The Ford government wrapped its shortened legislative session on Thursday by shaving five weeks off the spring sitting and setting off on a 14-week winter break.
Politicians only returned to Queen’s Park in late October and will now head back to their ridings until the last week of March next year. They’d originally been scheduled to return after Family Day.
During the recent, shortened sitting, the government passed 12 pieces of legislation, most of which bypassed committee hearings, had debate reduced and sped past the traditional process.
That brief sitting came after a 19-week summer break, which the government extended by cancelling all sitting days in September and most in October.
Ontario Liberal MPP John Fraser called the approach to shortening sitting “crazy,” while Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said it “undermines democracy.”
The government voted on Thursday to delay the return of MPPs to Queen’s Park from Feb. 17 until March 23.
“It’s not late at all,” House Leader Steve Clark told reporters when asked about the delayed return.
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“The most important people are the people back in our ridings… We need to consult our communities, look at their priorities.”
Opposition parties, however, said the government was repeatedly reducing the length of legislative sittings to avoid scrutiny.
When Queen’s Park is not in session, ministers and the premier can more carefully choose their public appearances, and their critics are not given a daily slot to ask questions or debate issues.
“He doesn’t want to be held to account,” NDP Leader Marit Stiles said of Premier Doug Ford. “It doesn’t surprise me at all, unfortunately, that they don’t want to be here.”
Opposition parties have spent large parts of question period over the past few weeks asking the government about its controversial skills development fund, a pot of money where the majority of applicants selected were low or medium-scoring.
An investigation by the auditor general of the process for picking who got funding was “not fair, transparent or accountable.”
One Skills Development Fund recipient, Keel Digital Solutions — which the minister has said received a lower score — is being closely scrutinized by critics, as media reports say one of its lobbyists is a close friend of Piccini’s.
The Ontario Provincial Police are now investigating funds that company received from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities for student mental health services.
On Thursday, Labour Minister David Piccini chose not to walk past reporters and face questions, instead taking another route from the chamber to an exit on a different floor of the building.
Fraser said the skills development controversy — and attempting to get answers from Piccini — is exactly why the legislature should sit longer.
“There’s a lot of important business we need to do here,” he said. “The reality is there’s the skills development fund we need to get to the bottom of.”
— with files from The Canadian Press
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