TORONTO — Ontario's legislature will resume sitting Monday after an unusually long summer break, and returns in the midst of intense speculation that Premier Doug Ford will call an early election. Some of the premier's remarks and announcements over the past few months — from the idea to dig a tunnel under Highway 401 to spending $225 million to put beer, wine and coolers in corner stores earlier than planned — are evidence that Ford is more focused on electioneering than governing, opposition critics say. Politicians on both sides of the legislature are already thinking ahead to a possible early contest, with more than half a dozen members of provincial parliament already announcing they will not run in the next election, even though it is officially a little over two years away.
The next fixed election date isn't until June 2026. But Ford has left the door open to calling one next year, giving his own caucus members a December deadline to decide if they will run again. So far, two backbenchers have bowed out, as has Speaker Ted Arnott, after 34 years at the legislature.
Kaleed Rasheed, who serves as an independent after getting kicked out of the Progressive Conservative caucus, made a similar announcement. Three NDP representatives have indicated they will instead seek federal nominations. On Monday, when the legislature sits for the first time in 19 weeks, the government is set to introduce a bill aimed at easing the congestion that is frustrating some Greater Toront.
