What to know
- Ontario’s government is taking a long recess until March 2026, sparking criticism over accountability.
- Opposition parties say major issues and scandals are being ignored while legislation is rushed.
- One expert notes that the majority government can still operate effectively, but long breaks limit scrutiny.
The provincial government is on break for more than three months, and many people are not impressed, or simply confused, with the move.
The House of Commons at Queen’s Park held its last session on Thursday, with the Ford government announcing that it is going on a winter recess and is not set to return until March 23, 2026. This break follows a seven-week fall session, which came after the province took a 19-week-long recess over the summer.
After the announcement, other elected officials shared their thoughts on the break.
“Ontario was supposed to get 99 days in the Legislature out of Doug Ford this year. We got 51,” The Ontario Liberal Party said on X.
“The thought that we may not be coming back until mid to late March is simply outrageous,” Ontario Liberal MPP Adil Shamji told reporters at Queen’s Park.
“The premier barely showed up to question period, barely answered any questions, rushed through bills without following due process, is leaving tons of unfinished work behind, and he’s walking away from multiple crises across our province. Housing, health care, affordability,” Shamji continued.
These are issues that have come up during recent question periods, with opposition parties pressing Ford’s government about several different controversies, including American liquor at the LCBO, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, and the Skills Development Fund.
Read More
- To sell or not to sell: Ontario Liberals urge Ford government to sell U.S. liquor sitting in storage
- Ontario Science Centre to open temporary waterfront hub. Here’s a timeline from closure to new home
- Toronto councillor Josh Matlow urges Metrolinx for transparency as Eglinton LRT approaches end of testing period
This was brought up repeatedly during Thursday’s question period.
“Every day for seven weeks, I’ve asked the premier to answer questions about yet another scandal, yet another police investigation involving his government. All year, we watched the premier go from scandal to scandal, defending ministers’ use of taxpayer funds for their personal piggy bank,” NDP Leader Marit Stiles said during question period on Thursday.
Over the past seven weeks, the government has passed 12 different pieces of legislation; however, each piece was either fast-tracked or had a limited opportunity for debate.
In a statement, the Ford government said it will continue to work to serve Ontarians.
“Over the coming months, the government will continue delivering on its mandate to protect Ontario by working with the federal government to advance other nation-building infrastructure projects, creating opportunities for workers and businesses, meeting with community members, municipal partners and other stakeholders and implementing the legislation that has been passed during the recent sitting,” the statement from the premier’s office reads.
PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT RECESS: WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Online, many people are giving the government the side eye, questioning why they are taking a break lasting over three months. One Toronto expert explained that while they won’t be meeting in parliament, there is still work going on.
Dr. Nelson Wiseman, a political scientist and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, explained to Now Toronto that during a break, Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPS) are free to use the time as they see fit.
“It’s up to them. If they want to goof off, they can goof off. What most of them do is they do constituency work,” Wiseman explained, adding that they also are sometimes assigned tasks by the premier during this period.
However, ministers have a full-time job, even when a recess is happening.
“They could be working on legislation, and they’re running this huge department of hundreds, if not thousands of people, like the health department or education department,” he explained, adding that they also have regular cabinet meetings.
“The difference is, when there’s no session meeting, they don’t have to be in the house to defend what they’re doing. But they’re usually in their offices, or they’re travelling to make announcements, that sort of thing. And they also have constituency work.”
So, are these breaks necessary for an effective government? Wiseman says that’s subjective.
“The reason Ford likes long recesses is that he doesn’t have to stand up in the house and defend what they’re doing,” Wiseman said. “They’ve got a majority, so they can do anything.”
However, he explained that the reason opposition parties don’t like extended recesses is that it limits the opportunities they have to criticize the government for what they consider to be failings.
So, are they necessary for effective governance? He says that sometimes, they are. Giving the example of the Canadian Parliament during the Second World War, which held a one-day session before going on recess.
“Was that effective? Well, I think it was during the war. It allowed the government to focus on that and not deal with parliament in a way. Is it effective in other situations? No, not necessarily.”
But he explained that the public does not like the idea of their elected legislature being in recess most of the time.
“It’s just like, I don’t think parents would like it if students didn’t have to go to school most of the time,” he explained. “You know, effectiveness is in the eye of the beholder.”
So, how does the recess impact legislative productivity? Wiseman says it may not have any effect because the Ford government already has a majority, so it can pass legislation in a very short amount of time.
“If there’s a minority, now [a long recess] probably wouldn’t happen, because it can’t ram things through, because it wouldn’t be controlling the legislative committees.”
As for policy development, Wiseman says that government officials would say a long recess is beneficial because it gives the cabinet time to develop policy, instead of spending time dealing with the media and with the opposition in the House.
Wiseman says that it’s up to the public to decide what this means for accountability.
“Ford figures, it’s OK if I have a long recess, most people don’t even know we’re on recess,” the political scientist explained, adding that most Ontarians are not acutely tuned into provincial politics.
He shared that the voter turnout numbers speak for themselves, with a much higher number of Ontarians showing up to the polls for the federal election compared to the provincial one. This is because, Wiseman explained, as the largest province, home of the nation’s capital, and the location of many of Canada’s natural and cultural resources, Ontarians are more attuned to what happens on a federal level
“It’s the centre. Especially for immigrants, they come, and if you’re an immigrant and you live in Atlantic Canada or Western Canada, where I grew up as an immigrant, you start tuning in very quickly that you’re not in the centre of things. The centre of things is in Ontario,” he explained, sharing that this means a lot of political coverage in Ontario focuses on federal happenings before provincial news.
And while some people are vocally upset, the professor shared that it’s a specific group of people.
“Those people never supported the government in the first place, and they wouldn’t support them now.”
