Schemes and scandals, dither and delay, BYOB

By MPP Bobbi Ann Brady

It was in a sense back to school for me as the Ontario Legislature resumed after an 18-week hiatus. It felt good to get back because there are so many issues that must be addressed for you.

I have had time to reflect on the first week back and it can best be summed up with the words schemes and scandals, dither and delay.

When the first question in the Ontario Legislature hit the floor Monday and was asked of the government, the Minister responding said it would be inappropriate to answer citing the on-going RCMP investigation. In a second line of questioning, another minister did not answer using the excuse of an Integrity Commissioner probing over the Ontario Place fiasco. In other words, much of our first day back centered on the schemes and scandals the Doug Ford government has been embroiled in.

As I suspected, it didn’t take long for the government to attempt to ‘change the channel’ because just fourteen minutes into question period, and again at the 38-minute mark, government members brought up the federal carbon tax. I agree with them that the carbon tax is punitive and regressive; however, we are policymakers at the provincial level and the carbon tax is federal. If we are going to talk about the carbon tax in the Ontario Legislature, then let’s do something about it like Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has done for his taxpayers.

While our power sector is set up differently than Saskatchewan, economists have said it is possible to do the same in Ontario – I believe where there is a will, there is a way and Ontarians need all the help they can get as the winter months are on the doorstep.

Sadly, the tax is a distraction from other issues like the shortage of medical supplies, which has been dubbed Bring Your Own Bandages. On Sept. 24, Ontario Health at Home launched new supply contracts for the delivery of medical items and since then, critical supplies have stopped arriving for those in home and palliative care. This week, I’ve heard from constituents who are experiencing stress and anxiety due to these delays.

It has been reported by doctors in the province that dying people have been unable to get sedatives and patients are going to hospital because their supplies have run out. This should not be happening in Ontario.

The sad situation at Wilmot Township – the expropriation of 770 acres of prime farmland for a mega-industrial site was brought forward courtesy of Waterloo MPP Catherine Fife. Fife called Wilmot ground zero for Ontario’s farmers.

Paving over class 1 farmland for a mega-industrial site makes no sense according to Fife and I couldn’t agree more. Fife pointed out the new provincial planning statement just came into effect and yet the Wilmot land assembly is in direct contravention of the government’s own policy.

Last, but not least, I stood for the fifth time to question when the reconstruction of the Argyle Street Bridge in Caledonia will begin. In my supplementary I questioned why installing signals at the deadly intersection of Highway 6 and Haldibrook Road will be delayed until 2028. This is the very same government that created the Ministry of Red Tape Reduction and yet it takes four years to get this job done. Sadly, over the past two years, ten people have lost their lives, and several others injured. I asked the minister how many lives must be lost before he makes this intersection a priority.

That’s a wrap…let’s see what next week brings.

Bobbi Ann Brady is the MPP for Haldimand-Norfolk