On The Ledge

This week, the On The Ledge crew marks the second anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic noting some school boards intend to extend the mask mandate for students. It's also two years and a few days since Steven Del Duca became the Liberal leader in Ontario and this week marks the fourth anniversary of Doug Ford's ascendancy to the PC leadership. Just so happens to be the same week Patrick Brown and CTV News settled an $8 million dollar lawsuit. Brown alledged CTV defamed him by inaccurately reporting he was involved in inappropriate sexual relationships with two women. The scandal caused Brown to lose his job as leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives. CTV issued a statement reading in part: “On Jan. 24, 2018, four months before a provincial election, CTV broadcast a segment concerning Patrick Brown. Key details provided to CTV for the story were factually incorrect and required correction,...CTV National News regrets including those details in the story and any harm this may have caused to Mr. Brown.”

Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman has announced he will not seek re-election in the fall. Instead, he is expected to land the Liberal nomination in the riding of Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte and challenge the incumbent Doug Downey, who is the Attorney General in Doug Ford's government. We also talk about Health Minister Christine Elliott's decision not to run for re-election in June.

The calendar says we're ten months from Christmas but the gift giving season is already upon us in Ontario. The Ford government is already trotting out pre-budget trinkets aimed at helping folks cope with the increased cost of living. That includes giving up an estimated $1 billion dollars in annual revenue by cancelling annual licence plate fees. That amounts to less than 33 cents a day. Not even enough for you to buy a coffee at Timmie's.

The Ontario legislature is set to get back to business next week following a 2 month recess. And there's no shortage of STUFF to get at today. Keith Leslie, John Wright and Sabrina Nanji from the Queen's Park Observer join me to review the latest in the Ottawa Occupation and the use of the Emergencies Act. How will that shape the ballot question for Doug Ford as we we head towards the June election here in Ontario.

Here's an OTL Bonus episode for you!  This is from today's (Feb 11, 2022) edition of The Daily Brief. OTL Contributor, Founder and Editor of the Queen's Park Observer, Sabrina Nanji joins us. Get-tough plans at Queen's Park are great but they're still just talk unless the OPP and local police forces are prepared to enforce the measures. Cutting off fuel and funding for the blockaders is a long game that might get results in weeks(?) The need for action is immediate. The border crossings need to be open now. The Ottawa occupation needs to end now. Police attempts to avoid violence to date seem to have made it more likely this won't end quietly.

It's been a minute since the Ledge rose for the Christmas break at Queen's Park. We will be back at the roundtable in a couple of weeks with the usual suspects parsing the provincial politics in Ontario. But today, we have a treat for you. John Wright and I sat down Thursday of this week, the morning after the federal Tories dispatched Erin O'Toole and discussed the future of the Conservative Party of Canada. It's a new podcast I launched this month called The Daily Brief. Check it out.

It's been more than a week since we knew the omicron variant had arrived in Canada. We know the positive cases are among those who have travelled internationally. Do we know their vaccine status? Nobody seems to know. Why? Because, it seems nobody's asking. The Queen's Park Press Gallery floated through an entire Q&A session with the CMOH Dr. Kieran Moore and no one asked whether the patients were vaccinated. Instead the bulk of the newser was taken up with questions about the possibility of future lockdowns, testing procedures, calls for more travel restrictions and other "process" issues. Needless to say, we learned little from that line of questioning and missed the obvious issues.

It's always the coverup that causes a crisis! This week, the On The Ledge crew with Sabrina Nanji from the Queen's Park Observer, weigh in on the Wiarton Willie coverup.  Oh ya, and we get around to the $10 a week Child Care plans, the pediatric vaccine rollout and the 4-13 is the project that just keeps on giving Ford Nation a headache.

Put up your hand if you understand the COVID test plan for school kids over the Christmas holiday? Seeing none...we move onto the next item of Suck and Blow.  Seriously! It is becoming increasingly wearisome to have to figure out what's driving the Public Health strategy at Queen's Park. I'm all for connecting dots if need be, but this week we're left, AGAIN, having to draw our own dots!

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has commanded the political high ground by creating a political distraction - namely Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass. They are to the media and the general public what a SQUIRREL is to Dug the Dog! Love or hate the idea of expanding a ring road around the GTA, it's turned out to be a stroke of political brilliance. Ford and company have created a ballot question while, at the same time, forcing the Opposition into a corner. If they criticize the highway plans, they're the guys who say "NO". If they approve, they're losers among their base.