Your #onpoli gift guide
And who's afraid of Bonnie Crombie?
ABOVE THE FOLD
‘TIS THE SEASON — The Countdown to Christmas is on, and there’s plenty of provincially-themed presents for the naughty and nice politicos on your list.
Here’s what I’m getting, gifting, or asking for (including some favourites from last year’s haul):
— For the nostalgic baker: An edible Ontario Place in gingerbread form, with this iconic Cinesphere kit from The Change Bakers.
— For the history-loving tippler: Slate coasters made from the same tiles as the roof of the Legislative building, available in the main lobby’s gift shop. (Full disclosure: Santa brought me a set one year, and they’re wonderful.)
— For the vino lover: Put those coasters to good use with the Legislature’s wine picks for 2024. A pair of Niagara vintners came out on top at the Speaker’s annual taste test: Vineland’s King and Victoria Winery’s 2020 Cabernet was selected as the official red, while the 2021 Chardonnay from Beamsville’s Watchful Eye Winery is the official white.
— For the local-minded chef, a cookbook featuring Ontario produce: Peak Season: 12 Months of Recipes Celebrating Ontario’s Freshest Ingredients by DEIRDRE BURYK.
— For the ministerial fan club, some partisan swag: Nothing screams stocking stuffer like a fresh set of socks plastered with Infrastructure Minister KINGA SURMA’s face.
— For the outdoorsy type: Give back to provincial parks and look good doing it. Ontario Parks has a bunch of fresh vintage merch on offer, ditto ornaments, scarves, mugs, sweaters, toques, candles and more — and since it’s the season of giving, the proceeds go towards protecting parkland and local inhabitants like turtles.
— For the other “green” lovers in your life: The Ontario Cannabis Store is touting “stocking puffers” for a “lit holiday”, featuring a pre-roll advent calendar, “mistlestoned” oat milk creamers, and THC-infused candy cane chocolates.
— For the indoor crowd that wants to curl up with a good book: Any of the finalists from Speaker TED ARNOTT’s annual book award. This year’s winner: 1934: The Chatham Coloured All-Stars’ Barrier-Breaking Year, by HEIDI LM JACOBS. Full shortlist.
— For the bookish Tory: A must-read on former Conservative premier MIKE HARRIS’s Common Sense Revolution, The Harris Legacy: Reflections on a Transformational Premier, featuring words and war stories from heavyweight politicos such as ALISTER CAMPBELL, DAVID FRUM, TERENCE CORCORAN, WILL FALK, SEAN SPEER, GINNY ROTH, HOWARD LEVITT, WILL STEWART, GORDON MILLER, GUY GIORNO, HUGH SEGAL, DAVID HERLE, JAIME WATT and more. Get our sneak peek.
— For the environmental activist: Make like Ottawa and pitch in for Ontario’s 50 million tree-planting program by gifting a tree in your favourite activists’ name.
— For the savvy Queen’s Park watcher: I like to think I saved the best for last. A full-access pass to Queen’s Park Observer is the gift that keeps on giving all year! Don’t let your friends sleep on a subscription to the Legislature’s most-read newsletter, trusted by the province’s top decision-makers…
HAPPENING TODAY
9 a.m.: The Financial Accountability Office will release an update on Ontario’s spending for the first two quarters of the fiscal year (April 1 to September 30).
10 a.m.: NDPers JESSICA BELL and CHRIS GLOVER are in Toronto’s Chinatown to raise awareness about a looming primary care provider shortage. Also on hand: A local Chinese resident whose family doctor is retiring, and an employee from Manning Drug Mart.
CLIPPINGS
— POLL WATCH: “Premier DOUG FORD’s Progressive Conservatives are comfortably ahead in the latest Abacus Data tracking poll, but a new Liberal leader is exposing some vulnerabilities for the governing party.” More juicy tidbits from the Star…
By the numbers: “In the final Abacus provincial political survey of the year, Ford's Tories were at 39 per cent, well ahead of BONNIE CROMBIE’s Liberals at 27 per cent, while MARIT STILES’s New Democrats were at 24 per cent, and MIKE SCHREINER’s Greens at six per cent.”
