Author, author

Liberal MPP John Milloy (Kitchener Centre) is one of the best-educated members of the provincial Legislature.

Milloy is a graduate of Oxford University, the London School of Economics, and, er, Carleton University.

The PhD. - that’s Dr. Milloy to you! - is also a budding author.

He recently published a scholarly tome entitled, The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 1948-1957: Community or Alliance.

Milloy’s book discusses the early years of NATO and Canada’s pivotal role in the alliance.

For those eager to learn more, the backbench MPP - whose omission from Premier Dalton McGuinty’s cabinet is puzzling (he was also once former prime minister Jean Chrétien’s legislative assistant) - will be giving a speech on his book next Tuesday, June 27, at 7 p.m. at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, in the former Seagram’s Museum at 57 Erb St. W., Waterloo.

 

Big man, Small space

It's good to practice what you preach - just not quite this much.

Since he was talking about a provincial plan to protect farmland by forcing millions of new people expected to move to Southern Ontario to live in existing urban areas, it may have made some sense to pack 50 people into a room comfortable for 10.

But David Caplan, minister of public infrastructure and renewal, had a tough time squeezing through dozens of reporters and stakeholders to get to the front of the tiny room.

He improvised by shouting: "Let the fat guy through."

One reporter suggested the space was more appropriate for a mosh pit than a press conference.

Caplan's communication advisor, ever ready to spin bad to good, said: "See, we practice what we preach."

Half an hour in, people were feeling cramped, sweaty and dehydrated.

Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion said it was up to everyone to make the "Places to Grow" plan to pursue more compact living a success.

Reporters, she said, had a role to play by making sure citizens know the plan will help make their life better.

Those still standing, will try.

Media culpa!

Oops! The cheap-shot artists on this blog may have fired too soon on Monday.

It seems that Premier Dalton McGuinty did not make the three-minute walk from the Main Legislative Building to Hart House at the University of Toronto by SUV.

"He worked from home in the morning to prepare for his event, then went directly from home to the 10 a.m. event," an aide advised us Tuesday.

"After the event, he walked from Hart House to Queen's Park," the McGuinty official said.

"Any chance you might clarify the notebook, since it takes a shot for something that isn't true?"

Consider it clarified.

Doing his bit for the environment

It is a daunting three-minute walk from the Main Legislative Building at Queen's Park to Hart House on the leafy campus of University of Toronto.

So observers shouldn't have been surprised when Premier Dalton McGuinty drove up there Monday morning for an event with international medical graduates.

After all, McGuinty was famously caught by the Toronto Star catching a ride in his police-driven GMC Yukon from Accents restaurant at the Sutton Place Hotel west along Wellesley St. to his office at the Whitney Block, a distance of perhaps 200 metres.

Still, he has at least learned one environmental lesson: he showed up at U of T in a compact Ford Escape SUV hybrid.

Well, it's a start.

Hockey and politics collide

The lobby of Edmonton's Westin Hotel was abuzz with what passes for celebrity sightings in this country on Friday.

With the hometown Oilers in the Stanley Cup finals against the Carolina Hurricanes, Edmonton is again Canada's hockey capital.

But there was also a premiers' conference this week in the Alberta capital, so the Westin was bustling with political journalists and sports reporters and politicians and hockey royalty.

Yes, that was Hockey Night In Canada's bombastic Don Cherry and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Oiler-turned-broadcaster Kelly Hrudey and the folks from Soiree de Hockey and a bunch of other sports types that the politicos could not identify.

For the record, Cherry confided to McGuinty's entourage that the Oilers, down two games to none, are pretty much screwed by that injury to their first-string goalie.

Wow, with that penetrating analysis, think what the Coach's Corner host could do if he had been unleashed on the equalization conference!

Keeping the province safe for matching throw rugs

The best press release of the day arrived in our in-basket late Tuesday. We offer it without comment. Well, almost without comment. Tim Peterson, the Liberal MPP for Mississauga South, is the brother of former premier David Peterson and respected MP and former cabinet minister Jim Peterson. While his brothers have soared to the highest heights of Canadian political life, the rookie MPP has his feet firmly on the ground, pouncing upon an issue that has gripped ordinary Ontarians for decades:

 

MPP Tim Peterson Introduces Interior Designers Act, 2006 Legislation will protect the public and regulate the practice of interior design

TORONTO, June 6 / The Interior Designers Act, 2006, a Private Member, Public Bill, introduced today by MPP Tim Peterson, will protect the public from unqualified practitioners by regulating the practice of interior design in Ontario.

Interior design is currently an unregulated profession in Ontario. There are no restrictions on who may practice interior design. As a result, consumers and businesses in Ontario have no reliable way of knowing if practitioners possess the appropriate qualifications and training to practice safe interior design. If the Bill is passed, Ontario will become the second jurisdiction in Canada to regulate the practice of interior design. Interior design includes the development of all public interior spaces, such as corporate offices, restaurants, retail stores and shopping malls, health and long-term care facilities, academic institutions, airports, detention centres and public facilities. Interior design significantly affects the health and safety of the public who occupy these spaces. Interior Designers incorporate specialized knowledge of fire codes, building codes, material flammability and toxicity issues, and barrier-free design matters into each project to ensure the protection of the public.

