On The Ledge

Premier Doug Ford took to Ontario News Now, (the PC party’s social media “news” channel), to endorse Pelee Island wines. The move sparked an immediate, if not kneejerk, response from critics who called for a boycott of the Niagara region winery. While the boycott may have been overboard, the premier faces legitimate complaints that he and his ministers give preferred treatment to those who cut big cheques for the party. Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney floated the idea of selling naming rights at five GO Transit stations. The government’s even prepared to sell naming rights to quiet zones and washrooms.  Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner has come up with his own plan to clean up the political appointment process at Queen’s Park. But can it rise above politics. And we wrap up what appears to have been a good week for the Ford government’s handling of the autism file. Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, Todd Smith has turned down the heat it seems but has raised expectations that every autism family will get the help and support they need and the government won’t have to spend more than $600 million to get that job done.

This is a special edition of On The Ledge – the Ontario Politics Podcast. In this episode, we highlight the latest developments in the Ontario Autism Plan.  For those of you who’ve been listening to the podcast for a while you will know that the autism file has been one of the most difficult for both the previous Liberal government and the current Progressive Conservatives. Candidate Doug Ford made the campaign promise to take care of all the Autism families on Ontario. He told them they would never have to protest at Queen’s Park. That didn’t happen. Premier Ford’s new government roared into office in June 2018 and proceeded to alienate the families, telling them it was going to be a long four years if they didn’t support the new means- based funding program.  The promise was a failure. The plan was a failure. The communications strategy was a failure.  The Autism families didn’t just protest on the lawns of Queen’s Park, they took their demonstrations into the vistors’ gallery of the legislature. Minister of Children, Community and Social Service Lisa MacLeod was belligerent with parents. She was eventually replaced by Todd Smith when the Premier rebuilt his cabinet at the end of June. On Monday, July 29th, 2019 – more than a year after the Ford government was sworn in, Minister Smith not only announced the Ontario Autism Program would revert to a needs-based program, Smith admitted – the Ford government bungled the whole thing from the very beginning. I had the opportunity to host the Newstalk 1010 Morning Show in Toronto that week and we talked to Autism parents and advocates about the new plan. Minister Smith also joined us by phone to answer questions.

In this episode, co-hosts John Wright, Keith Leslie and Dave Trafford remember former Ontario cabinet minister David Caplan. Caplan died following a fire in his North York home on July 24th, 2019. Caplan had served in a number of portfolios, including Minister of Health, in Premier Dalton McGuinty's government at Queen's Park. Otherwise, it was a fairly quiet week for the Doug Ford government. Normally, quiet wouldn't be newsworthy but, as noted in this space over the past few months, quiet weeks have been a rarity at Queen's Park - so that makes it unusual and unusual is always newsworthy:)

It was a pretty good week for the Ford Folks at Queen's Park. The Ontario Progressive Conservatives have had a hard time avoiding bad news headlines, particularly since the legislature rose for a five month break. But this past week resembled something close to normal. Premier Ford took some criticism for failing to attend meetings with Canada's indigenous leaders at the First Ministers' gathering in Saskatchewan but that might have been the biggest negative critics could mount. On the other hand, the premier signaled a real change in tone and approach when he agreed to a sit-down interview with the leader of the "media party" - the Toronto Star!

Another off week for the Ontario legislature and another off the rails week for the Ford government. Newly appointed Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sports Lisa MacLeod made headlines this week after an encounter with Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk. Melnyk tells the Ottawa SUN that MacLeod accosted him at the June 29th Rolling Stones concert in Burls Creek, just north of Barrie. He claims the Minister's opening line was "Do you know who I am?" and proceeded with a profanity filled rant about his handling of the NHL franchise. For her part, Minister MacLeod didn't deny the encounter. She only apologized for being "blunt" in her language. So a week that was otherwise pretty good for the Ford Folks was swamped by the MacLeod v. Melnyk blowup.

The Ontario Court of Appeal has shot down the Ford government's challenge of the federal carbon tax. The premier expected the decision and is committed to taking the issue all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. But that news was blown off the front page by another ignition of the Autism file at Queen's Park. A Tory backbencher report says the Ford government deliberately spread misinformation about the autism funding model.

One week after the Doug Ford government celebrated its first year since since winning a sweeping majority in Ontario and reducing the governing Liberals to less than party status, the premier didn't just shuffle his cabinet - he blew it up and rebuilt it. Doug Ford fired/demoted some of his key front benchers. Barely a couple of months after tabling his first (and only, it seems) provincial budget, Vic Fedeli lost his job as the Finance Minister - demoted to a lesser portfolio as Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. Education Minister Lisa Thompson was bumped down to Government and Community Services. And Lisa MacLeod was nearly gleeful when she was shifted out of the Children, Community and Social Services ministry to take over Tourism, Culture and Sports. Rod Phillips got the nod to take over the Finance portfolio, leaving Environment to Jeff Yurek, who was shifted out of Transportation in favour of Caroline Mulroney. And rookie Doug Downey assumed the robes and role of Ontario's Attorney General. So this was a first class shake up; it was described as 'the reset' for Ford Nation; it was cast as the government's opportunity to rehab some of the self-inflicted wounds it suffered in the first year since being elected. Not so fast. The cabinet shuffle was completely sidelined, derailed and torched by a series of questionable patronage appointments, (announced mere hours after the new cabinet was introduced), the Premier's decision to rescind the appointments a day later AND the sudden resignation of his Chief of Staff, Dean French. Add to that the province's announced decision to cancel Canada Day festivities at Queen's Park as a cost saving measure and it turned into another bad week for Premier Ford and his team. The new year starting much the same way the old year ended.

We are in the legislative interregnum in Ontario. The session ended a week ago and now the focus turns to the reset phase for Doug Ford's government. Slipping polls, poor approvals and a budget that was neither rolled out nor received as expected are putting pressure on the rookie premier to shuffle his cabinet. And then there's the toxic culture being described in the Premier's inner circle. The Toronto Star's Rob Benzie reports Ford's Chief of Staff Dean French habitually berates caucus members in public.

This week mark's the first anniversary of Doug Ford's election as Premier of Ontario. And for all the tumult we've seen, the ON THE LEDGE crew gave the PC government a "B" for it's first twelve months on the job.The premier held a session ending news conference with his entire cabinet in attendance and Ford made it clear they'll be busy during the four month recess from the legislature. John Wright, Keith Leslie and Dave Trafford are joined in episode by Amanda Galbraith - a Principal at Navigator.

Coming off a constituency week and it would appear the Ford PC's in Ontario got an earful about their planned cuts to municipal service budgets across the province. To put it into football parlance, the Premier staged a hurry up offence on Monday morning - calling an unscheduled news conference to tell the media his government LISTENED and has decided to defer the budget cuts until next year. Did the Premier blink? This week we're joined by CTV Toronto's Queen's Park Bureau Chief Colin D'Mello.