Gordon Prentice at Large - Politics in Newmarket
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
Another screeching U-turn from the Ford Government as Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra abandons plans to dissolve Peel Region. 
In a news release earlier today Calandra talks about "recalibrating" the mandate of the Peel Region Transition Board to focus on local government efficiency and responsiveness instead of dissolution.
The Government forged ahead with plans to break up Peel without considering the costs of a huge municipal reorganisation. And the Bill was rushed through the Legislature with no opportunity for the public and experts to comment. This is the result.
Calandra says:
“While we originally thought that the best way to achieve our goals of better services and lower taxes was through dissolution, we’ve since heard loud and clear from municipal leaders and stakeholders that full dissolution would lead to significant tax hikes and disruption to critical services the people of Peel Region depend on. This is something our government will never support.”
Oh dear! The Government is becoming a laughing stock. One step forward. Two steps back.
I am left wondering how much this pointless exercise cost the taxpayers.
The new Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie, the Mayor of Mississagua, will be spitting feathers.
Too bad. She was always on the wrong side of the argument.
Update on 13 December 2023: From Newmarket Today: Audit of Newmarket among Ford Government walk-backs
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
The Newmarket-Aurora Conservatives have chosen their candidate for the next Federal election, Sandra Cobena.
I know very little about Sandra Cobena but that will change.
She says she believes in “fiscal sanity, social stability and moral clarity”.
I’d like a few more specifics. Especially that bit about "moral clarity".
Waiting on the sidelines
Her video says “waiting on the sidelines is no longer an option”.
I’ve just googled Sandra but there’s not a lot there. A bit like Dawn Gallagher Murphy. No footprints in the sand. No articles in the press. No letters to the editor. But maybe they’ll surface. I hope so.
Cobena, a senior manager in commercial credit at TD, defeated Harold Kim for the nomination. Harold – like so many Conservative candidates – boycotted the local election debates when he was the candidate last time round, so, for that reason if for no other, I’m glad’s he’s gone.
I’d be very surprised if the sitting Liberal MP, 73 year old Tony Van Bynen, seeks another term.
Cruising into retirement
The middle-of-the-road Tony Van Bland is gently cruising into his third retirement.
The Prime Minister could always rely on his support and his vote in the Commons.
Since his election in 2019 Van Bland hasn’t put a foot out of line.
Well, except once. A few weeks ago he joined 33 other Liberal MPs in urging a ceasefire in Gaza.
Since then, he’s gone quiet again.
Update on 13 December 2023: From Newmarket Today
Update on 22 March 2025: From Newmarket Today: Conservative candidate opens Main Street Office
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
The Ford Government is deeply corrupt. 
The annual report from Ontario's Auditor General, published today, lists failings which go to the very heart of the way in which we are governed.
Ford doesn't consult people before legislating. (Photo: Boris Johnson - on his money-making speaking circuit - jokes with fellow Conservative Paul Calandra at last week's Realtor's Conference.)
No meaningful consultation
The Acting Auditor General Nick Stavropoulos says the Government made:
“significant changes to energy, land-use planning and housing policies without meaningful consultation, undermining Ontarians’ ability to participate in decisions that can impact the environment.”
and it didn't follow the Environmental Bill of Rights
“when it made sweeping changes to the Province's land use and housing framework and removed lands from the Greenbelt. The Government… made these changes to increase housing supply without adequate public consultation… and did not give the public complete information about the proposed changes.”
Brains behind the operation
Increasingly, we are governed by fiat and edict with the rules bent and manipulated by Paul Calandra, Ford's consigliere and the brains behind the operation. 
Shamefully, after more than two months on the Order Paper, he refuses to bring forward for debate the Integrity Commissioner's recommendation to the Legislature that it reprimands the disgraced ex Minister Steve Clark for his role in the Greenbelt scandal.
Second thoughts on dissolving Peel Region
We read today that Ford is having second thoughts about breaking up Peel Region because of the huge impact on taxes.
The Bill dissolving Peel Region was never sent to Committee for detailed line-by-line scrutiny by MPPs. It just rocketted through the legislature at warp speed with no consultation with experts or the general public.
Bill 136 which returns lands to the Greenbelt, Bill 150 which restores Official Plan boundaries and Bill 154 on Ontario Place have all sped through the Legislature in a matter of days.
Public consultation doesn't feature in the process.
No Committee sessions
Paul Calandra was the sole witness giving evidence to MPPs in the Bill Committees for the Greenbelt and Planning reversals (Bills 136 and 150). The legislation on Ontario Place (Bill 154) went through with no Committee session at all.
The Acting Auditor General says the decision to move the Ontario Science Centre to Ontario Place was made without a full comparison of its costs or proper consultation.
How a Bill becomes Law
The Ontario Legislative Assembly's website explains "How a Bill Becomes Law" but this bears little comparison with the reality where legislation is rushed through.
Ford is not remotely interested in making sure policies are stress-tested before they reach the Statute Book. That's not his style.
What is to be done?
So what do we do with Governments which break the rules, jettison long-standing Parliamentary conventions, stifle and smother debate and ignore the law?
There is no quick and easy answer to this.
Under our system the Government of the day, with a good majority, can pretty much do as it pleases and push things through - even when these have not been explicitly flagged up in an election platform. The Greenbelt changes were never mentioned by Ford in the June 2022 Provincial Election. Nor for that matter was Ontario Place.
In the absence of a written constitution we rely on politicians observing established rules and conventions. Not casually throwing them overboard. And yet this is what Ford does. He acts now and thinks later.
Deep Trouble
Professor Peter Hennessey, an authority on contemporary British political history, had Boris Johnson specifically in mind when he warned:
“If the prime minister is the number one wrong ’un, you’re in deep, deep trouble. It’s shown us the fragility of our constitution.”
So what do we do when our Premier is "the number one wrong'un"?
I'd like to see the Integrity Commissioner report on the rules and conventions of the Ontario Legislature as a way of sparking the debate we need to have.
But that's not going happen without Ford's agreement.
Which takes us back to square one.
Discuss.
Update on 8 December 2023: the Toronto Star editorial: Another flawed plan by Ford
Update on 9 December 2023: from the UK's Guardian newspaper: Peter Osborne writes: Boris Johnson is gone for good but his brand of empty populism lives on
Update on 13 December 2023: From the Toronto Star: Ford abandons plan to break up Peel Region
The legislature is now in recess until 20 February 2024.
From the Order Paper: Filed by Paul Calandra 30 November 2023