Highlights of the proposed legislation include:

- Establishing the Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario (ARIDO) as the self-governing body responsible for regulating the profession of interior design in Ontario

- Granting ARIDO the authority to set standards of practice and entry to practice requirements for the profession; including, education, experience, examination and professional liability insurance

- Defining the scope of practice for interior design and restricting the use of the title "Interior Designer" to members of the profession who meet the necessary qualifications

The Bill regulates the practice of interior design but excludes most residential buildings, such as residential buildings under 600 sq. m (6,450 sq. ft.). The Bill does not regulate interior decorating. Architects and Engineers can continue to practice interior design subject to their own regulatory statutes.

"I am proud to introduce the Interior Designers Act, 2006" said MPP Tim Peterson. "If passed, the Bill will regulate the practice of interior design and protect the health and safety of Ontarians. ARIDO and the interior design community have been pursuing regulation for many years and I am pleased to be a part of realizing their public interest objectives."

ARIDO has widespread support for the Bill. ARIDO has consulted extensively with a broad cross-section of stakeholders, including the Ontario Association of Architects and the Professional Engineers of Ontario. The Bill is consistent with NAFTA, the National Building Code and the Ontario Building Code.

Interior design in Ontario generates over $4 billion of economic activity in the province annually. The majority of Interior Designers are small business owners. ARIDO currently has 1,800 plus members.

About ARIDO

ARIDO is currently a voluntary professional association for Interior Designers in Ontario. ARIDO’s mandate is to serve the interests of both the public and the interior design industry. It does so by registering Interior Designers who voluntarily meet required standards of education, experience and examination. For more information on ARIDO, please visit: www.arido.ca.

Ernie Eves Lives!

Premier Dalton McGuinty was taking a leaf out of the book of his almost-always tardy Tory predecessor Ernie Eves on Monday afternoon.

Hundreds of Monfort Hospital workers waited around in a large tent on a sweltering hot day for the great man to arrive.

Finally, after 25 minutes, McGuinty sauntered in to speak to the hospital workers, most of whom presumably had better things to do with their time.

McGuinty’s lateness reminded reporters of how Eves used to leave people cooling their heels in the winter or sweating buckets in summer during his brief tenure as premier in 2002-03.

With a provincial election just 16 months away, McGuinty might want to reconsider adopting Evesian tendencies. Current Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory starts work by 7 a.m. most days so the Liberal premier can ill afford to waste anyone’s time.

 

Spring has sprung, a fling is flung

The Queen's Park Press Gallery's Spring Fling will be held on June 7 at Hart House on the leafy campus of the University of Toronto -- a convenient three-minute stagger from the Ontario Legislature.

An off-the-record-event -- despite the best efforts of some in this space to rectify that -- the gallery show will boast humourous speeches, sketches and videos from Premier Dalton McGuinty, Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory, NDP Leader Howard Hampton, and journalists.

Tickets are $30 and available from press gallery members.

Memo to lobbyists bugging us for ducats: we're happy to see you if we know you, but we're less thrilled if you buy tickets so your clients can schmooze cabinet ministers and MPPs. Save that for political fundraisers.

Will they dub the PM Stevie Blunder?

It’s official. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s feud with the Parlimentary Press Gallery has made him into a joke. Or at least a punch line.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has taken to using Harper’s bizarre (and surely unwinnable) fight with what the PM has dubbed "the anti-Conservative" national media as a gag in speeches.

On Monday in Markham, McGuinty cracked to 1,200 developers -- many of them Tories -- that he wished he’d thought of freezing out the media when he first got elected in 2003.

Then in a press scrum -- yes, at Queen’s Park, we still do those and, no, government officials don’t have a say in who asks the questions -- McGuinty was asked whether he had "any sympathy" for Harper in his plight.

"I do," interjected Chris Morley, the premier’s tireless press secretary and sometime punching bag for cranky reporters.

With a big grin splashed across his face, McGuinty said diplomatically: “I wish him the very best dealing with the media.”

 

The No-GO Train

Here's something for new Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield to fix.

GO Train riders arriving at the Mimico station for the 8:54 train to downtown this morning were treated to coffee, juice, muffins and pastry in the parking lot as part of a customer appreciation day.

Problem was the train was 10 minutes late. The irony, shall we say, was delicious.

One GO staffer standing on the platform did his best to deflect beefs from passengers remarking they'd rather have the trains running on time than free eats.

“We just wanted you to have time to enjoy your muffins,” he quipped.

When the train arrived at Union Station 10 minutes late, there was, as usual, no apology or explanation for the delay.