The Backdrop
MPPs are back at Queen’s Park after a constituency week. The government continues to highlight items from the Spring budget while taking a more confrontational tone with the feds over carbon tax and housing funding.
New study permit targets
Federal immigration Minister Marc Miller announced the revised allotment of international study permits by province, and there were winners and losers. The plan to amend targets was first announced in January, and Prime Minister Trudeau recently stressed the need to rein in the numbers: “In 2017, two per cent of Canada’s population was made up of temporary immigrants. Now we’re at 7.5 per cent of our population comprised of temporary immigrants. That’s something we need to get back under control.”
Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta, and Quebec were among the provinces whose allotment increased. Ontario will see the largest decrease in permits, down 62% from 2023. Premier Ford has said more colleges than universities will face a drop in their international student numbers. 13 of Ontario’s 24 colleges will see their number of study permits decline while only one of Ontario’s 23 universities will see a decline.
Minister Miller said the current two-year cap may need to be expanded in the future to include other levels of education.
Premiers press Prime Minister on carbon tax increase
Premier Ford joined fellow First Ministers in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta, Saskatchewan and most recently Nova Scotia in calling for the PM to sit down and discuss the 23% increase in the carbon tax that kicked in on April 1st. The Prime Minister has so far refused to do so, telling reporters that he has already met with provincial Premiers – in 2016.
The Premiers have told Trudeau that the carbon tax increase is making everything from gas prices to groceries and home heating more expensive, and he needs to sit down with them. For his part, Trudeau has accused the Premiers of “making political hay” and singled out Ford, referring to his letter as ‘ironic’ given it was Ford who triggered the implementation of the carbon tax after he cancelled Kathleen Wynne’s cap-and-trade program.
Newfoundland Premier Anthony Furey, the lone Liberal Premier in the country, responded to Trudeau in a letter defending his province’s actions against climate change, and wrote: “There is wide consensus that decarbonization is imperative, no serious counter-arguments remain. The only question is how best, at this time, to do so.
The federal Liberals have struggled to gain traction and support for the carbon tax. Back in February, they rebranded the rebate as the ‘Canada Carbon Rebate’, after previously calling it the “Climate Action Incentive” in an effort to boost public support for the policy.
By-Elections called
Constituents in Lambton-Kent-Middlesex and Milton will go to the polls on Thursday, May 2nd, with advance polls from April 21st to 26th.
Lambton-Kent-Middlesex is a safe seat that is expected to stay blue after Monte McNaughton left at the beginning of the year. The PC’s are running Chatham-Kent councillor Steve Pinsonneault, the Liberals have Lucan Biddulph mayor Cathy Burghardt-Jesson, while local community leader Kathryn Shailer is representing the NDP.
The Milton by-election will be a much tighter race. According to Liaison Strategies, PC candidate Zee Hamid is tied with Liberal candidate Galen Naidoo Harris at 39% of support. The NDP’s Edie Strachan is at a distant 10% while the Green Party’s Kyle Hutton is at 5%. The undecided pool is significant at 27%. Parties will attempt to convert those voters through a joint effort by the local candidates and central Parties.
The Milton race will be a coveted win, as it is the first election since Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie took the helm last December. In the last general election the PC’s defeated the Liberals by a razor-thin margin of 4%. Crombie had considered running in this by-election but eventually decided to wait for another seat in a strong Liberal riding. It would be catastrophic for the Party if their new leader lost in a by-election.
New powers for the Minister of Natural Resources
The Ford government is proposing a regulatory amendment that would give the MNRF Minister the ability to take over the permitting process from a Conservation Authority in certain circumstances. In instances that involve the development of transportation infrastructure, housing, long-term care homes, hospitals and schools, the Minister can overrule Conservation Authorities on applications, including those previously declined by the CA.
In order to achieve a successful appeal to the Minister, the proponent must explain how the project aligns with the provincial interest and detail their unsuccessful efforts to obtain approvals from the local Municipality and/or Conservation Authority. The Minister is still required to consider whether the development could have negative impacts on erosion, flooding prevention or other natural hazards. If the Minister chooses to approve the application, it much be posted to the Environmental Registry.
Some stakeholders are concerned about reducing oversight of Conservation Authorities. Laura Bowman from Ecojustice said “It’s a pretty strange choice. Conservation Authorities have very detailed expertise in the management of their watershed. To take that out of their hands and put it in the hands of a Minister and his staff who don’t know anything about the environment…it’s just going to cause chaos.”
Buy Ontario Procurement
A new regulation under the Building Ontario Businesses Initiative Act, 2022 is now in force that will give Ontario businesses access to more government and public sector procurement opportunities. The regulation specifies that Ontario’s public sector – including colleges and universities, hospitals, and schools – give preference to Ontario businesses when conducting procurements for goods and services below certain thresholds.
The government anticipates that at least $3 billion in contract awards will be targeted to Ontario businesses through 2026. Treasury Board President Minister Caroline Mulroney said that “Ontario businesses should benefit from the investments of its own government. Prioritizing Ontario-made products and services will help protect the supply chain, create good paying jobs and rebuild the province’s economy.”
The Act, which took effect on January 1, 2024, outlines the criteria for what constitutes an “Ontario business” and specifies the types of goods and services, including their value thresholds, that are subject to this preferential treatment.
