. . . at Queen's Park, across Ontario and elsewhere.

* Tory leader Tim Hudak was at Toronto City Hall on Tuesday morning talking gridlock and outlining his “bold new ideas” for reducing traffic congestion in the Greater Toronto Area.

Ontario suffers from too many “back seat drivers” when it comes to public transit, Hudak said, adding stating a future PC government would “seize the wheel” and take control of transit issues in the province by uploading the Toronto Transit Commission and linking it with GO Transit under Metrolinx’s control.

Hudak promised control over regional highways – the Gardiner Expressway, the Don Valley Parkway and Hwy. 401 – would also be brought under the Metrolinx umbrella. Moreover, subways would represent all future public transit development in Toronto if he forms the next government, he said.

“You should have one body in charge of all facets of transportation, one seamless system,” Hudak told reporters. “That way we can break gridlock in this province.”

But Transportation Minister Bob Chiarelli called Hudak's "back-of-the-envelope" proposal "flimsy," saying in an emailed statement that the Tory leader "won't tell you where he will find the money and won't tell you which projects he would fund."

"It's clear that Tim Hudak's platform is totally off the rails."

* Barrie city councillors want to hear what students have to say so they are bending the rules so that they can hold meetings at local high schools. Councillor Michael Prowse is leading the charge.

* Township of Leeds and the Thousand Islands councillors voted on Monday to bring back Frank Kinsella as mayor. Kinsella previously held the job from 2006 until losing to Bruce Bryan in 2010. Bryan resigned in September.

* The long-anticipated review of social assistance in Ontario will be released Friday at 11 a.m.

The commission charged with testing the integrity of Ontario's social safety net first intended to release the report in June, then it was bumped to September and now it will finally land this week. The report will be made available on the commission's website.

The review was conducted by former NDP cabinet minister Frances Lankin and former head of Statistics Canada Munir A. Sheikh. Their findings are expected to highlight the growing inequality in Ontario and the growing demand for social assistance just as the government tightens its belt.

* The City of Cambridge is hoping to increase voter turnout in the 2014 municipal election by offering internet and telephone voting to residents. Fewer than 30 per cent of voters have showed up at the pools in each of three elections since 2000.

* London city councillor Stephen Orser wants to ban the use of Twitter during debates – and to introduce a “scrambler” inside council chambers to prevent use of the internet. Several tweeting colleagues were not amused but an online poll conducted by the London Free Press found that 63 per cent of more 550 respondents sided with Orser.

* The horse racing industry transition panel's final report is expected some time this week or early next.

While the legislature isn't sitting, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Ted McMeekin doesn't need it to move ahead with the panel's recommendations to help the horse-racing industry transition from the slots-at-racetracks program, insiders say. He already has the legislative mandate to do just that.

The report will detail a plan to help the industry survive if it's willing to adjust. McMeekin, despite the bad press from equine enthusiasts, wants just that. One insider says the minister has been the lone voice of reason in cabinet, fighting even for the panel.

Tweet of the Day

@PithPartyCanada: Just read that "politicians are jockeying for position in #onpoli. But I thought Dalton got rid of the horse racing industry?

- Thoughts on the leadership race from the anonymous and humourous @PithPartyCanada feed

@npspector4: Politicians are snakes (to varying degrees) which is why we depend on the Crown to curb them; Ontario's LG has failed the test

- Norman Spector, pundit and former chief-of-staff to Brian Mulroney, weighs in on lieutenant-governor David C. Onley granting McGuinty’s request to prorogue

@ACarterglobal: You know it was a big day in #onpoli when the daily press clippings run 45 double sided pages.

- Global News Queen’s Park Bureau Chief Alan Carter

Quote of the Day

"At the end of the day, we are probably going to get more done than we could if the Legislature were sitting."

- Bob Lopinski, a principal at Counsel Public Affairs and former top advisor to Premier Dalton McGuinty.

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