Headlines
Politics moves pretty fast. Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown, for example, began yesterday in favour of blowing up the Liberal government's updated sex-ed curriculum, and went to bed having declared he would do no such thing. Quoth Brown in a Toronto Star (!) op-ed: "It was a mistake for a letter to go out to Scarborough—Rouge River voters saying that I would 'scrap' the updated curriculum. This is not my view. This is not what I will do. In fact, the opposite is true. I apologize." The culprit, according to Brown, was an overzealous Tory campaign in Scarborough—Rouge River, site of Thursday's byelection.
Oh, and Brown's apology tour continued this morning on CBC Radio One.
"Ultimately, on this issue, I wasn't hands on enough," says Patrick Brown, on the sex ed letter.#onpoli
— Jessica Smith Cross (@jessiecatherine) August 30, 2016
Politics moves pretty fast, Part 2: MPPs woke up Monday morning with their fundraising responsibilities intact. Then the Liberal government announced it would soon ban them from those duties. Now, those poor provincial politicians will just have to focus entirely on the job they were elected to do. Such as:
#onpoli Hansard, ladies and gentlemen pic.twitter.com/TlNm9RxME3
— Allison Jones (@allisonjones_cp) August 29, 2016
Ontario isn't likely to get much help from Ottawa on the province's guaranteed annual income pilot project, reports the CBC. In fact, a briefing note obtained by the Mothership says there were "mixed" results from previous basic income attempts. Meanwhile, the Ontario government's special adviser, former Tory senator Hugh Segal, is due to deliver his initial report on "mincome" this week.
The Ontario Ministry of Labour is cracking down on the restaurant biz, the Toronto Star reports. A new pilot project will try to sniff out "major risks to workers' rights in the sector," the Star says, citing documents it got its hands on. The process will be similar to an earlier one dedicated to improving safety in Ontario's mines. That restaurants require the same attention as mines is...pretty telling.
North Bay is staring at a big repair bill for its schools, reports the Nugget.
The National Energy Board hearings on the Energy East pipeline moved to Montreal Monday, and got off to a Tolkien-esque start. "TransCanada will not pass," yelled one man, who CP says was being booted out of the hearing after charging the NEB commissioners. Oh my. Monday's hearing was cancelled, and Tuesday's is up in the air.
Peterborough is bristling about the province's new growth plan. The Central Ontario city doesn't seem interested in quitting its single-serving housing addiction.
In the opinion pages:
- Christina Blizzard senses desperation in the Liberal government's move to ban all MPP fundraising
- The Toronto Star is proud of Patrick Brown for backtracking on sex-ed, but says it shouldn't have gotten that far in the first place
- David Reevely sums up the debate about the updated sex-ed curriculum thusly: "Serious people would not engage in it"
- Martin Regg Cohn says the proposed ban on all MPP fundraising puts an end to "politicians prostituting themselves with stakeholders seeking intimate relations"
Committees
The general government committee continues its clause-by-clause review of Bill 201, An Act to amend the Election Finances Act and the Taxation Act, 2007.
Events
9:15 a.m.
The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, minister of science and member of Parliament for Etobicoke North, will highlight new Government of Canada investments to make post-secondary education more affordable and accessible for students. An important federal infrastructure funding announcement will also be made at Humber College. Minister Duncan will be joined by the Honourable Deb Matthews, deputy premier of Ontario and minister of advanced education and skills development. Humber College.
10 a.m.
Kathryn McGarry, MPP for Cambridge, and Daiene Vernile, MPP for Kitchener-Centre, on behalf of Brad Duguid, minister of economic development and growth, will make an announcement regarding support for new jobs and investment in Kitchener, Ont.
10:30 a.m.
OPSEU president to discuss Nanos Research poll on marijuana sales. Queen's Park.
To contact the reporter on this story:
gzochodne@qpbriefing.com
905-926-8026
Twitter: @geoffzochodne
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