Ontario Legislature Reopens, Ted Arnott Re-elected as Speaker

Politicians will return to the Ontario legislature on Monday to preside over Re-elected. Speech to the throne and reintroduced budget.

The summer parliament was held as the re-elected Progressive Conservative government faces a health staff crisis. Hospitals are strained, inflation is soaring, and there are calls for higher rates of disability assistance payments.

The first task for the MPs to return is to elect a Speaker of the House, with the majority Ted of the Progressive Conservative Party, who has served as Speaker of the House for the past four years, choosing Arnott.

"I was surprised to hear, from my perspective, both the good and the bad, at various points during the chairman's election process," Arnott said after his election.

“But we also received a lot of feedback from our members.

Arnott was not nominated to chair by his own party — NDP members named him, Tory members said they wanted small businesses and reduced red tape. appointed Nina Tangri, who served as Deputy Minister of Had she won, she would have become the first woman to chair.

"It's a democracy and Ted has been a great speaker in the past, and I'm sure he will continue to be," Tangri said.

Outside parliament on Monday, people representing various unions and labor groups protested Prime Minister Doug Ford's government, calling for public services, health care, wage increases and paid sick leave in the upcoming budget. called for increased investment in

On Tuesday, a speech to the throne will outline the Progressive Conservative government's agenda, followed by a budget proposal. The budget, largely unchanged since its introduction, is expected not to pass in the spring before the election.

The only new item Ford has suggested for inclusion in the budget is his 5% increase in Ontario Disability Assistance Program fees, up to $1,169 per month from 2018. is frozen in One person for basic needs and shelter.

Green Party leader Mike Shriner said Ford should double its fees. People with disabilities would then no longer have to live in "enacted poverty".

His NDP of Liberal and Opposition parties is also calling on the government to pay more, and he has all three parties telling Ford to repeal wage control laws as a way to ease nursing staff shortages. I am asking for Emergency rooms were temporarily closed across the state this summer.

Nursing groups and opposition politicians have called on the government to repeal Bill 124, which was passed in 2019. The bill capped wage increases for nurses and other public sector workers to 1% a year for his three years.

Schreiner said his priorities included ending exclusive zoning and investing in very affordable housing, as well as building Highway 413 around Greater Toronto. He said it included canceling highway projects such as Ford's signature pledge to build. region.

It's not yet clear how long the legislative session will run — either a short summer session, or last until winter break — but one of the other bills the government has put forward is a powerful mayor. called bill.

Ford says his government aims to have a system of more power in the hands of the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa ahead of local elections scheduled for October.