2016-02-15

The Ontario legislature resumes Tuesday and though Premier Kathleen Wynne will shortly after celebrate three years in power, her government is still trying to emerge from the lingering cloud of scandal Dalton McGuinty left behind. As two of his former staffers go on trial, her people have a busy agenda, including instituting a cap-and-trade program, an early spring budget, implementing a new pension plan and ‘liberalizing’ wine sales. Here’s what you need to know about the coming sitting of Queen’s Park before the legislature resumes Tuesday:

An earlier budget

Darren Calabrese/ The Canadian PressOntario Finance Minister Charles Sousa, right, is congratulated by Premier Kathleen Wynne after delivering the 2014 budget at Queen's Park in Toronto on Monday, July 14, 2014.

Ontario’s budget hasn’t landed in recent years until after the end of the fiscal year on March 31. Word around the legislature is that’s going to change and the annual fiscal plan is expected in early March. That’s because a number of major government initiatives, including the implementation of a cap and trade program, require a budget bill to go forward.

That cap-and-trade program

Ontario announced last year it would join Quebec and California in implement a cap-and-trade pricing system for carbon. The system essentially allots businesses or industries a set amount of emissions and if they use less than that, they can then trade the excess on a government run exchange that, in this case, includes California and Quebec. Few details have been released but that’s expected to change in the coming weeks as Ontario gears up to unveil the full details in that aforementioned budget.

The sharing economy

Veronica Henri / Postmedia Network Taxi drivers protest Uber by driving around Queen's Park honking their horns and mounting protest signs on their cabs on Wednesday December 9, 2015.

The spring budget is also expected to include long-awaited reforms to better regulate the sharing economy. From transportation to housing to finance, many ministries have been involved in discussions about how the province can help cities cope with the rise of Uber, AirBnB and their disruptive but popular services.

Don’t expect a shuffle

Chris Young/ The Canadian PressOntario Premier Kathleen Wynne is pretty happy with her Cabinet — for now.

Though rumours of a Cabinet shuffle have swirled for months, don’t expect one in the early days of the sitting. There are too many big moving parts to finish, from the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan — which is expected to start collecting contributions next year — to an overhaul of policing standards, for that to happen.

Raise a glass

Jenelle Schneider/Postmedia NewsA customer checks out the wines available at Save On Foods in Surrey, the first grocery store in B.C. to offer wine on its shelves.

Ontario oenophiles will soon, kind of, eventually, maybe have the chance to buy wine in grocery stores. A report this week suggests the province will sell licences to 140 grocers between now and 2022 and half will be restricted to Ontario-only product. Though beer started being sold alongside milk (for the first time since prohibition ended) earlier this year, wine took a little longer. The system is as overly complex as the beer retailing labyrinth, but word is the delay was also fuelled by a desire to extend some protections to Ontario-made wines without violating myriad free-trade deals.

Pension savings and Hydro sales

The provincial Tories will continue their opposition to the implementation of the aforementioned ORPP as a form of “payroll tax” that will depress employment. The NDP and public sector unions will continue to try and stop the tiered sell off of 60 per cent of Hydro One. The government sold 15 per cent last year to help fund infrastructure and is expected to sell another 15 per cent later this year.

A (few) days in court

Government of Ontario; HandoutLaura Miller and David Livingston — who served as deputy chief of staff and chief of staff to Dalton McGuinty.

Two court cases will get going this winter and into the summer. Last year, Liberal fundraiser Gerry Lougheed was charged for his role in the Sudbury byelection scandal, where a former candidate for the party was allegedly offered a job to quietly step aside and allow the eventual, and successful, candidate to take his place. That trial isn’t expected to begin until the summer, but there could be some pre-trial stuff that gets interesting.

And Laura Miller and David Livingston — two former McGuinty staffers charged in December over their role in the alleged deletion of records related to the so-called gas plants scandal — will also see their day in court. Lawyers appeared on the respective behalves earlier this month, and there’s lots of legal wrangling ahead with the next court day set for Feb. 24.

More charges?

Laurelle Knox / OrngeA handout photo of an Ornge AW139 helicopter used for air ambulance service in Ontario.

There’s still a possibility that either the gas plants scandal or the Sudbury byeleciton scandal could result in more charges. The OPP has not ruled them out in the former, and in the latter case an investigation of possible violation of provincial election law remains ongoing. Oh, and don’t forget the OPP are also still investigating the scandal at the Ornge air ambulance service.

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