That said: “A majority of respondents think the premier, scion of a rich family, is ‘wealthy,’ ‘cares more about helping his friends,’ ‘ignores people like me,’ and is ‘elitist’ and ‘corrupt.’ In contrast, Crombie, who won the Liberal leadership on Dec. 2 and has given her party a modest bounce, scored better than Ford on those same metrics.”
Cue attack ads painting Crombie as an elitist.
— AODA ALARM: “With a year left until Ontario is supposed to be fully accessible, the state of accessibility in the province is in ‘crisis,’” says a new report quietly released by the Ford government.
More from the CBC: “AODA Alliance chair DAVID LEPOFSKY said there was no good reason to keep the report hidden from the public for this long. ‘The report found that Ontario is far behind schedule and has no effective action plan to lead this province to become accessible by 2025 or by any time in the future…Instead of using the past six months to follow this wise recommendation, Premier Ford squandered those months by keeping [RICH] DONOVAN’s report secret.’”
— IN THE HAMMER: “Following Toronto’s success uploading the oversight and costs of two major highways to the province, cash-strapped Hamilton is looking to do the same. Council unanimously voted Wednesday to urge Ontario's Ministry of Transportation to take over Hamilton's two city-run highways — the Red Hill Valley Parkway and Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway.” CBC reports.
Spoiler alert: Premier DOUG FORD has already signalled other municipalities won’t be getting the same new funding deal as Toronto, which is its own powerhouse and even has its own standalone legislation.
— IN LIBERAL LAND: “The Israeli consulate in Toronto was secretly behind an opinion poll that experts say manipulated Canadian public opinion about Israel’s war on Gaza, an investigation by The Breach reveals.”
To wit: “The poll was conducted in late October by Aurora Strategies Global, which is headed by Liberal strategist MARCEL WIEDER, who The Globe and Mail once labelled a ‘dirty-tricks man’ for his use of manipulative tactics. His firm did not disclose that the poll was done on behalf of the Israeli consulate in its news release or the poll’s full text, a move that flies in the face of conventions set out by the Canadian Research Insights Council.”
— IN MEMORIAM: NDP Indigenous critic SOL MAMAKWA is mourning the loss of missing Neskantaga youth MACKENZIE MOONIAS. “Mackenzie was in Thunder Bay to attend high school. They were one of the many young people from Kiiwetinoong who leave home to pursue their educational goals. It has been seven and half years since the release of the Seven Youth Inquest and many of the 145 jury recommendations have not been implemented. These recommendations were intended to prevent any further loss of our children and must be implemented.”
— THE OL’ COLLEGE TRY: “Ontario has a public post-secondary system that is unsustainable without massive amounts of tuition dollars from international students. It’s a problem the provincial government is unlikely to fix in any significant way, despite a compelling analysis from an expert panel the government itself appointed.” Randall Denley opines in the Post.
— OH BABY!: OLIVIA and NOAH continue to top the list of most popular baby names in the province. And the rest.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
ON THE BENCH — A familiar face: NATHALIE DES ROSIERS, former Liberal minister and principal of Massey College, has been appointed as a Superior Court of Justice judge.
REGULATORY ROUNDUP
On Tuesdays, we sum up the government’s latest proposals on the regulatory registry — where the nitty-gritty of policymaking is hammered out.
HOT HOUSING — The proposal: The Ford government is adding more organizations to the list of those whose real estate will be handled by the Infrastructure Minister of the day, a la Bill 151. That includes the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation, Ontario Media Development Corporation,
Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario and Intellectual Property Ontario. Deadline for public feedback: February 2.
BIG PHARMA — Proposal: “The Ontario College of Pharmacists is proposing amendments…made under the Pharmacy Act to update the requirements for registration with the College. The College is also updating provisions pertaining to its quality assurance program. The Ministry of Health is also proposing consequential amendments to regulations made under various statutes to ensure consistency with the newly created registration classes proposed by the College.” Deadline: January 12.
🥳 HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sport Minister NEIL LUMSDEN.
🍽️ ON THE MENU: Beef curry with rice and vegetables is on special.
⏳ COUNTDOWN: T-minus 6 days until Christmas…109 days until the Premier has to call a byelection for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex.