Ottawa recovery dominates first day back in session at Ontario legislature

Ontario intends to offer financial support for businesses affected by recent protests against COVID-19 measures, the province’s finance minister said Tuesday as legislators debated the government’s handling of the lengthy demonstrations.

Peter Bethlenfalvy didn’t share specifics on targeted aid from the province, but said more details would be coming soon on help for those affected.

“We recognize these are very unique circumstances and that’s why I will have more to say in the very near future about supporting those businesses,” he said.

Bethlenfalvy made the comments as elected members returned to the provincial legislature for the last session before June’s election. It was also the first time representatives formally held a debate since the protests began rocking Ontario communities weeks ago.

Opposition politicians demanded that the Progressive Conservative government commit funding supports for businesses and workers whose jobs were disrupted over the last several weeks. Demonstrators initially rallied against a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for cross-border truckers but the protests turned into a broader movement calling for an end to government pandemic measures.

The federal government has pledged up to $20 million to help cover operational costs for businesses affected by the blockades, in payments of up to $10,000 per business.

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Provincial Liberal Lucille Collard, who represents an Ottawa riding, said Tuesday that the province should match that, and called for more details on the incoming supports.

“The province needs to step up, to at least match the federal $20-million fund that is being offered, provide hydro bill forgiveness, a moratorium on evictions, because businesses are worried,” she said.

Legislators also criticized the government and Premier Doug Ford for not acting sooner to help end the protests, which lasted three weeks in Ottawa and several days at a key border crossing between Windsor, Ont., and Detroit.

Ford declared a state of emergency on Feb. 11, nearly two weeks after the Ottawa protest began, pledging to enact orders that would fine people up to $100,000 for blocking critical infrastructure and authorizing the removal of licences if people don’t comply.

Ford has said that he intends to make permanent some of the temporary measures he enacted to end the blockades.

Major demonstrations had largely been cleared and several key protest leaders had been arrested as of Tuesday. But law enforcement and governments were still bracing for possible follow-up actions.

Toronto Police had closed roads around the provincial legislature, as they have on-and-off for weeks, in preparation for possible attempts to set up blockades of vehicles like the one that clogged up downtown Ottawa. The closures around Queen’s Park were starting to lift Tuesday afternoon, with plans to relax them over the course of the next day or so.

Meanwhile, New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath asked Tuesday if the government would “acknowledge their role in letting that hate fester for three and a half weeks in the city of Ottawa and dividing this province.” She also specifically asked Ford to apologize to residents in Ottawa and Windsor.

Liberal House Leader John Fraser also questioned Ford’s leadership throughout the crisis.

“How can any community in Ontario have confidence that this Premier will be there for them and not abandon them the way that he did the people of Ottawa and Windsor in this situation,” he said.

Solicitor General Sylvia Jones responded to criticism by saying that the province couldn’t direct police to act but did provide resources to help. She said it was a challenging time but collaboration between police forces that eventually cleared the demonstrations showed the value of working together.

“I’m proud of the work that they have done and I am proud of the work that has happened as a result: safely being able to deal with these illegal operations,” Jones said.

Ford was not present in the legislature for the first question period debate of the sitting.

Earlier in the morning, he was at a car dealership in Richmond Hill, Ont., just north of Toronto to make a campaign-style announcement about a plan to eliminate licence plate renewal fees.

The premier was non-committal, however, on a pledge from the 2018 election to cut gas prices, and said he would “look into” it.

The gas tax is one of several question marks remaining ahead of the June 2 election. It’s expected that the government’s annual budget will lay out much of the Progressive Conservative election platform.

That spending plan was expected by the end of March, but on Tuesday the government introduced an amendment that would push the deadline back to April 30, “to allow the government to introduce the 2022 budget at a time when it can better assess the effects of the reopening of the economy and introduce a plan for recovery.”