Queen’s Park has lost sight of the real fight

What if they cancelled question period and no one noticed?

Queen’s Park has been the subject of a rather risky experiment over the past couple of weeks: Opposition parties teamed up to set aside the daily one-hour accountability session in their gambit to indict a senior cabinet minister for contempt.

Tories and New Democrats who wouldn’t trust each other in a dark alley are now allies in the elegantly lit legislative chamber, excoriating Energy Minister Chris Bentley for the sins of his fellow Liberals. The minority government is justly under fire for pulling the plug on two gas-fired power plants (as locals demanded). Bentley was accused of dragging his feet before releasing documents and, after too much huffing and puffing and posturing, MPPs sent this sideshow off to a committee.

The phony war over contempt has obscured the bigger battles ahead for the province: a freeze on public sector wages, and reforms to arbitration.

Tory Leader Tim Hudak shot down the latest proposals this week, saying the Liberals aren’t going far enough with a wage freeze (by exempting municipalities). He also wants more heft on arbitration (tougher deadlines and benchmarks).

Despite the bad blood, it’s too soon to believe reports that the wage freeze has fizzled. Amidst the legislature’s brocaded bitterness, alternating between a crisis and circus atmosphere, miracles may yet materialize.

This week, I was surprised to see two of the most acerbic antagonists huddling during a break: Finance Minister Dwight Duncan motioned to his Tory critic, MPP Peter Shurman, to walk over and they had a private chat in between votes.

Another back channel: Hudak sent a private letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty on Monday replying to his request for feedback over the wage freeze. The letter casts the Liberal plan as a nonstarter and, predictably, argues for tougher Tory proposals. But Hudak has left the door open for more bargaining ahead.

Hudak has left the door open for more bargaining ahead on the Liberals’ wage freeze bid

The PCs want all contracts reopened for an immediate wage freeze across the entire public sector — not just in hospitals and universities, but including municipalities. The premier’s office has yet to respond to Hudak’s request for a meeting. But Shurman and Duncan are still talking privately, despite their public antipathy and shared pugnacity.

In their Tuesday caucus meeting, the Tories concluded that they cannot afford to walk away from an opportunity to tackle the issue head on.

There is room to move on both sides. Look for the Liberals to show flexibility by ultimately including municipalities in a wage freeze as contracts expire. But their legal advice, shared with the Tories in private briefings, precludes breaking existing contracts, so they won’t. There will also be a compromise on arbitration. In their spring budget, the Liberals proposed a 12-month timeline for decisions, but later extended it to 16 months. The Tories had privately intended to support the 12-month deadline, but balked at the subsequent extension (wrongly assuming it was a sop to the NDP). Clearly, the government has given itself room to dial down the deadline period in talks with the Tories. Given Hudak’s support for recent legislation imposing settlement templates on teachers, it would be unfathomable for the Tories to walk away from a bigger deal covering the broader public service. With the contempt circus fading from view, question period has finally resumed at Queen’s Park. Wage restraint will once again take centre stage. Apostscript on the politics of power plants: In a recent column about NIMBYism, I suggested Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion had opposed a new gas-fired plant at the old Lakeview Generation Station. McCallion’s memory is better than mine — she was an early supporter of the Lakeview plan, but opposed another gas-fired plant near Mississauga’s eastern boundary. It’s hard to keep track of all the cancellations, but never too late to atone . . . Martin Regg Cohn’s provincial affairs column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. mcohn@thestar.ca, twitter.com/reggcohn.