Gordon Prentice at Large - Politics in Newmarket
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
Another Friday and another demonstration by the Common Ground people outside the constituency office of our MPP Christine Elliott, Minister of Health and Long Term Care.
She is of course never at her office on “constituency Fridays” but neither is our 68 year old ex-Mayor and wannabe Liberal MP, Tony Van Trappist.
I think the old banker just wants another pension.
Newmarket's Citizen of the Year 2017, Jackie Playter, has repeatedly assured me that our putative Liberal MP for Newmarket-Aurora will be outside Elliott’s office, holding a placard aloft.
Personally, I can’t see it.
The old banker protesting? About anything?
For months now I’ve been hoping to get a photo of him holding a placard outside Elliott’s office, talking to the demonstrators about their concerns. But he is never there.
I suppose I could photoshop Van Trappist but it’s not the same as the real thing.
Jackie tells me she is not Van Trappist’s campaign manager though she is supporting him.
Good for her!
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
Ontario's Health and Long term Care Minister Christine Elliott is losing a big chunk of her responsibilities as long-term care is passed over to Dr Merrilee Fullerton and Michael Tibollo takes on mental health and addictions. 
Fullerton and Tibollo also join the inflated 28 strong Cabinet, with salaries and staff to match.
Elliott is delighted about the cut in her workload, effusively congratulating Ford earlier today and telling us she is looking forward to working closely with her new Cabinet colleagues.
Ford likes Elliott's congratulations!
Ford tweets that he likes the fact that Elliott is congratulating him!
I don’t know if the burden of being Minister for Health and Long-term Care was too much for Elliott to carry alone. Maybe she asked Ford to lighten her load.
On 26 February 2019 Elliott was speaking about her new “People’s Health Care Act” lambasting the alleged fragmentation of the health and long-term care system she inherited. She told us:
“Too much time and attention is spent on maintaining a siloed and fragmented system… Right now care is fragmented, particularly at transition points, for example, from hospital to home care.”
“We envision a community-based health care delivery model that connects care - and includes primary care and hospitals, home care and long-term care, mental health and addictions supports, just to name a few.”
Help required
She didn’t say then that she needed help to deliver her vision.
But she does. And she is grateful.
I shall be interested to see how the Ministry’s organisation chart is divided up to reflect all the new responsibilities and who deals with the inevitable overlaps.
Oops! Almost forgot.
Caroline Mulroney was demoted.
Background paper considered by York Region on 20 June 2019 on the health service restructuring as proposed by Christine Elliott. The map is here.
Update from the Toronto Star: The day Ford blew up his Cabinet to save himself. And how the Globe and Mail sees it.
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
In her winter newsletter PC Deputy Leader Christine Elliott told her constituents in Newmarket-Aurora there would be no cuts to front-line services and no job losses. 
That promise may be difficult to sustain.
On Thursday (20 June 2019) York Regional Council will be considering a report from the Regional Treasurer, Laura Mirabella, who says the provincial funding reduction this year is estimated to be $10.86 million with the largest direct impact on Community and Health Services.
Child care and paramedics will see significant cuts in the years up to 2022.
Christine Elliott's achievements
Elliott has been hard at work tweeting about her Government’s Olympian achievements. Hardly a day goes by without a new announcement about a milestone reached.
The Government House Leader Todd Smith (who is responsible for managing the business at Queen's Park) breathlessly tweets on 7 June:
"Our Government has accomplished more in 12 months than any other Government in Ontario's history."
This reminds me of the old Soviet Union which regularly boasted about increased tractor production when harvests were failing.
The Toronto Star has a different take on the first anniversary of the Ford Government giving us a list of the casualties during a year of slash and burn.
Elliott has also been championing Bill 108 (More Homes, More Choice Act 2019) which has been roundly condemned by Aurora’s energetic Mayor, Tom Mrakas.
The Government introduced Bill 108 on 2 May 2019 and it got Royal Assent on 6 June 2019. The consultation period ran for less than one month. That’s the way Ford likes it. Laws should be made fast with no messing about! He doesn’t want people to bother with the small print.
Developers don't like development charges
The Bill was supposed to promote new home ownership and rental housing but it also makes big changes to how municipalities determine and collect development charges.
Development charges are paid by developers to municipalities theoretically to offset the costs of growth – the new roads, lighting and infrastructure that new communities need.
Like Mrakas, Newmarket’s Mayor John Taylor has expressed major concerns about Bill 108’s likely impact. A staff report going up to today’s Committee of the Whole (17 June 2019) says this at page 253 onwards: 
“The proposed changes in Bill 108 represent a dramatic change from the planning and development financing landscape that has been consistent in Ontario since 2007.”
The report goes on:
“Bill 108 contains limited evidence that its central objectives, making it easier to bring housing to market and accelerating local planning decision, will be achieved. The proposed changes could have significant impacts on how the Town attempts to achieve its strategic goals…”
“From the evidence provided, proposed changes will dramatically change the development financing landscape. The changes will create additional administrative costs, increase price uncertainty for developers, and may reduce municipalities’ ability to continue to provide the same level of service in the face of growth without finding additional sources of funding.”
$300 million
York Region estimates Bill 108 could cost the Region $300 million over the next five years.
Why so much?
The Region says Bill 108 further limits a municipality’s ability to recover growth-related costs through development charges.
Municipalities across Ontario are fearing the worst. But until the Regulations are published we don’t know how big the hit is going to be to municipal budgets.
The developers will, of course, be laughing all the way to the bank.
They like Buck-a-Beer and he likes them.
Update on 19 June 2019: More than 400 administrative health sector workers to be laid off in Ontario.
Update on 20 June 2019: Doug Ford: Year one. (From the Globe and Mail.)