Wynne Liberals turn to insider questions to change channels

"I think what is driving people crazy … is that the Opposition parties are not focusing on the real issues of the day."

That scolding came from Ontario Liberal House leader Yasir Naqvi as yet another morning question period at the Legislature was winding down and the Opposition was still only asking about what they're calling the Sudbury by-election scandal. 

The allegations of bribery in connection with the Feb. 5 byelection have prompted an almost unprecedented, non-stop attack on the Wynne government by the Conservatives and New Democrats, to the exclusion of all other issues.

The byelection created controversy when the Liberals appointed former NDP MP Glenn Thibeault as their candidate instead of Andrew Olivier, who ran and lost in the 2014 election. Olivier made headlines in December when he alleged Liberal Party members had offered him a job or an appointment to step aside. Ontario Provincial Police and Elections Ontario are investigating the claims.

Thibeault won the byelection, giving the Liberals a coveted seat in Northern Ontario.

Liberals turn to setup questions

The issue has been daily Opposition fodder since the byelection, but the Liberals have now clearly decided they will not sit back and allow themselves to become political punching bags at Queen's Park. 

And so they are fighting back with a tried and true practice of governments of all political stripes to get something on the record: the setup question from the backbench.

Case in point: the freight train derailment at Gogama and the questions that it raises about the state of rail safety in this province. 

In normal times at Queen's Park this would have been an issue for the Opposition, even though rail safety falls within federal jurisdiction. But with not a single question being asked, the Liberals decided to ask themselves about it.

Liberals deflect to rail safety, and the federal government

The issue was handed to Ottawa Liberal MPP John Fraser who, with scripted questions firmly in hand, rose in the House to ask about Gogama.

Fraser's first question was for Environment Minister Glenn Murray.   

"I'm very glad to get a question that Ontarians care about," said Murray, knowing full-well it was coming from Fraser, getting in a verbal jab at the Opposition.

The Ontario Liberals have been using question period to ask their own members about rail safety, an area of federal jurisdiction. (Transportation Safety Board)

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Murray went on to express his concern about "this horrifying crash" and to wag a ministerial finger at the Harper government, saying Gogama draws attention to the need "for greater federal government action" on rail safety.

Murray sat down to the applause of his Liberal colleagues.

But Fraser wasn't done. He had a planned supplementary question that included his jab at the Harper government which, in his view, "needs to do more to improve rail safety."

The question that followed was for Murray. But he passed it on to Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca, who rose to thank Fraser for asking "this very important question." Del Duca then assured MPPs that he would contact his federal counterpart Lisa Raitt to ensure she knew of the province's "serious concerns" about rail safety.

Del Duca sat down to the applause of Liberal MPPs. Mission accomplished.

What is interesting and intended by the strategy is that Del Duca, Murray and Fraser all managed to slam the Opposition for dwelling on Sudbury while raising questions about the Harper government and its commitment to rail safety.

Will the strategy work?

This approach will likely be used again by the Liberals to change the channel during question period as the Opposition stays dialed in on Sudbury. 

But, is either side winning in the battle for the hearts and minds of Ontarians?

MPPs will get a chance to find out next week in the real world as they take a kind of parliamentary "reading week" break away from the Legislature to talk to voters in their ridings.

Whatever they hear will be brought back to Queen's Park and may determine what makes it onto the agenda.

But don't be surprised if on the morning of March 23 Speaker Dave Levac says "time for oral questions" and the channel hasn't changed.

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