If life had continued as it might have in the absence of a world pandemic, Canadians may well have been witnessing an epic battle of Ontario and Saskatchewan taking on the federal government in the Supreme Court of Canada over the federal carbon tax.
Stickhandling the file for Ontario would have been Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte MPP Doug Downey, who, as the province's attorney general, is in charge of all the litigation for the province.
Life, of course, is anything but normal as Canadians remain largely sequestered in their homes with the threat of COVID-19 lurking behind unknown corners.
With all but designated essential services shuttered in the duration, the doors of courtrooms are largely closed, operating in a modified format virtually and the country’s top court temporarily suspending most operations.
"I spend a lot of time at a three-foot table with my various phones and computers, talking to people on conference calls, Zoom calls, and trying to connect with people as much as possible,” the local MPP said during an old-fashioned phone interview from his home office in the rural Severn Township, just west of Orillia, at the cusp of cottage country.
With the June 20 anniversary of his cabinet appointment in the horizon, Downey marvels at the unique role of the attorney general.
"It's a really interesting spot where I wear two hats," he said.
In one role, he represents the government, overseeing the Ministry of the Attorney General, running its courthouses "and that whole machinery of government,” which includes around 8,000 employees.
In another role, he serves as chief legal officer for cabinet: "It gives me a sightline and an appreciation for a whole variety of things the government's doing, and contemplating doing, beyond just the immediate stuff the public sees."
There is yet another role, however, which is the core work of any politician. That is serving the individual constituents in the riding that takes in nearly 100 square kilometres and roughly 100,000 people.
It’s a diverse population in the riding, including the urban centre of north-end Barrie and the surrounding countryside with rural communities, farms and lakefront cottages, which means Downey’s constituency office sees a variety of concerns.
In normal circumstances, Downey, a former Orillia city councillor, says he'd be helping people with solutions, accessing or finding out about resources or hunting through government, and working on "things that are important to them."
And he's spoken often about his belief that businesses are overwhelmed with unnecessary red tape. He says he draws from his own experience as a small-business person, as founding partner of the Orillia law firm, Downey, Tornosky, Lassaline & Timpano Law Professional Corporation, which employed several employees. In his understanding, "the ways the government can be counterproductive in the lives of small business."
When Premier Doug Ford declared an emergency on March 17, and the days leading up to that, everything changed and Downey was faced with a whole new set of issues.
Concerns now are heightened, he said, and the survival of many businesses is threatened by orders to shut down or limit operations. The agriculture industry, too, is facing unique challenges.
Downey has spent the last three weeks at home and has only made one trip to Queen's Park. That was last week when he was one of 14 Progressive Conservatives attending a legislature sitting. There are no public events, appearances or announcements, although video conferences have provided access to special events, such as the swearing-in of a judge last week.
While the physical constituency office is closed, like much of the rest of the world, the work is done remotely. So constituents relay their concerns via phone or email for now. The concerns have become more urgent. Businesses have suffered, seniors are worried and the agriculture industry is looking for support to help feed Canadians.
"We're going to have to be supporting people as they move through this," said Downey. "It's going to be a continuing challenge to get people back on their feet and back to some sort of normal. Whether it resembles the normal before COVID or some new normal, but ... be there to support the community to make sure things are happening."
