SCOOP: A Hart from Bonnie, an early summer
Drippy schools, liberalized booze, and another foot in mouth, too
THE LEDE
SCOOP — Bonnie Crombie is weighing in on a heated contest in her old backyard — but it’s not the race for mayor.
Crombie is poised to endorse Natalie Hart — a veteran organizer who ran for provincial Liberal president — in the city’s Ward 5, which she was councillor for during her wee municipal days. It’s one of the city’s largest wards, covering two provincial ridings — and including the Britannia and Malton neighbourhoods, divided by Pearson Airport.
“My friend Natalie Hart has a proven track record,” the Liberal captain wrote in a curt avowal, set to go live later this morning. “I know she has the work ethic, experience and skills to continue delivering real results.”
“I’m honoured to have her support, especially given her deep ties” to the ward, Hart responded.
On the provincial level, backing Hart in a local council race, unlike the mayoral, is viewed as a no risk move. “She’s proven her chops,” one source said.
At the local level, however, endorsing Hart is seen as a move against Carolyn Parrish. The seat became vacant after the former councillor quit “on a matter of principle” to run for mayor. While she’s publicly promised to stay neutral, privately, it’s been all but so: Parrish is backing Danny Singh, her former executive assistant. His canvassers have knocked doors and installed twinning signs for both candidates.
Still, don’t hold your breath for a nod in the mayor’s race. Crombie has promised to stay out of the race — and she’s still expected to do so. But as reported in this newsletter, there’s no love lost between Crombie and Parrish. As one source noted, in private: “the broad consensus on Team Bonnie is Team Anyone But Carolyn.”
Who else is in: Aside from Hart and Singh, there’s another familiar face in the race. Manish Sawhney — who worked for PC MPP Nina Tangri and is now on Raymond Cho’s team — is also running for councillor, with support from some provincial peers.
Stay tuned for our deep dive of this heated council race, in your inbox later this week.
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SCOOP (II) — It’s back to the barbecue circuit.
Word is on the street that the House could rise for the summer ahead of schedule, as early as this Wednesday. That’s a week sooner than expected.
On the order paper, there’s not much to ram through. Housing Minister Paul Calandra’s Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act and Solicitor General Michael Kerzner’s Preventing Unethical Puppy Sales Act are slated for debate throughout much of the week, alongside a roster of PMBs.
“We’ll pass all the bills we’re currently debating and want to pass — and minimize the opposition's potential,” said one source, granted anonymity to discuss internal strategy. “Everyone needs a break and time to be in their communities. Ford wants everyone out so people can’t say they haven’t seen their member since they were elected.”
“It’s a government that so badly wants to shake off the image that we’re like the last guys,” they added.
OK and: With Premier Ford cagey — “stay tuned,” he said — over speculation of a snap election and with the temperature up, electioneering over barbecued burgers and hot dogs is on. Ford is slated to headline a splashy summer opening in Toronto later this month, billed as a “fun, social evening that you will not want to miss.”
AT THE PALACE
— The House is in. Here’s what’s on the order paper:
Minister Calandra’s housing bill is up for debate today, all day.
Tomorrow: Solicitor General Kerzner’s Preventing Unethical Puppy Sales Act will be debated in the morning, with two housing bills — Calandra’s and Green Mike Schreiner’s Building More Homes on Major Streets and Transit Corridors Act — due for debate at noon. In the evening, NDP MPP France Gelinas’ Patient-to-Nurse Ratios for Hospitals Act is up.
Wednesday: It’s back to Kerzner’s puppy mill bill. At night, NDP MPP Jennifer French’s EV-Ready Homes Act will be debated.
Thursday: More puppy mill debate. Public and Business Service Delivery Minister Todd McCarthy’s Strengthening Cyber Security and Building Trust in the Public Sector Act is up for the night sitting.
— It’s a slow week at committee:
Public Accounts: A closed writing session this morning on three value for money audits: on highways, on reducing urban flood risk and managing invasive species.
