"Rigged:" Race for Speaker boils over
Plus: Chiefs of staff incoming, Education Minister mulls 4-year teacher contracts, Premiers go West, get ready for fourth doses
ABOVE THE FOLD
CHIEFS ON DECK — As we’ve been teasing, word on the street is the new, post-cabinet-shuffle crop of chiefs of staff will be finalized today. I’ll send out a special dispatch as soon as I get my hands on the list.
Like cabinet, there aren’t too many changes to the lineup, and as we’ve previously reported, some Ministers have said goodbye to their top staffers in recent days, including the Ministers of Education, Housing, Colleges and Universities and Indigenous Affairs.
Are you on the list? I want to hear from you, and I’ll keep you anonymous. Reach out: sabrina@qpobserver.ca.
SPEAKER BOXED — The race for MPP referee is getting heated.
I’ve confirmed reports that the Official Opposition NDP sent a letter to PC Government House Leader PAUL CALANDRA accusing him of “backroom deal-making” over the race for the next Speaker.
As first reported by Queen’s Park Observer, current Speaker TED ARNOTT is vying to stay on. His competition thus far is NINA TANGRI, former junior small biz minister, who would become the first woman Speaker in provincial history.
In the letter, NDP House Leader PEGGY SATTLER accused Calandra of threatening to strip her party of three deputy speaker roles and six committee vice-chair positions if they didn’t join the PCs to express support for Tangri. Sattler demanded Calandra “withdraw [his] threat and allow the democratic process for the election of speaker to unfold without the taint of a rigged election.”
Calandra’s office denied the claims and said he had only “appealed to Ms. Sattler for the NDP’s support.”
All MPPs get a secret ballot vote to decide who will steer them through legislative debates, procedure and decorum. The next Speaker, who is supposed to be neutral, will be decided as soon as the House reconvenes on August 8.
FOUR YEARS GOOD, THREE YEARS BAD — Collective bargaining is ramping up in Ontario’s Education sector.
In a memo, LAURA WALTON, president of CUPE’s Ontario School Boards Council of Unions — obtained by Queen’s Park Observer — said the union will sit down with government negotiators on Monday, July 18. According to Walton, the government initially suggested three dates (the 18th, 20th and 21st), but in the end only agreed to one, for now.
Said Walton: “While we’re disappointed that the trustees’ association and the government aren’t prepared to devote more time to actually negotiate with frontline education workers considering there are only eight weeks left until September, we will be across the table from them on July 18 trying to get a fair deal done that provides more supports for students and makes sure workers’ pay is no longer eroded.”
Meanwhile, Walton revealed Education Minister STEPHEN LECCE is “contemplating a four-year term” for the next collective agreement — a change from the three-year standard that’s laid out in law and would require tweaks to regulation.
The union’s response to the government is due by July 22.
ALL-PREMIERS MEETING — It’s that time of year again.
Canada’s Premier’s are headed West for the summer Council of the Federation meeting — the first in-person event since before the pandemic in 2019, hosted by B.C. Premier JOHN HORGAN, who’s chairing the ceremonies this year.
The meeting goes down Monday and Tuesday with a closing presser slated for Tuesday afternoon.
Top of mind for the first ministers is — you guessed it — joining forces to push PM JUSTIN TRUDEAU on their oft-repeated call to boost provincial health transfers. Trudeau has said those increases would be put on hold until the country got through the worst of the pandemic, and the premiers believe the time is nigh. They want Ottawa to cover 35 per cent of health care costs, up from the current 22 per cent.
Also on the agenda: “affordability issues and economic recovery.”
Green Party leaders from across the country took the opportunity to re-up their call for “a windfall profits tax on oil and gas companies that would be redistributed directly to Canadians.”
HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND
— 6 p.m.: The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario holds their annual general meeting over the weekend. The theme: “COVID-19 Pandemic: Nursing Through Crisis.” Featured MPP speakers include the NDP’s PEGGY SATTLER, the Grits’ JOHN FRASER and the Greens’ MIKE SCHREINER. A PC rep is still being confirmed.
IN OTHER NEWS…
— FOURTH DOSE INCOMING: “Ontario is set to make a decision early next week on whether to expand eligibility of fourth doses of COVID-19 vaccines, amid a seventh wave of the virus.” More from the Canadian Press: “Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. KIERAN MOORE said in an interview that he anticipates news on that will come next week on "both whether and how" to expand the rollout, but he said he is most concerned about the number of people who have not had a third dose yet.”
— BROWN BOMBSHELL: Another day, another whopper in PATRICK BROWN news — this time, featuring another familiar face around Queen’s Park. The latest from the Star: DEBBIE JODOIN, “a veteran Conservative operative who worked on Brown’s campaign has come forward to say she flagged concerns to party brass that led to his disqualification from the leadership contest. Jodoin, employed for about a month as a regional organizer on the Brown campaign, revealed Thursday night that she blew the whistle on how she was paid for her work.
‘Mr. Brown told me that it was permissible for me to be employed by a company as a consultant, and then for that company to have me volunteer with the campaign,’ Jodoin said in a statement through her lawyer…The Conservative Party has said it believes such an arrangement would contravene Canada’s election finance laws and has referred the matter to the federal elections watchdog.”
— LABOUR PAINS: “Sluggish labour force growth and ongoing supply chain disruptions are contributing to recruiting challenges for the red-hot construction industry, leading some builders to defer or even cancel projects as they seek to fill record-high job vacancies.” Story from the Financial Post.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
BEYOND THE BUBBLE — Former Minister and longtime MPP BILL WALKER has returned to his roots in the energy sector, as the new president and CEO of the Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries.
— LUCCA BUCCI, who most recently served as chief of staff to Housing Minister STEVE CLARK, has landed at the Ontario Home Builders’ Association as CEO.
WANTED — Colleges and Universities Minister JILL DUNLOP is on the hunt for new recruits to join her policy team.
SPOTTED:
Ontario Chamber of Commerce President ROCCO ROSSI on a trade mission in Seoul, Korea…MPPs’ legislative offices getting re-keyed, a post-election routine and another sign that the House is gearing up for the summer sitting on August 8.
LOBBYING DISPATCH
Here are the new, renewed and amended registrations over the past 24 hours:
— Alex Bernst, StrategyCorp: National Association of Canadian Consulting Businesses
— John Penner, StrategyCorp: Carfax Canada
— Kelly Baker and Kailey Vokes, StrategyCorp: Mondelez Canada
— Ralph Palumbo, The Hillcrest Consulting Group: Used Car Dealers Association of Ontario, Nature and Outdoor Tourism Ontario, The Shad Foundation, Ontario Federation of Trail Riders, Mitigokaa Develoment Corp., MCW Group of Companies
— Daniel Pascucci, Rubicon Strategy: Alamos Gold Inc
— Jan O'Driscoll, Rubicon Strategy: KWG Resources Inc
— Will Stewart, Hill + Knowlton Strategies: Neuron Mobility
In-house organizations: Ontario Retirement Communities Association — Ontario Library Association — Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada — Alectra.
🥳 HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Infrastructure Minister KINGA SURMA…(BELATED): Veteran Tory operative JENNI BYRNE.