Dean French left the Premier's Office at Queen's Park about two months ago and, by accident or design, the tone and approach of the Doug Ford government has shifted significantly. That tone was front and centre this past week at the annual AMO (Association of Municipalities of Ontario) meeting in Ottawa. It wasn't a love-in by any stretch of the imagination. Local governments are still struggling with Queen's Park's decision to cut funding for municipal services including public health and child care. But, there was dialogue. The premier and his cabinet entertained some 600 meetings with municipal mayors, councillors and adminstrators during the AMO conference.  While the reception for Premier Ford may be described as cool, Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark got a rock star welcome. The local governments feel he's listening. And listening hasn't been a strong suit for this government so far. It's also worth noting that this is the final week of the summer vacation for school kids and for all the predictions of an all out war with the teachers' unions, it would appear that Ontario students are going to head back to class without a lot of drama. It doesn't mean it won't be an issue as we move into the fall term, but for now, all's relatively quiet on the labour front. None of that would have been even considered two months ago when Dean French ruled the roost as the premier's chief of staff. It not only signals a change in tone, it signals a government that may have finally moved from campaign mode (a year after winning office) to governing mode.

This week ON THE LEDGE welcomes Melissa Lantsman as a guest contributor. Melissa’s a VP at Hill and Knowlton and was also a war room strategist for the Ontario PC party during the 2018 provincial campaign. All the talk in Toronto was about the spike in gun violence this week. The region averaged more than 2 shootings a day in a 7 day stretch. That has prompted Ontario Premier Doug Ford to reiterate his law and order commitment to the Toronto Police Service in the form of $25 million. Ford and Toronto Mayor John Tory are expected to make a joint announcement in the coming week on their plans to curb the rash of shootings.  That is likely to score the premier some positive marks in the 416 but Doug Ford caught a good deal of criticism after he unleashed on the Not Criminally Responsible patients - calling them “animals” who need to be jailed rather than treated at CAMH. His willingness to be baited by the media and his political opponents suggest it’s going to be hard for Doug Ford to sit quietly on his hands AND on the sidelines during the pending federal election campaign.

Premier Doug Ford took to Ontario News Now, (the PC party’s social media “news” channel), to endorse Pelee Island wines. The move sparked an immediate, if not kneejerk, response from critics who called for a boycott of the Niagara region winery. While the boycott may have been overboard, the premier faces legitimate complaints that he and his ministers give preferred treatment to those who cut big cheques for the party. Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney floated the idea of selling naming rights at five GO Transit stations. The government’s even prepared to sell naming rights to quiet zones and washrooms.  Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner has come up with his own plan to clean up the political appointment process at Queen’s Park. But can it rise above politics. And we wrap up what appears to have been a good week for the Ford government’s handling of the autism file. Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, Todd Smith has turned down the heat it seems but has raised expectations that every autism family will get the help and support they need and the government won’t have to spend more than $600 million to get that job done.

This is a special edition of On The Ledge – the Ontario Politics Podcast. In this episode, we highlight the latest developments in the Ontario Autism Plan.  For those of you who’ve been listening to the podcast for a while you will know that the autism file has been one of the most difficult for both the previous Liberal government and the current Progressive Conservatives. Candidate Doug Ford made the campaign promise to take care of all the Autism families on Ontario. He told them they would never have to protest at Queen’s Park. That didn’t happen. Premier Ford’s new government roared into office in June 2018 and proceeded to alienate the families, telling them it was going to be a long four years if they didn’t support the new means- based funding program.  The promise was a failure. The plan was a failure. The communications strategy was a failure.  The Autism families didn’t just protest on the lawns of Queen’s Park, they took their demonstrations into the vistors’ gallery of the legislature. Minister of Children, Community and Social Service Lisa MacLeod was belligerent with parents. She was eventually replaced by Todd Smith when the Premier rebuilt his cabinet at the end of June. On Monday, July 29th, 2019 – more than a year after the Ford government was sworn in, Minister Smith not only announced the Ontario Autism Program would revert to a needs-based program, Smith admitted – the Ford government bungled the whole thing from the very beginning. I had the opportunity to host the Newstalk 1010 Morning Show in Toronto that week and we talked to Autism parents and advocates about the new plan. Minister Smith also joined us by phone to answer questions.

In this episode, co-hosts John Wright, Keith Leslie and Dave Trafford remember former Ontario cabinet minister David Caplan. Caplan died following a fire in his North York home on July 24th, 2019. Caplan had served in a number of portfolios, including Minister of Health, in Premier Dalton McGuinty's government at Queen's Park. Otherwise, it was a fairly quiet week for the Doug Ford government. Normally, quiet wouldn't be newsworthy but, as noted in this space over the past few months, quiet weeks have been a rarity at Queen's Park - so that makes it unusual and unusual is always newsworthy:)

It was a pretty good week for the Ford Folks at Queen's Park. The Ontario Progressive Conservatives have had a hard time avoiding bad news headlines, particularly since the legislature rose for a five month break. But this past week resembled something close to normal. Premier Ford took some criticism for failing to attend meetings with Canada's indigenous leaders at the First Ministers' gathering in Saskatchewan but that might have been the biggest negative critics could mount. On the other hand, the premier signaled a real change in tone and approach when he agreed to a sit-down interview with the leader of the "media party" - the Toronto Star!

Another off week for the Ontario legislature and another off the rails week for the Ford government. Newly appointed Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sports Lisa MacLeod made headlines this week after an encounter with Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk. Melnyk tells the Ottawa SUN that MacLeod accosted him at the June 29th Rolling Stones concert in Burls Creek, just north of Barrie. He claims the Minister's opening line was "Do you know who I am?" and proceeded with a profanity filled rant about his handling of the NHL franchise. For her part, Minister MacLeod didn't deny the encounter. She only apologized for being "blunt" in her language. So a week that was otherwise pretty good for the Ford Folks was swamped by the MacLeod v. Melnyk blowup.

Lisa MacLeod made headlines this week after an encounter with Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk. Melnyk tells the Ottawa SUN that MacLeod accosted him at the June 29th Rolling Stones concert in Burls Creek. He claims the Minister's opening line was "Do you know who I am?" and proceeded with a profanity filled rant about his handling of the NHL franchise.

For her part, Minister MacLeod didn't deny the encounter. She only apologized for being "blunt" in her language.

The Ontario Court of Appeal has shot down the Ford government's challenge of the federal carbon tax. The premier expected the decision and is committed to taking the issue all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. But that news was blown off the front page by another ignition of the Autism file at Queen's Park. A Tory backbencher report says the Ford government deliberately spread misinformation about the autism funding model.

The Ontario Court of Appeal has shot down the Ford government's challenge of the federal carbon tax. The premier expected the decision and is committed to taking the issue all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.

But that news was blown off the front page by another ignition of the Autism file at Queen's Park. A Tory backbencher report says the Ford government deliberately spread misinformation about the autism funding model.