Procedure and House Affairs: A closed session on “committee business” tomorrow morning.
Government Agencies: The committee will meet Thursday to review two appointees: Trina Morissette and Melissa Shea for the Licence Appeal Tribunal.
— NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa made history, speaking Anishininiimowin inside the chamber. “I thought I was breaking the laws and the rules of this house and I tried to remind myself that there's nothing wrong with this, ‘You’re allowed to speak,’” Mamakwa said.
NEWS WATCH
— The Ford government is speeding up a plan to allow beer, wine and cocktails sales in convenience stores — and it’s fueling more snap election conjecture.
The province will fork up to $225 million to The Beer Store to end the master framework agreement with the conglomerates owning the group, which has nearly monopolized the beer sale industry.
“The response from the public, from stakeholders, from small businesses has been absolutely overwhelmingly positive,” boasted Ford. As of mid June, an Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario’s licensing application will go live, with a select number of grocers allowed to sell as of August. All other supermarkets and grocers will be able to sell by early November.
Still, cue the pushback.
“A billion dollar booze boondoggle,” the Liberals said. “Why is this premier pouring money into the pockets of these big alcohol corporations while our emergency rooms are closing?” asked NDP captain Marit Stiles.
The Tories were quick to jab — and kept Crombie’s crew on defense. “Not for Bonnie. She thinks it’s inappropriate,” read a fundraising email. “She doesn’t support new jobs for small businesses. She wants to tax your beer and wine. She’s saying no to more choice and convenience for consumers.”
“Let’s be clear, Bonnie has said no such thing, he’s making things up, because the Billion Dollar Booze Boondoggle has only ever been about one thing: making his rich friends, richer,” the party said.
— Premier Ford is doubling down on his explosive claim that immigrants were responsible for a shooting at a Jewish girls’ elementary school in North York.
“You’re bringing your problems from everywhere else in the world, you’re bringing them to Ontario and you’re going after other Canadians,” he said at a news conference late last week.
Despite issuing a statement to correct the record, on Friday, Ford stuck to his guns. “I stick with what I said,” he said at the Toronto Metropolitan University’s new medical school in Brampton. “It’s very, very clear. My phone is blowing up from every community saying you’re bang on.”
— Education Minister Stephen Lecce is being outed over the “state of our public schools” — after one NDP MPP’s quick visit to a local school, where Bhutila Karpoche was left “shield[ing] herself from heavy rain” in an umbrella.
— Meanwhile, a group of school boards and two private religious schools have joined a lawsuit targeting targeting TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram. They’re alleging the four “have hurt not only students’ health and well-being but also their academic achievement.”
— Thousands of healthcare advocates and frontline workers marched to the lawn against private health care — and warned that the system has “never been so bad.”
— The University of Toronto’s request for a court injunction to end the pro Palestinian student encampment will not go before the court till after convocation starts.
WHAT WE’RE READING
— John Michael McGrath’s question: given the province’s “suffocating” record on the housing file, should Premier Ford take the bet on a snap election?
— Yes, according to some insiders, who say Ford could pull the plug “over concerns about cuts a future federal Conservative government might impose.”
— Give the public “a compelling reason” for why he should send voters to the polls before his mandate is up, strategists warn.
— Martin Regg Cohn says Ford’s “thirst for power will have the rest of us crying in our beer.”
— Mississauga’s looking for a new voice in the mayor’s chair, argued Brian Lilley, and “no one can claim that [Carolyn] Parrish is a new, or welcome voice.”
— Premier Ford says his chief “didn't do anything wrong” over use of a personal email to conduct The People’s™ business.
— A court has dismissed Sarah Jama’s request for a judicial review of her censure, citing “no jurisdiction to review matters that fall within parliamentary privilege.”
Thank you for reading POLICORNER. Have theories about a snap election? Will he, won’t he? More cabinet whispers? Hit me up — ahmad@newsbeyond.ca — with tips, feedback, job moves and all the hot gossip. I’ll keep you anon. We’re back in your inbox on Friday at lunchtime.