(Courtesy: @fordnationdougford/ Instagram)
On Tuesday, Government House Leader Steve Clark confirmed that the Ford government is ending its spring session two days early, taking a 21 week break and won’t be returning to Queen’s Park until Oct. 27, to avoid interfering with the municipal elections.
Clark suggested an earlier return could interfere with municipal elections across the province, scheduled for Oct. 26.
The 146-day break follows just over seven weeks of legislative sittings and comes after a 14-week winter recess.
In total, MPPs have spent 30 days in the legislature this year — 11 of which Ford was reportedly absent for.
Speaking to reporters on his way out of Queen’s Park on Tuesday, Ford pushed back against any suggestion that he’ll be taking it easy over the coming months.
“No one could question my work ethic,” the premier said, adding that he barely had time for the brief exchange with reporters. “I am jammed from six in the morning and don’t get home until midnight every single night.”
Ford said his schedule over the summer includes several trips to the United States focused on promoting Ontario and attracting investment. He listed planned stops in Utah, Washington and South Carolina, along with trips within Canada, including Alberta.
“Committees still sit, government still runs, we still pass things through ministerial orders, and we’re going full steam,” he explained. “Rather than sitting here and arguing with each other, we’re actually going to get out there and talk to the people and start bringing more jobs to Ontario.”
The Brandon Gonez Show hit the streets to ask Ontarians to weigh in on the extended summer break that the Ontario MPP’s are taking.
“It’s like half the year basically. What are they doing with all that time? Could be doing other stuff. Look at all this construction everywhere. Get back to work,” Jules M. told The Brandon Gonez Show.
Ford also stated that over the summer they will be working to bring more jobs to the province, but some Ontarians are finding it hard to believe that significant changes to the job market will be made.
“I know so many people who are looking for work, struggling to get work, struggling to get work in their qualified field. So, I just feel like it’s been going on for years and getting worse and worse. So, what’s going to make you do it now? Like, it’s been going for a long time,” she continued.
Many Canadians have expressed the difficulty of finding a job and the frustration that the issue keeps going on.
According to Statistics Canada, unemployment rates of Canadians aged 15 to 24 increase 0.5 percentage points to 14.3 per cent.
“I’m unemployed right now, looking for a job, so you know it’s great to see that we’re [Ontario] at least trying to help some people find some, you know, at least minimum wage [jobs] or just any sort of income is great,” said Ontario resident Daniel.
“He [Doug Ford] said the reason why [going on break] is because he didn’t want to argue or stop arguing with the NDP and the Liberals about it, but at the same time, that’s kind of what it’s about, right? They’re representing us or representing the public, and we need those arguments because that’s how ideas happen,” Nat M. tells The Brandon Gonez Show.
