”
Our sources heard rumblings that the government could change course back in the summer. One theory floating around out there is that the dissolution could have enticed Crombie to stay on at City Hall to see through Mississauga’s independence — something she’s long fought for — instead of going for the Liberal leadership, which would make her a threat to the PCs.
But we all know how that turned out.
Speaking of Crombie…
BENNY AND THE JET — In her first presser at Queen’s Park since taking the Liberal helm, BONNIE CROMBIE weighed in on everything from her relationship with a prominent developer to her party-paid salary. The highlights:
On Premier DOUG FORD’s line of attack that she’s an out-of-touch elitist: Crombie called it a “desperate” attempt to distract from today’s Auditor General’s report. “It’s going to show more of their corruption.” She then flipped the script on to Ford’s wealth. “I have worked very, very hard in my life to achieve everything I have. I have earned every single penny,” she said. “I have not been handed a political dynasty, nor have I been handed a business that has been built up for my offspring to run.”
On Ford’s fiery comments in the chamber that she’s “too busy flying around in the private jet of her buddy the developer,” reportedly Solmar Development’s BENNY MAROTTA: Crombie said she’s never done that, but admitted she’s visited his family’s winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake, sometimes with her mother in tow, and always on her own dime. Crombie acknowledged their friendship but pointed out that Marotta, like many developers, is a stakeholder — and not someone she’d invite to her daughter’s wedding events.
On taking a salary from the party (another thing the PCs are attacking her for): Crombie said she won’t be on the payroll until after she sees the budget through and leaves the Mississauga Mayor’s seat early next year. It’ll be a “competitive” rate.
A moment of levity: As for the Housing Minister attacking her record on housing in Mississauga, Crombie shot back: “Has PAUL CALANDRA built any housing? Next question.”
HAPPENING TODAY
8:30 a.m.: Social Services Minister MICHAEL PARSA and Associate Women’s Minister CHARMAINE WILLIAMS are up in Toronto.
9:30 a.m.: NDP Housing critic JESSICA BELL is holding a presser to call for a moratorium on the demolition of purpose-built rental buildings.
AG REPORT DAY — 11:30 a.m.: Acting Auditor General NICK STAVROPOULOS is in the Media Studio to release his annual report, including what’s expected to be a critical look at the controversial Science Centre move. As we previously scooped, Tories were bracing for the report and gave many the impression that that’s why the business case was revealed the week prior to its release.
The pregame: New Democrats unearthed documents that suggest the Ford government was already considering relocating the Science Centre down to Ontario Place as early as 2021, before bureaucrats were asked to write the business case. Global News reports.
Advocacy group Ontario Place For all is planning to pack the galleries in protest.
ON THE ORDER PAPER
First up: A bunch of private bills will be considered. MPPs could also kick off second reading debate on Bill 159, the PUPS Act that bans puppy mills.
Later on, PC MIKE HARRIS JR. moves second reading of his Bill 143, to proclaim a Harvest Season Road Safety week in September.
TUESDAY’S RUNDOWN:
Passed I-III: After the PCs hotly contested time-allocation motion cleared a vote, the trio of fast-tracked planning bills are now awaiting Royal Assent after passing third and final reading. That is: Bill 154, which speeds up construction of Ontario Place and bypasses environmental assessments — Bill 136, the Greenbelt-reversing and indemnifying legislation — and Bill 150, which backtracks on municipal Official Plan changes.
Off to committee: Bill 157, Attorney General DOUG DOWNEY’s omnibus legislation, will go under the microscope at the Justice Policy committee.
ON THE COMMITTEE CIRCUIT — 1 p.m.: Justice Policy is slated to deal with committee business.
🎄 COCKTAIL CHATTER — It’s here! Speaker TED ARNOTT’s annual holiday party on the grand staircase and lobby. You won’t want to miss this one — it’s a time for everyone who works at the Pink Palace to let their hair down after an especially busy session. Folks are asked to bring a new, unwrapped toy for the Toronto Fire Fighters drive, or a monetary donation for the Daily Bread Food Bank.
Over in the Dining Room, Ontario 211 Services is hosting an evening reception.
CLIPPINGS
— POLL WATCH: Mainstreet Research has fresh post-Liberal leadership polling that suggests the third-place party is getting a boost from BONNIE CROMBIE. “The results show a close two way race between the Ontario Liberal Party and the Ontario PC Party which, if replicated in 2026, would seriously call into question the Ontario PC Party’s ability to win a third straight majority,” the pollster said.
It pegs support for the Tories at 36 per cent among leaning and decided voters, with the Liberals in close second, at 34 per cent. The NDP placed third with 19 per cent and the Greens followed with six per cent. Five per cent would pick another party.
— CODE RED: “Staff shortages have forced emergency rooms and other key health care facilities across Ontario to shut their doors nearly 1,200 times this year, according to numbers compiled by the Ontario Health Coalition, a union-backed advocacy group.” More from the Globe.
— BAD BUREAUCRAT: “A Toronto police officer and a former Ontario public servant were led out of court in handcuffs Tuesday after a judge handed them each a seven-year prison sentence for cooking up a bogus will that deprived a dead man’s estate of $834,000.” The Star reports.
A message from Ontario’s Universities
After a 10% tuition cut in 2019, four years of a tuition freeze, and pressure from inflation, Ontario’s universities are at a breaking point. Without ending the tuition freeze and providing additional government funding to universities, the programs and services that Ontario’s students rely on and deserve are at risk.
The time for government action is now. Find out more about how government, businesses, community partners and universities must work together to ensure that universities have the resources to continue to support students, lead innovation, and drive economic growth for Ontario here.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
We called it! — BEYOND THE BUBBLE — It’s LinkedIn official: SHIR BARZILAY has exited Finance and joined GT and Company, the public affairs firm headed up by Liberal DON GUY and the NDP’s BRIAN TOPP, as principal. Barzilay was previously executive director of budget and policy to Finance Minister PETER BETHLENFALVY.
Also joining the GT and Co. team: SEAN WEBSTER, ex-PC byelection candidate for Kanata-Carleton, and GENEVIEVE TOMNEY, former Liberal staffer and longtime strategist who was most recently working on BONNIE CROMBIE’s leadership bid.
SPOTTED:
The Premier’s Office going to the dogs, literally, to pump up the new PUPS Act, featuring longtime staffer IVANA YELICH’s furball CHLOE (who is no stranger to this newsletter)…
QUESTION PERIOD
THE HIGHLIGHTS: Re: the Ontario Health Coalition report, “What possible explanation can this government offer to Ontarians who lost over 30,000 hours of emergency care this year?” — “Commit new hospital funding to ensure care is available when the patients of Ontario need it” — “Why did the Premier keep his plans for the science centre a secret during the 2022 election?” — “How can he justify the largest tax hike in Brampton’s history in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis?” — “Now that the Minister of Infrastructure has the power to issue MZOs, who is going to get rich next?” — Fire Metrolinx CEO PHIL VERSTER over Crosstown delays — “Stop fighting nurses in court, repeal Bill 124, properly fund our public health care system” — Desjardins report “showing short-term rentals are having a negative impact on housing affordability” — “First Nations families in northern Ontario spend more than half of their income on groceries to meet basic nutritional requirements.”
Expecting the Lobbying Dispatch here? Don’t worry, you’re not missing anything. There were no new, renewed or amended registrations on record over the past 24 hours.
🍽️ ON THE MENU: Butter chicken with rice and veggies is on special.
⏳ COUNTDOWN: T-minus ?? days until the House breaks for winter…122 days until the Premier has to call a byelection for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex.