Thomas Desormeaux

This fall’s Queen’s Park sitting may have started late, but it was full of action. There were bills speeding through the legislature, fiery debates and many allegations of corruption. Here, we break down the top moments in Ontario provincial politics ahead of the winter break.

Several reports dropped this fall about the relative health of Ontario’s economy. Following the Fall Economic Statement (FES) in early November, the Financial Accountability Office (FAO) released several reports, which showed Ontario hanging on to some positive economic elements despite a tough year of the U.S. trade war.

The fiscal watchdog’s Economic Monitor for April to September found that the province would avoid what it called a “technical recession” by failing to post negative real GDP growth for two consecutive quarters. That being said, Canada’s growth is expected to slow in 2025 and the reduction in demand for Canadian exports in the tariff era is hurting manufacturing and leading to businesses cutting back on investment and hiring.

Since then, the FAO has released data that shows Ontario is maintaining a strong credit rating based on all four major evaluation agencies. It did warn, however, that further damage from the trade war could lead to some debt risks down the road. An FAO report from Wednesday found that spending in the first half of this fiscal year has been largely consistent with the government’s original plan of $232.5 billion laid out in the budget. The FES promised a deficit of $13.5 billion for this fiscal year, way bigger than the $1.1 billion deficit in 2024-2025.

The government has also gone on a spree of investment announcements, revealing corporate deals last week that totaled more $1 billion with firms in agri-food, pharmaceuticals, artificial intelligence, bottling and packing and equipment manufacturing.

A more alarming part of the government’s fiscal planning was the announcement at the back of the FES that it would be repealing sections 3-5 of the 2018 Cap and Trade Cancellation Act.

The Cancellation Act was rolled out to scrap Ontario’s cap-and-trade system, which put limits on the amount of greenhouse gases that companies were allowed to produce in the province. The legislation promised that, although it was removing cap-and-trade, the government would set general emissions targets, create a climate change plan and consistently update the public on the progress of both. Well, not anymore.

Defending the repeals since, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy has said simply that the government is focused on “outcomes” rather than targets.

This came a month after a report from Shelley Spence, Ontario’s Auditor General, found that Ontario is on track to miss its 2030 greenhouse gas emissions targets by at least 3.5 megatonnes.

Green Party leader Mike Schreiner said shortly after the FES was published that the government was giving up on fighting climate change.

Perhaps the story to make the most waves outside of the Queen’s Park bubble, was that of the various allegations of financial impropriety in the government’s Skills Development Fund. Originally pitched as a way to help Ontario businesses train workers, a series of scandals have emerged over which companies received funds.

An October report from the Auditor General found that the government often gave funds to companies that its own scoring system found didn’t fit the system’s criteria well. The report said that low-ranked companies that received funds had often hired lobbyists to lobby the Ministry of Labour. Several other connections to the ministry have been uncovered since. In recent weeks, reporting emerged that the government gave funds to a dentist who often boasts of treating members of Premier Ford’s family.

The Premier still says he will not fire Labour Minister David Piccini, who stands at the centre of the political firestorm. The NDP and Liberals have seized on this controversy and consistently grilled the Premier and his cabinet over the decision making that went into choosing companies for funding. NDP Leader Marit Stiles once again called for Ford to fire Piccini during the very last Question Period of the year on Thursday.

Leaders butt heads as PCs push through legislation

The rhetoric between party leaders heated up as this sitting went on, with Stiles being removed from the chamber at one point for refusing to withdraw her statement that the Ford government was “corrupt.”

Ford was not immune from angry moments of his own, ending a response in the Legislature by pointing at the opposition leader and saying, “that’s why you’ll never be Premier!”

There was also one notable morning, following the reports about the dentist who said he’d treated the Ford family, where the opposition MPPs framed their questions around tooth puns like “rot” and “touched a nerve.”

The NDP and Liberals were also upset about how often the government sped up the passage of legislation, spending one afternoon talking about how the PCs had used “time allocation,” or a process to limit debate, on most of its bills this Legislative Session.

On November 5, Government House Leader Steve Clark introduced a motion to use time allocation to limit time for debate and skip public committees on two major pieces of legislation, Bill 33 and Bill 60, which made changes to rules around the school system and the rental market, respectively.

Bill 33 leads to an “emergency press conference”

Bill 33: the Supporting Children and Students Act, drew attention for the new powers it would give Education Minister Paul Calandra over school boards. Bill 33, passed in late November, made it easier for Calandra to take control of school boards in the Ontario school system. There are now six boards under supervision and Calandra has mused about getting rid of boards entirely.

Before the passage of Bill 33, the NDP held what they called an “emergency press conference” outside the Legislative Chamber, gathering members of education worker groups, as well as teachers and students, to express their concerns about the bill.

The Liberals and NDP say that removing the need for school boards eliminates democratically elected, local officials who can help address the nuanced concerns of teachers and parents. The government has said many school boards are inefficient and mismanage funds, and that it will not hesitate to replace trustees who aren’t doing their job correctly.

Bill 60 and protestors disrupting the chamber

Bill 60: The Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, made several changes to laws around construction, civil planning and the rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords in Ontario. The last of which drew the ire of protestors inside the Legislative Chamber who went on to disrupt proceedings.

Critics said that Bill 60’s changes to rental rules, particularly reduced eviction timespans and changes to tenants’ rights in front of the Landlord and Tenant Board, would make it harder for people to find and keep a place to live.

On the day the government passed the legislation, demonstrators began yelling from the upper gallery, claiming that Premier Ford and his government were making decisions that would putting more people on the street. The Premier responded by telling them to “get a job.” The protestors were then slowly led out by security.

The legislature is now heading into an extended, three-month holiday break. The Ford government said Thursday that MPPs will be back in the new year on March 23, a month later than originally scheduled.

QP Briefing breaks down the biggest moments of the legislative sitting period in November and December.

Economic updates, controversial bills and protestors: Queen’s Park winter highlights as we head to the holiday break

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