Members of the provincial parliament returned to their seats at Queen’s Park on Monday for the first time since the Ontario PCs won another majority government in the June election.
The rare summer session gives Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government a chance to lay out its agenda, in a throne speech on Tuesday and a budget presentation.
As a first order of business, MPs re-elected Ted Arnott as chairman. Arnott, a Progressive Conservative who represents Wellington-Halton Hills, served as speaker for the previous four years.
After the vote, Arnott thanked members for electing him and thanked the legislature’s hundreds of staff, from cleaners to clerks, saying the assembly could not function without them.
Arnott was up for the role against Nina Tangri, who served as Associate Minister for Small Business and Red Tape.
On Tuesday, there will be a speech from the throne, outlining the agenda of the re-elected Progressive Conservative government, followed by the budget, which is expected to be largely unchanged from when it was presented but failed to pass in the spring before the elections.
The only new item Premier Doug Ford has indicated will be in the budget is a five per cent increase in Ontario Disability Support Program fees, which have been frozen since 2018 at $1,169 per month for a single person for basic needs and shelter.
Ontario NDP Interim Leader Peter Tabuns says now is the time to act on the affordability and health care crises. (Chris Young/Canadian Press)
So far, Ford shows no signs of deviating much from what he set out in the budget his government presented in April, a budget that had no chance of passing because of the timing of the election.
But his critics say staying the course ignores the deteriorating situations facing the province.
Green Party leader Mike Schreiner says Ford must double the rates, so people with disabilities don’t have to live in “legalized poverty.”
The Liberals and the opposition NDP have also called on the government to increase those payments, and all three parties have also called on Ford to repeal the wage cap legislation as a way to ease staffing shortages. nursing that has seen emergency rooms temporarily close across the country. province this summer.
“Now is the time for a new budget to deal with the new realities,” Acting Opposition and Ontario NDP Leader Peter Tabuns said at a news conference in the legislature on Friday.
It’s not yet clear how long the legislature will sit (for a short summer session or until the winter recess), but one piece of legislation the government has indicated is coming is the so-called Bill strong mayor
Ford has said his government aims to have a system that puts more power in the hands of the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa ahead of municipal elections scheduled for October.
Attrition and workers leaving the profession have left hospitals understaffed and forced some units to close temporarily. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Affordability, healthcare and education are three issues expected to dominate the debates. The Ontario NDP and several groups are already calling for immediate action as Ontarians struggle to put food on the table and hospital units are forced to close temporarily due to staff shortages.
“Their honeymoon is over. Sixty percent of the people in the province were not happy with them on June 2,” Tabuns said.
“And again, with the emergency crisis, the cost of living crisis… love is getting thinner and thinner”
Government officials were tight-lipped on Friday about whether changes would be made to deal with growing pressures in light of the health and affordability crisis, pointing instead to money the government has already committed to the sector sanitary
Health care
“I can’t imagine how they can keep dodging the problems with the health care system,” said Henry Jacek, professor emeritus of political science at McMaster University.
“They have to show they’re going to do something that will work,” he said, but he doubts it will be anything big enough to make a dent in the crisis, given the little relief my attempts have provided so far.
More than a dozen hospital units temporarily closed or reduced service before the August long weekend because of a shortage of hospital staff, many in critical or emergency care.
Premier Doug Ford has not pledged to repeal Bill 124, despite calls from health workers, the opposition and other groups. (Carlos Osorio/CBC)
“It could get to a point with the health care system, that literally the number of people dying is something it can’t ignore,” says Laura Stephenson, a political scientist at Western University.
Unions representing health workers, such as CUPE, are calling for the repeal of law 124 which capped the salaries of health workers, who are leaving the profession en masse with pay often cited as the reason.
Pam Parks, a registered practical nurse and president of a CUPE local, says she has been telling the Prime Minister and Health Minister how serious the situation was for months, but she feels the government has not heard
“The workforce they have here is excellent. And they’re going broke. They can’t do it anymore … they need the government and employers to realize they’re still here,” he says.
Vice Principal Vanessa McFarquhar leads a tour of Blessed Sacrament Catholic School on September 4, 2020. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Ford has not hinted that he is considering repealing the bill, but said last week, “We are throwing everything we can at the health care system.”
The Treasury spokesman says the government is already giving nurses a retention bonus of up to $5,000 per person over two years and is investing $230 million this year “to improve existing programs so that hospitals and the health system have the staff they have. need.” The government is also investing an additional $3.3 billion in the system this fiscal year to “be ready to respond to any crisis.”
affordability
Stephenson says the rising cost of living is top of mind for many and Ford campaigned for his team to be the one to make things better for Ontarians.
While gas and housing prices are falling, food prices are skyrocketing and more Ontarians are relying on food banks, he says.
“I think they’re going to try to take steps in that direction,” he said.
Jacek isn’t so sure. With lower prices for some items, the government can see that this is a shrinking problem, not a growing problem to deal with now, he says.
Tabuns says Ontarians can’t wait for things to cool down.
“Inflation is eating into their paychecks, and corporations are using inflation as an excuse to make us even more fortunes,” he says.
education
Public education unions are returning to the bargaining table with the government this summer.
Ford is likely hoping to avoid attracting a lot of additional criticism on this file, since a smooth return to school is a top priority for parents during the negotiations, Jacek says.
Jacek says that if he were advising Ford on what to include in the throne speech, he would say, “You should probably say something positive about what you’re going to do in terms of your relationship with teachers.
Hard to predict tone: Expert
Only time will tell what the tone of this session will be, but Tuesday’s throne speech will likely offer some clues about the kind of Ford government we’re likely to see.
Jacek says the varied approaches the Ford administration has taken so far will make its tone difficult to predict. “Which Doug Ford are we going to see? The hard-nosed one or the nice gentleman?”
Stephenson says that with an election now four years away, Ford can use the longer runway to do things a little outside its wheelhouse, as crises demand.