<h4>Headlines</h4>
As the province wakes up from a long, sleepy news weekend there are a few stories that have been simmering since Friday. Premier Kathleen Wynne is expected to call those five byelections this week, potentially <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2013/06/28/ontario_premier_kathleen_wynne_expected_to_call_five_byelections_for_aug_1.html">as soon as tomorrow according to the Toronto Star</a>. The ridings in question have all been vacated by Liberal MPPs, most recently Margarett Best. The Toronto Sun reports that the byelections <a href="http://www.torontosun.com/2013/06/29/five-ontario-byelections-expected-to-cost-21-million">are expected to cost $2.1 million</a>.
The news last week was that the Liberals had landed former OSSTF head Ken Coran to run for them in London West, a move the local Liberal riding president <a href="http://www.lfpress.com/2013/07/01/former-high-school-teachers-union-boss-expected-to-be-acclaimed-tuesday">told the London Free Press was "a no-brainer"</a>. Coran's selection gives the Liberals some hope that a star candidate can hang on to London West, while the PC party runs against the Liberals and NDP as too close to the province's unions.
As if on cue, Premier Wynne pivots from making peace with the province's unions to warning direly that <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/wynne-turning-her-attention-to-economics/article12913440/#dashboard/follows/">the time of goodies is coming to an end</a>. Wynne tells the Globe and Mail that fiscal restraint is coming and that the wage largesse that has marked the first six months of Wynne's term will have to come from somewhere, which means service cuts (or new taxes, or an increased deficit, we suppose arithmetically.)
Ontario First Nations are fighting with Ontario Lottery and Gaming over <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2013/07/01/ontario_first_nations_battling_olg_over_35_million.html">the fate of two reserve funds set up for the Rama Casino</a>, the Toronto Star reports. The government and First Nations have been sent to an arbitrator to figure out who is owed what, after the province changes the revenue-sharing formula for the Rama Casino.
For the weekend, Sun scribe Christina Blizzard was shown around the offices of the Independent Electricity System Operator, which she describes as <a href="http://www.torontosun.com/2013/06/29/independent-electricity-system-operators-headquarters-the-nerve-centre-of-ontario">the "nerve centre" of the province</a>. If you need a primer on what the IESO does in Ontario, there's a good one.
Because it's not Ontario politics if somebody's not fighting with Toronto, we'll see in the next few weeks if Toronto City Council will, over the objections of Metrolinx, insist on reopening the approved LRT plans for that city again. Metrolinx last week sent a letter to council demanding that it <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/transportation/2013/07/01/ttc_chief_disputes_subway_price_tag_from_metrolinx.html">clarify its support for the Scarborough RT replacement</a>, and now it looks like Toronto Transit Commission CEO Andy Byford will try to calm the waters with Metrolinx.
And last week's visit from the premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands (which included meeting with Premier Wynne) has the National Post asking when we can simply annex the British Overseas Territory and <a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/07/01/its-a-whole-new-world-could-turks-and-caicos-be-like-a-tiny-nunavut-or-canadas-11th-province/">add another province to the Confederation</a>. Happy belated Canada Day, everyone.
In the opinion pages, we've got the Sun's Sue-Ann Levy saying that <a href="http://www.torontosun.com/2013/07/01/premier-kathleen-wynne-fails-to-change-channel-on-gas-plants">Pride hasn't changed the channel from the gas plants scandal</a> as Martin Regg Cohn writes in the Star about <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2013/06/30/liberals_try_to_bury_canada_day_ecofees_mess_cohn.html">what's changed in three years</a> since the Liberals foundered on eco-fees. Royson James says that the war between  Queen's Park and Toronto is <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/06/28/mayor_rob_fords_partisan_sniping_against_wynne_does_toronto_no_favours_james.html">doing nobody any favours</a> and Ryerson's Murtaza Haider argues (heretically) that <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/public-transit-is-better-but-cars-are-faster/article12893839/#dashboard/follows/">transit alone won't actually shorten any commute times</a> in Ontario.
<h4>Events</h4>
The Premier has no public events scheduled today.

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