The Ontario government is taking more than three months away from the legislature after rising from the fall session at Queen’s Park Thursday.
MPPs voted to from their winter break on March 23 after sitting for just a few weeks in the latest session.
Government House Leader Steve Clark said the government has had a “very, very productive session” and MPPs need to time to consult with their communities.
“We passed 12 government bills, six private members bills, seven private members motions, 15 private bills, 55 committee hearings. But now it’s time we have to implement,” Clark said. “We’re getting ready for a budget next year. We need to consult our communities.”
Much of that legislation was passed via large omnibus bills that were fast -tracked, with limited debate and study.
The federal government is breaking this week as well, but MPs are expected to return to Parliament Hill on Jan. 26.
Opposition parties slammed the government Thursday for the lengthy break, with opposition leader Marit Stiles calling Premier Doug Ford “a coward.”
“This government, they don’t want to work. The premier doesn’t want to do his job. He doesn’t want to sit in his seat. He doesn’t want to answer the questions that I’ve been asking him, that the people of Ontario are demanding answers to,” Stiles told reporters.
“He doesn’t want to be held to account. And so it doesn’t surprise me at all, unfortunately, that they don’t want to be here.”
Liberal legislative leader John Fraser said the premier treats Question Period “like a spare period in high school.”
Ford skipped Question Period Thursday, showing up just in time for a vote and to make a parting speech wishing members of the legislature a merry Christmas.
“The people in our ridings elect us to come here and pass legislation to make their lives easier and more affordable, and this government is failing to do that,” Green party Leader Mike Schreiner said.
Ford later released a statement trumpeting his legislative achievements in the fall term and said the government is continuing to protect the province from U.S. tariffs.
“Over the last few months, we have continued to deliver on our plan to support workers and families by investing in infrastructure, keeping costs down, creating new opportunities for trade, cutting red tape to attract investment, building critical energy infrastructure and unlocking our vast reserves of critical minerals in the Ring of Fire in partnership with First Nations,” Ford said in the statement.
“These measures are helping keep workers on the job today and they’re creating the opportunity for long-term growth and economic prosperity for decades to come.”
The government only returned to the legislature on Oct. 20, following a 137-day break. In total, the government has sat for 51 days over around 13 weeks this year.
Questions continue over skills fund, U.S. booze, Crosstown
Stiles used the last Question Period of the year to continue to hammer the government on the Skills Development Fund, a $2.5 billion jobs fund that has been under a cloud over how money was doled out.
The auditor general found the process was not fair, transparent or accountable, and that Labour Minister David Piccini’s office overrode bureaucrats, elevating lower-scoring applications above others.
Opposition parties have for weeks called on Ford to fire Piccini over the debacle, but he has refused.
The NDP also hammered the PCs on the still unopened Eglinton Crosstown, repeating calls for a public inquiry into the line.
The Liberals meanwhile repeated their call for the government to sell off its stash of U.S. booze. The products have been in storage after being pulled from LCBO shelves in March over the U.S. trade war.
The Liberals want the government to sell off the $80 million in booze and give the money to foodbanks. Premier Doug Ford has said he’ll talk to the LCBO about the idea, but the government said again Thursday that selling the booze to consumers would hurt local Ontario alcohol producers.
