Doug Ford's government starts down road to next Ontario election with throne speech
CBC
Premier Doug Ford's government begins laying out its pre-election agenda Monday with a speech from the throne, as the Ontario Legislature resumes following an extended summer break.
The speech, to be read at 9 a.m by Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell, is the first in more than three years from the Progressive Conservative government.
It kicks off a new session the same day that a new rule takes effect at Queen's Park: anyone entering the building, including MPPs, must prove they're fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or recently tested negative for the novel coronavirus.
This will be the first sitting since Ford shuffled his cabinet in mid-June, and the first since the premier changed course last month on vaccine passports for Ontario.
But will the throne speech signal a significant new direction for Ford's Progressive Conservatives with the next provincial election less than eight months away? The most high-profile addition in that cabinet shuffle, Long-Term Care Minister Rod Phillips, isn't saying.
"As the Legislature comes back, as we are still in this fourth wave, and with the recent federal election, it's an opportunity for the government to to be clear about what is being done, and of course, what the legislative agenda will be for us in the fall," Phillips told a news conference Friday.
While the pandemic will no doubt be a dominant theme in the speech, Phillips hinted that won't be the only topic.
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