Sutcliffe meets with cabinet ministers at Queen's Park, but not Ford

Ottawa's new mayor made his first trip to Queen's Park since his election, but did not meet with Premier Doug Ford.

Last week, Mark Sutcliffe said he would be meeting with Ford and other cabinet ministers in Toronto on a visit this week.

He made the trip on Tuesday, but the premier's office rescheduled a planned meeting to another day.

"Unfortunately, we had to unexpectedly cancel yesterday’s meeting with Mayor Sutcliffe, but look forward to sitting down with the mayor in the near future," a Ford spokesperson said in an email. "A number of senior cabinet ministers still met with Mayor Sutcliffe yesterday."

Sutcliffe met with three cabinet ministers: Health Minister Sylvia Jones, Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark and Minister of Social Services Merrilee Fullerton.

In a statement, Sutcliffe's office said he discussed Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, which is the province's planned sweeping legislation aimed at speeding up housing construction.

They also discussed pandemic-related pressures and their impact on transit ridership, the Social Services Relief Fund, the need for recovery assistance resulting from the May 2022 storm, and the need to address zero level availability of paramedic services, the statement said.

“I am pleased with the open and productive nature of the conversations I had today with senior members of the Ford Government,” Sutcliffe said in the statement.

 “Working cooperatively with the provincial government is imperative to make Ottawa an even safer, more reliable, and more affordable place to live,” said Sutcliffe. “I will be following up with provincial ministers and the premier to ensure we meet our objectives and address our ongoing challenges in the City of Ottawa.”

Sutcliffe met with Peter Bethlenfalvy, Ontario's finance minister, in Ottawa last week. And the mayor's office said he had a discussion with Premier Ford in October.