March 31, 2006 Highlights

1. Byelections Maintain Status Quo

On March 31 three byelections were held in the ridings of Nepean-Carleton, Toronto Danforth, and Whitby-Ajax following the resignation of the former incumbents who ran in the recent federal election.

PC Candidate Lisa McLeod won the riding of Nepean Carleton; NDP Candidate Peter Tabus won in Toronto Danforth; and PC CandidateChristine Elliott won in Whitby-Ajax, the seat vacated by her husband Jim Flaherty who is now federal finance minister.

The results maintain the previous standings in the Ontario Legislature: 71 Liberals, 24 PCs, and eight New Democrats. The Legislature passed a motion on March 1, just before adjourning for the mid-winter break, that protected official party status of the NDP regardless of the byelection outcome. Officially a party requires a minimum of eight seats to have access to certain financial supports in the Legislature and the right to have representation on legislative committees. This provision was suspended until the provincial election in October 2007. The move, initiated by the governing Liberals, removed “party status” as a byelection issue for the NDP.

2. Gerard Kennedy’s Leadership Bid

On March 29, the speculation about Education Minister Gerard Kennedy running for the federal Liberal Party leadership came out into the open in the Legislature. NDP Education Critic Rosario Marchese asked point blank whether he was running for the position. The Speaker, Mike Brown, ruled the question out of order. Mr. Marchese rephrased the question and asked whether Mr. Kennedy would resign his position so the Premier could appoint someone who would be committed to work full-time on the job.

Mr. Kennedy refrained from answering the question and responded with an overview of the government’s education initiatives. He is expected to announce his decision about running within the next two weeks.

3. Clawback of National Child Benefit Supplement

Since the government presented the 2006 Ontario Budget on March 23, it has come under fire from the NDP in the Legislature, anti-poverty advocates, and some media editorials for its failure to adequately improve the economic welfare of the poorest Ontarians.

On March 28, NDP MPP Andrea Horwath (Hamilton East) asked why the government had failed to fulfil its election promise to end the “clawback” of the federal National Child Benefit Supplement (NCBS) from social assistance recipients. Finance Minister Dwight Duncan replied:

“First of all, this government raised general welfare rates twice now. That's a first step, and that benefits children in social services. Second of all, we have in fact flowed through the clawback for the years we've been in office -- 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 -- and in this budget we've made that permanent. That is an important step forward, and one that this minister fought very hard and very actively for. We restored the nutrition allowance to mothers in social services. We have allowed social service recipients moving off of welfare to extend their health benefits and take them with them as they move back to employment."

“We acknowledge that there is much to do. There will always be more we can do. This government will not rest as long as one child goes to bed hungry in this province.”

Ms Horwath pointed out that the failure of the provincial government to fully restore the clawback implemented by the previous government meant social assistance recipients were losing out on up to $1,450 annually per child.

ETFO President Emily Noble has joined those calling upon the government to end the NCBS clawback.

4. Democratic Renewal

On March 27, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Marie Bountrogianni announced the government was moving forward with the commitment to review the provincial electoral process in an attempt to increase fairness and voter participation. The Minister announced the establishment of the Citizens’ Assembly that will be mandated to make recommendations for electoral reform.

Elections Ontario will randomly select one voter from each Ontario riding to form the Citizens’ Assembly. There will be 52 female and 51 male members. Former Ontario deputy minister George Thomson will be the chair.

The recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly will be placed before the province in a referendum. The results will affect the electoral process for the general election scheduled for 2011.

Two other provinces, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island, have conducted similar reviews by citizen assemblies; both provinces rejected the proposed electoral reform through referenda.

5. Reform of the Ontario Human Rights Commission

The government recently announced its plans to introduce legislation to “reform” the Ontario Human Rights Commission. The plans have come under attack from some groups, including those representing the disabled.

Giving voice to those concerns, NDP Leader Howard Hampton asked:

“Will you scrap your unfair and prejudicial plans whether the government would scrap its plans, go back to the drawing board and work with Ontarians with disabilities, with representatives of new Canadian communities and visible minorities? Will you work with them to draft a plan that works, rather than your plan, which will make matters worse?”

Attorney General Michael Bryant replied:

“On the contrary, we've been working with those very groups that the member just refused to for well over a year, and consulting with them. If we piled up the reports of recommendations as to how the reforms should take place and what the reforms should be, you would see a consensus, and you will see that they're long overdue. That's why the Toronto Star, in their editorial of last month, said that the long-overdue reforms are welcome. That's why the chair of the Ontario Bar Association said that the changes proposed are timely and well designed to solve current system problems. That's why Ruth Carey, the executive director of the HIV/AIDS legal clinic, said that the government should be widely applauded for the proposed reform initiative, as giving people the right to a hearing is a matter of simple justice and fairness…”

For more information: www.ontla.on.ca