Ontario has tabled its first bill as a new legislative sitting gets underway Monday, which would give the province the power to stop cities from constructing some new bike lanes.
Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria introduced the bill, in what he says is an effort to reduce traffic gridlock.
The bill would require municipalities to ask the province for permission to install bike lanes when they would remove a lane of vehicle traffic.
It also seeks to facilitate construction 24 hours a day and accelerate property acquisitions and environmental assessments.
The provincial parliament returns as a hive of activity Monday after a 19-week summer break.
The first day back began with Energy Minister Stephen Lecce announcing he will introduce legislation to make it easier for new homes and businesses to connect to the electricity grid. Lecce said under the current rules, the process is slow and expensive, increasing costs for home buyers and deterring home building.
Lecce said right now, a residential development of 200 homes would pay the full cost of building new infrastructure needed to connect to the grid, but under his planned legislation to reduce upfront capital costs the project would only have to pay for the electricity load the homes will use.
He said the current system is making building difficult in new areas, because no one wants to take on the risk and the extra cost.
The Progressive Conservative government has pledged to get 1.5 million homes built by 2031 and it has not yet met any of its annual targets toward that goal, though it came very close last year after it started counting long-term care beds.
Housing Minister Paul Calandra has pointed to external factors, including high interest rates, as hampering building, and developers have been pushing all levels of government to reduce or eliminate various fees they pay.
Lecce’s announcement follows his pledge last week to soon release his plan for how to significantly boost electricity supply in the province, after the Independent Electricity System Operator said demand will surge by 75 per cent between now and 2050.
Health care under the microscope
Also Monday morning, Premier Doug Ford appointed former federal Liberal health minister Dr. Jane Philpott to head a new team mandated to connect every Ontarian with a primary-care provider within five years. There are currently about 2.5 million people in Ontario without a family doctor, according to the Ontario Medical Association, and that figure is expected to nearly double in coming years.
The province’s beleaguered health-care system was a primary theme as the parties returned to Queen’s Park, with both the NDP and Liberals saying they are going to put a spotlight on the issue during this legislative session.
Speaking to reporters, Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie criticized the 19-week break, which she referred to as “Ford’s endless summer vacation,” saying Ontarians are struggling without family doctors and dealing with long wait times at hospitals and to see specialists.
“This is not right and this is not what health care should look like in Ontario. So our job is to use every day to drag your priorities to the attention of this premier because clearly he’s ignoring health care,” she said.
During question period, NDP Marit Stiles asked Health Minister Sylvia Jones about reports from doctors that home care and palliative patients in the province are facing shortages of supplies they need. Stiles said patients are being sent to emergency rooms because their supplies have run out, patients in palliative care are unable to get sedatives and people facing life-threatening infections are without proper sanitary supplies.
Jones said the shortages are unacceptable and that she is working with Ontario Health atHome on what she categorized as a logistics issue. She said she has directed the agency to reimburse any patient, family or clinician who has paid out of pocket for necessary equipment.
In a statement, Ontario Health atHome said it has new supply contracts as of Sept. 24 and it is doing everything possible to stabilize the delivery of critical medical items.
Election question looms
Opposition parties say some of Ford’s recent remarks and announcements, such as the idea to dig a tunnel for traffic and transit under Highway 401, are evidence he is focused more on electioneering than governing.
Ford has not ruled out calling an election in 2025, before the next fixed election date in June 2026.
Last week, CBC News confirmed the Ford government plans to send $200 rebate cheques to every Ontarian as part its fall economic statement.
Speaking alongside Crombie, Liberal MPP John Fraser said the rebates are an attempt to distract voters from the “lacklustre” state of the health-care system.
“We’re supposed to have an election in 2026, but Doug Ford wants to move it up to next year because in 2026, one in three Ontarians won’t have a family doctor and so they won’t vote for him,” Fraser said.
“He knows 2.5 million Ontarians don’t have one right now, so he’s trying to beg their forgiveness with $200 giveaways,” he said.