On July 26, the PC Government’s introductory legislation, Bill 2, the Urgent Priorities Act, was granted Royal Assent. The omnibus bill made changes to Hydro One governance rules; ordered striking York University faculty back to work; and cancelled the White Pines wind project. Premier Doug Ford released a statement on July 25 announcing the House will continue sitting this summer for two to three more weeks. Details surrounding the legislative calendar are to be released in the near future. According to the current parliamentary calendar, the House is scheduled to kick off its fall session on Monday, September 10. There is some speculation that the House may resume after this fall’s International Plowing Match and Rural Expo that occurs September 18-22, 2018.
On July 27, The Premier announced the intention to introduce legislation, the Better Local Government Act, that will affect municipal and regional elections, including the number of Toronto city council wards down from 47 to 25. The new wards are to match existing federal and provincial ridings. Media reports indicate that there will be no changes to the number of school board trustees. OPSBA staff will review the legislation once it’s introduced.
Regarding the TDSB trustees, the backgrounder includes the following:
Question: How will the Better Local Government Act impact the races for Toronto area School Board Trustees?
Answer: School Board trustees are elected under the Education Act. There are no changes to the Education Act and the number of school board trustees will remain unchanged. The nomination deadline would be extended to September 14, 2018. Ontario Regulation 412/00 under the Education Act would be amended to ensure that Toronto school board trustee seats are aligned to the revised Toronto ward boundaries.
Government news release and backgrounder.
On July 25, OPSBA sent a letter to the Minister of Education regarding the Health and Physical Education curriculum. On July 24, the Ministry issued memo B13 re: Next steps regarding the wind-down of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Funding (GGRF) program.