Or-der!
Stage three of the province's economic reopening was top of mind in question period Monday morning, even though that announcement wouldn't happen until later on in the day. You can read about it <a href="https://www.qpbriefing.com/2020/07/13/government-releases-stage-three-outline-but-10-regions-stay-in-stage-two/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>, and some experts' misgivings concerning the plan <a href="https://www.qpbriefing.com/2020/07/13/reopening-indoor-dining-in-bars-jeopardizes-school-reopening-in-september-epidemiologist-says/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath kicked things off by asking if that announcement would include a better plan for reopening schools and daycares.
"Without a plan to fully reopen schools and child-care centres, you don’t have a plan to reopen the economy — at least, not for thousands of working women who rely on child care and schools to ensure that they can actually get to work," she said. "Will the government be announcing those plans today?"
Ford replied that he wouldn't spoil the news conference to come, but said it would be "exciting...like it is every single day, bringing people up to date on where we’re going and showing them how our economy is moving forward, making sure that we keep the health and safety of not only families but students our number one concern, making sure that they go back, when they do go back, to a safe environment."
Spoiler alert: Education Minister Stephen Lecce did speak at the press conference that afternoon and he announced that daycares will be able to operate with cohorts of 15 children, up from 10, which is expected to bring the capacity of the child care sector to approximately 90 per cent of what it was in the pre-COVID days. He also said more news on the fall schools reopening will be forthcoming.
When asked if the province would revise its plans to have schools open in an "adaptive" or "hybrid" model in September, Ford replied that that decision will be made by individual school boards, which is a departure from the initial message from Lecce when the school announcement was made a month ago. "Through the best advice that we have from the chief medical officers right across this province we decided to let each school board make a decision, and we gave them three different criteria that they can work with," said Ford.
Horwath replied that Ford was abandoning the "principle [that] no matter where a child lives they would have access to quality public education that’s pretty equal around the province."
"What I’m hearing from school board trustees is, ‘Thank you for giving us the option, rather than forcing options down our back,'" said Ford. "Every jurisdiction is a little different and what applies up in Kenora doesn’t necessarily apply in Hamilton or in Toronto. We’re giving (them) the flexibility to make the plan, work with the school boards, making sure they work with the parents and community organizations. We’re going to move forward in September and keep the kids safe. That’s our number one priority."
Long-term care
Horwath noted that "even employers" are worried about the lack of a plan and funding for the return to school, before she moved on to a question about long-term care, asking why it has "fallen off the priority list all of a sudden."
Ford's answer didn't address long-term care, but said small business owners have been thanking him, saying "'Thank you for working with us. Thank you for moving the province forward, and thank you for not being like the U.S., opening it right up as you saw in Florida' — 15,000 cases," he said. "We’re working to make sure we’re responsible and thoughtful when we reopen."
Horwath asked about whether the government would implement a minimum standard of four hours of long-term care for every resident, and Ford replied that Horwath had never asked about the lack of air conditioning in LTC in 11 years at the legislature.
"Well, Speaker, the premier will need to correct his record because I’ve been here since 2004," Horwath replied. "In 2006, I was advocating for air conditioning in long-term care. In 2007, I raised it right here in the Legislature advocating for air conditioning in long-term care."
She continued: "Over a decade ago, in hearings on the Long-Term Care Homes Act, seniors demanded air conditioning in all long-term care facilities be made the law. I told the premier last week that we could pass that legislation immediately. We could still do that today, setting that standard."
(QP Briefing can't locate any comments from Horwath on air conditioning in long-term care in Hansard prior to 2020, but other NDP MPPs did raise the issue when the act was updated in 2007.)
"Well, you know something? I stand to be corrected," Ford shot back. "I apologize. It wasn’t the Leader of the Opposition who did nothing for 11 years. She did nothing for 16 years, so I apologize for that. I’m pretty good at math, too, but I should have figured that out."
Migrant workers
The NDP asked about the testing of migrant workers in Windsor-Essex, with NDP MPP Taras Natyshak asking about the decision to contract out mobile testing to a company called Switch Health, which is represented by lobbyist Jeff Silverstein, who used to be the director of PC Caucus Services and worked on Ford's election campaign. You can read more about that here.
Heroes
NDP MPP Jill Andrew cited the Canadian Women’s Foundation to say 90 per cent of nurses are women and many are Black and racialized.
"Your 'health care heroes' are underpaid, overworked and haven’t seen a dime of their pandemic pay,'" she said. "Some 80 per cent of lone-parent households are women-led and predominantly single-income. Women are largely represented in retail, and as we know, local businesses, both of which were shuttered due to the pandemic and due to the government’s lack of initial plan, rent relief, even an emergency basic income — nothing came at the initial of this pandemic.
"Speaker, my question is: Women and other vulnerable Ontarians have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. What is this government’s plan to ensure that they’re not left behind during our recovery?"
Associate Minister of Women and Children's issues Jill Dunlop replied that she had held a roundtable to get feedback on what the government can do to better support women.
Anti-racism
Liberal MPP Michael Coteau asked if the government has done "an initial assessment on the impact of COVID-19 on racialized communities." Solicitor General Sylvia Jones, who is responsible for the anti-racism directorate answered the director has recently worked on "mediated partnerships between Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board and the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion to support Black youth in Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board."
Coteau replied that her answer "missed the mark" of his question and asked what her plan is "to mitigate some of these disparities affected by the hardest-hit communities, racialized communities here in Ontario?" She replied that the Anti-Racism Directorate continues to do work across all ministries.

Your question period briefing: ‘I stand to be corrected’

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