Sixth Day

NOVEMBER 26th

It’s officially November, and with that brings the official beginning of Woman Abuse Prevention Month (WAPM). The purpose of WAPM is to bring about more public education on the topic of violence against women. Men and boys are encouraged to wear white ribbons as a symbol of their opposition to violence against women. It is also seen as a pledge to never commit or condone violence against women. They are particularly encouraged to wear these during White Ribbon week which starts on November the 25th which is the UN Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. In support of this, many MPPs wore white ribbons today.

Today there were two MPP birthdays. Stephan Lecce (Minister of Education) who is now 33 and Jamie West (Sudbury).

During question period, Andrea Horwath (NDP Leader) addressed the Ontario hydro mess. She stated that the Ford government promised a 12% reduction in hydro bill costs yet statistics show that hydro bill costs have actually gone up by 7%.

Rod Phillips (Minister of Finance) announced that the government plans on reducing taxes for small businesses by 8.7%. He said that statistics show that small businesses make up 98% of all businesses in Ontario.

Kathleen Wynne expressed her concern about the increasing prevalence of e-cigarettes and vaping products among youth in Ontario. Recent studies from the University of Waterloo indicates that youth vaping is rising at an alarming rate in Canada. The TDSB is counting on the government to address this growing health crisis. Among there recommendations are a ban on e-cigarettes and vaping products until sufficient research can be conducted on the health effect, the removal of flavored e-cigarettes on the market, additional regulations on the selling and advertising of e-cigarettes, and the provision of funding for schools to install vape detectors.

In the afternoon, we had the honor of meeting the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Elizabeth Dowdeswell. Each of the ten Canadian provinces has a Lieutenant Governor. He or she is appointed by the Governor General, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, usually for a period of approximately five years.

Lieutenant Governors are the highest ranking officers of their province and represent Her Majesty The Queen in their jurisdictions.

The Lieutenant Governor’s constitutional duties include, among others:

• Swearing in the provincial government’s Executive Council (Premier and Cabinet)
• Opening each session of the provincial legislative assembly
• Providing Royal Assent to provincial bills

The Lieutenant Governor’s ceremonial and community functions include, among others:

• Representing The Queen in the province
• Acting as the province’s official host
• Supporting social causes
• Recognizing outstanding citizens

We had the opportunity to talk with Ms. Dowdeswell and ask her questions, afterwards she gave each pins and invited us to an exclusive Christmas party at Queens Park that MPPs will also be attending on December 6th.