April 13, 2007 Highlights

This edition of Queen’s Park Highlights covers the two-week period intersected by the long Easter weekend.  There is no education news to report other than Education Minister Kathleen Wynne has indicated amendments to the Safe Schools Act will be introduced shortly.  It is anticipated the amendments will repeal the ”zero tolerance” provisions related to student discipline.

1.  Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Autism Appeal

On April 12, the Supreme Court of Canada indicated it would not hear an appeal of the Ontario Court of Appeal decision regarding a case brought by a group of parents of autistic children.  The parents were seeking to force the provincial government to cover the costs of providing Intensive Behavioural Intervention (IBI) therapy for their children in schools.  The Ontario government recently agreed to extend coverage of IBI therapy passed the age of six, but does not cover the cost of bringing IBI therapists into schools.

2.  Anti-Scab Legislation Passes Second Reading

On April 12, Bill 192, the Labour Relations Amendment Act (Replacement Workers), 2007 passed Second Reading. The NDP voted in support of this Private Member’s Bill as did a number of Liberal MPPs, including one cabinet minister, the Honorable Jim Bradley; the PC MPPs in the House voted against.

In Question Period NDP Leader Howard Hampton called on Premier McGuinty, who was not present for the vote, to indicate where he stood on the issue of anti-scab legislation.  The Premier responded:

“This is probably as good a metaphor as any for the NDP’s approach to managing the economy and trying to divide people, pit one group against another. He wants us to choose between workers, working people, working families, and management, the private sector and those who are entrepreneurial.

“We think the single most important thing we can do in order to compete in this highly competitive global economy is to put in place the kinds of policies that bring people together. So, for example, tomorrow, when I’m addressing the CAW—and I’m happy I’ve been invited to do that—I’ll be delivering the same message to the CAW that I delivered to the Big Three autoworkers, and Toyota, and Honda and parts suppliers as well.

“I’m going to reinforce and re-emphasize how it’s absolutely essential that we find a way to continue to work together to build a stronger economy that benefits all Ontarians and not just one particular group.”

3.  NDP Presses on Environment Issues

On April 4, NDP MPP Gilles Bisson introduced Bill 200, the Ontario Climate Change Act, 2007.  In presenting the bill he explained its intent: 

“The act, simply put, would make the minister responsible for putting in place a plan to reduce greenhouse gases, starting in 2008 and up to 2020, by up to 25% from 1990 levels. In addition, this particular bill would give the Environmental Commissioner the ability to review the work that the minister has or has not done and to make sure that the work set out in this bill actually gets done.”

On April 11, NDP Leader Howard Hampton called on the government to commit the province to emission standards to fight greenhouse gasses:  “Will the McGuinty government set Ontario’s target for greenhouse gas emission reductions at the levels required under the Kyoto accord by the year 2012?”

Environment Minister Laurel Broten refrained from answering the specific question but outlined her government’s commitment as follows:

” I can tell the leader of the third party that I have been working to develop a comprehensive plan for this province to build on the groundwork that we have laid since 2003. We look forward to building on the successes that we’ve had to date with respect to the plan to close coal, our greenbelt strategy and historic investments in public transit. We will have a real and meaningful plan and not play political partisanship with such an important issue to Ontarians.”

In a supplementary question, Mr. Hampton pressed again for a commitment to support the Kyoto accord.  The Environment Minister replied:

“I guess I will say to my friend again that this government is committed to helping Canada meet its obligations under that international agreement... Unlike you…we are not going to do Canada’s obligations on the back of Ontario and let Alberta have a free ride…I’m fighting for Ontario. We believe in cap and trade and ratchet down, and we will continue to take significant steps with respect to meeting our commitments here in Ontario.

4.  School Bus Safety

On April 3, Minister of Transportation Donna Cansfield announced the government was investing $2 million to help pay for the retrofitting of school buses with a crossing arm. The funding will also be provided to school bus operators who added a crossing arm at their own expense.  The Minister stated that, by next year, all Ontario school buses will have a crossing arm.

For more information about the proceedings of the Ontario Legislature, check its website:  www.ontla.on.ca