The Legislature adjourned on December 8 for its winter break. MPPs return to Queen's Park on February 21, 2012.

1. Liberals raise Concern about PC MPPs' Connection to Religious Opposition to Anti-bullying Bill

On December 6, a conservative religious coalition representing Campaign Life, the Evangelical Association, and the Council of Orthodox Rabbis held a news conference at Queen’s Park to outline their opposition to the provisions in the government's anti-bullying bill that support the establishment of gay-straight alliance organizations in schools.

Liberal MPP Donna Cansfield raised concerns about the content of the news conference in a question to her colleague, Minister of Education Laurel Broten:

"You know, as a former school trustee for 15 years and, more importantly, as a parent and significantly so as a legislator, to me, every student’s rights must be protected. They must feel safe, they must feel welcomed and they must feel respected for who they are if in fact they're going to succeed.

"When someone refers to our legislation as radical social engineering, it is disturbing, to say the least—absolutely disturbing, to say the least. It's so concerning when you consider that, in fact, we were supposed to be working together.

"So Madam Minister, could you please explain to me what is so radical about the Accepting Schools Act?"

Minister Broten replied:

"I, too, was deeply, deeply disturbed by what I heard this morning. To the member's question, there is absolutely nothing radical about ensuring that every student has the support that they need to succeed in our schools. Our plan is about creating safer schools, about creating places where intolerance is not accepted and where inclusion is the only option."

In a supplementary question, Ms. Cansfield made reference to pamphlets distributed by some PC candidates during the recent election that raised concerns about the government's sex education curriculum. She called the PC material homophobic. In response, Minister Broten said:

"The language we heard this morning in the PC-sanctioned press conference was all too familiar. While our proposed Accepting Schools Act seeks to set out the legislation, the kinds of supports that all schools must provide to students, the opposition continues to divide Ontarians."

This comment by the Minister led PC MPP Lisa MacLeod, who was present at the news conference, to rise on a point of order and take issue with the accusation that linked the PC caucus to the opinions expressed at the news conference. She was followed by a number of caucus colleagues who raised similar objections. Speaker Dave Levac responded to the concerns by acknowledging that he should have intervened more quickly on the appropriateness of the question.

2. Education Minister cites ETFO President during Debate on Anti-Bullying Bill

On December 7, Education Minister Laurel Broten led off the Second Reading debate on Bill 13, the government’s anti-bullying legislation. During the debate she quoted a number of organizations that had responded to the legislation through news releases or otherwise. In her remarks, she cited ETFO President Sam Hammond:

"Sam Hammond, the president of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, had this to say about the work that we are now all doing together: "Ontario's elementary teachers welcome the plan to directly address bullying of all kinds, especially bullying related to gender identity. The commitment to provide teachers with the necessary training and resources related to early intervention will have a positive impact at the school level."

"I think what Sam has to say is really important, because as I said in my remarks, teachers and schools are doing amazing work across the province, but what many teachers tell us is that they’re looking for more support to understand how to interact with a student at that teachable moment, how to change behaviour and teach students about positive relationships."

3. Student Success Strategies subject of Auditor's Report

The Auditor General Jim McCarter released his annual report on December 5. The report, which provides an assessment of government expenditure and accountability practices, is always a hotly awaited report by the Opposition for its wealth of potential information with which to skewer the government. Each year the audit focuses on specific aspects of government expenditure. This year's report raised a number of concerns about implementation of the government’s green energy policy.

The only education issue to be reviewed was the Student Success program, the policies in place to support secondary students at risk and to increase the provincial graduation rate. In conducting the review, the Auditor reviewed the practices of three school boards: Lambton Kent DSB, Simcoe County DSB, and the Toronto Catholic DSB. Overall, the report found that the boards had done "a good job of identifying and providing supports to individual students at risk of not graduating." The report, which studied the practices of other jurisdictions, made recommendations regarding how graduation rates are calculated and reported, how students are identified and supported, and how students who receive support are tracked.

To read the chapter on Student Success, click here.

4. Tories continue to Press for Public Sector Wage Freeze

Throughout the brief three-week session, the PC Party has consistently pressed the government to support its call for a public sector wage freeze. On December 5, PC Deputy Leader Christine Elliott asked the government to defend its stance that a public sector wage freeze cannot be legally or constitutionally implemented:

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan pointed to the lower rate of public sector agreements: "…since the implementation of our policy, average settlements in Ontario have been 1.5% versus 1.7% in the federal government and 1.9% in the private sector. So in fact it is having some effect."

In her supplementary question, Ms. Elliott persisted with the legal aspect of the issue:

"...in a 2004 Supreme Court ruling, the court held that infringements of section 2(d) of the Charter can be permitted by section 1 on the basis of pressing and substantial fiscal circumstances. The ruling states that "the courts cannot close their eyes to the periodic occurrence of financial emergencies when measures must be taken to juggle priorities to see a government through a crisis."

Mr. Duncan replied:

"I'd like to remind them that there’s no legislated public sector wage freeze in British Columbia, Alberta, New Brunswick or Quebec.

"All provinces in Canada are bound by the same constitutional protections for collective bargaining. Government interventions through legislated wage freezes are subject to judicial scrutiny."

He went on to add:

"Ontario's public sector average annual wage increase is less than or equal to Prince Edward Island at 2%, New Brunswick at 1.5%, Quebec at 1.6%, Manitoba at 1.5%, Newfoundland at 5%, Saskatchewan at 2.6%, Alberta at 2.8%.

"We are working diligently to get back to balance as we continue to make the kinds of investments that are needed for--"

5. NDP joins Government to Defeat Non-confidence Motion and Wage Freeze

One of the new realities for the Liberal government is the ongoing potential for non-confidence votes that can bring down the government and cause an election. That opportunity arose on Wednesday this week at the conclusion of the Throne Speech debate when a vote was call to support the document and its policies.

The PC Party moved an amendment to the motion that called for a "legislated mandatory wage freeze to control the cost and size of government and reform apprenticeship ratios to create 200,000 jobs in the province." NDP MPPs joined the Liberals to defeat the amended motion. They also joined the Liberals to support the original motion giving support to the Throne Speech.

6. Labour Minister introduces Family Care Bill

On December 8, Labour Minister Linda Jeffrey introduced Bill 30, the Family Caregiver Leave Act (Employment Standards Amendment), 2011. In describing the bill's intent, the minister said:

"Our proposed legislation would provide up to eight weeks of unpaid job-protected leave to employees to care for seriously ill or injured family members. We will again ask our federal counterparts to take the steps necessary to extend employment insurance benefits to those taking family caregiver leave. This partnership with the federal government would capture the same spirit of compassion and commitment that exists now with our family medical leave.

"The current family medical leave legislation provides job-protected leave for employees when a family member is facing a terminal illness. Today's proposed family caregiver leave is separate from the family medical leave. It applies to cases of illness or injury that are serious, but where there isn't imminent risk of death. However, if you're caring for a loved one under the family caregiver leave and their condition becomes terminal, you would also be entitled to the family medical leave."

To read the bill, click here.

7. PC MPP criticizes Waterloo DSB’s Seamless Day Program

On December 8, PC MPP Rob Leone (Cambridge) made a statement in the Legislature to raise concerns about the seamless extended child care program introduced by the Waterloo Region DSB. In some, but not all of the schools that provide full-day kindergarten, the board is directly operating an extended day program that includes kindergarten students as well as children aged 6 and 7. The board's program reflects the vision of the Charles Pascal report on early learning. It provides for fewer transitions for students and full-time rather than part-time positions for early childhood educators who provide the extended day program. It is the extended day model supported by ETFO.