Wynne threatens to call fall election

If opposition keeps blocking bills, we’ll go to the polls, premier says

TORONTO Premier Kathleen Wynne kicked off the fall session of the Ontario legislature Monday by warning she’ll call an election if the Opposition keeps preventing any bills from being passed.

“I’m not going to put a time frame on that, and I’m not going to be categorical about it, but I just want people to know that there’s not an indefinite option to continue to wrangle on every single piece of legislation,” Wynne told reporters.

“There are issues that we agree on, issues that are nonpartisan, and we should be able to move ahead on those.”

The premier has asked for meetings with Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath to see what bills, if any, they can agree to pass this fall, such as the non-controversial local food act.

“I want to be clear with people that I’m going to meet with the leaders of the opposition and I’m going to suggest to them that there’s some things we can work together on,” said Wynne.

“The practical reality is if the House cannot function, and if we can’t see a way forward, then the Opposition will have to explain to people why they think an election is the better option.”

Wynne insisted she doesn’t want a fall election, but warned she doesn’t want another session like last spring where the only bill that passed was the provincial budget.

But PC house leader Jim Wilson predicts Wynne will trigger a fall election and claim the Opposition is delaying the passage of bills and paralyzing the legislature.

Earlier Monday, Speaker Dave Levac dismissed a second Tory contempt motion filed over what they said were attempts by Liberal staff to influence the Speaker about last year’s preliminary finding of contempt against the government over cancelled gas plants in Oakville and Mississauga.

“At no time, in any discussion I might have had after delivering my Sept. 13 ruling, was I the recipient of any inappropriate overture or suggestion,” Levac told the legislature.

“I have not been pressured, intimidated, cajoled, warned or threatened in any way. Nor was any influence exerted upon me to do so or say any particular thing or to pursue any particular course of action.”

Levac’s ruling means the legislature won’t grind to a halt again to debate the contempt motion, as it did last fall before Dalton McGuinty resigned as premier and prorogued the house for four months.

But there will still be more hearings into the cancellations of the gas plants, starting Tuesday, and an auditor general’s report on the cost of scrapping the Oakville project.

Also Monday, Finance Minister Charles Sousa introduced legislation to create a financial accountability officer, a key demand of the New Democrats in exchange for supporting the minority government’s budget last spring.

Most questions about the new watchdog centred on the Liberals’ decisions to cancel the two gas plants, which cost at least $585 million.

Sousa said the financial accountability officer wouldn’t have been involved in that situation.

However, the new watchdog could review all bills that have a financial impact and outline the consequences before they become law, he added.