The Ford government is protesting the new seating arrangements inside the Ontario legislative chamber that saw all independent members, including Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner, move to the back row – a decision by the Speaker that the Progressive Conservatives believe “conveys favourable treatment.”

After years of occupying a seat on the front benches of the opposition section, Schreiner and his fellow Green MPP Aislinn Clancy were suddenly moved to the back row of the legislature, putting them behind three rows of PC MPPs.

Donna Skelly, a Progressive Conservative who was elected by her legislative colleagues to serve as Speaker this year, told Global News her decision aligns the Ontario legislature with the House of Commons and other legislative bodies across the country.

“I think it’s unusual to have independents sitting on the front bench,” Skelly said. “It didn’t make sense.… It’s unheard of.”

While the Ford government controls the legislative agenda at Queen’s Park, the Speaker acts as the ultimate authority over the function of the building. The speaker position is a non-partisan role and the MPP elected to the position does not caucus with the governing party.

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Skelly’s decision, however, is receiving pushback from her own party, which is calling on her to revert back to an older seating chart that puts the Green Party in the front row and gives independents their own section.

“I do not support this change, as it would alter the established seating arrangement and unfairly diminish the position of those elected Members,” Government House Leader Steve Clark said in a letter to Skelly’s office that was shared with Global News.

When Clark first learned of the rearrangement, he personally called up members of the Greens, Liberals and NDP to gauge their views on the maneuver and said all parties “agree that the proposed change should not proceed.”

“Fairness should be preserved for all elected Members,” Clark said.

“Moving government members to the front row while relocating independent members to the back conveys favourable treatment,” he pointedly added.

Bobbi-Ann Brady, the only Ontario MPP to be elected as an independent, was also impacted by the change and called the Speaker’s move “disrespectful.”

“I’m the leader of my own party,” Brady told Global News, who said she was bothered by the decision.

“I sit as an independent because I did it all right, not because I was rejected from a party,” Brady said.

Skelly acknowledged that opposition parties have disagreed with her approach, but said she was comfortable overruling the various parties calling for the revision.

“I have to. It’s completely non-partisan. It’s my decision,” she said

“And as the Speaker, I felt it was proper that independents would not be holding a front seat on the front benches, that they should be in the back benches.”

OTTAWA – Neither the Ottawa Senators nor the Edmonton Oilers have had the start to the NHL season they envisioned, but both teams are showing signs that a turnaround may be underway.

After a couple weeks of inconsistency there’s a growing sense in each locker room that the pieces are beginning to fall into place.

The Oilers (3-3-1) are returning home from a five-game road trip with a 2-3-0 record but were able to cap it with a 3-2 overtime win over the Ottawa Senators, after giving up a two-goal lead.

“We don’t get too rattled about how things are going when things are tough,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. “We could have really unravelled, really fell apart, but we stuck with it and the composure was good.”

Knoblauch liked his team’s response but says it can’t afford to not have a full 60-minute effort.

The Oilers had just two home games before heading out on the road and while the travel helps with team chemistry it makes for a rough start to the season.

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“The first stretch here I think is a pretty tough schedule and I think for us to be able to finish this road trip off with a win just really helps out,” said goaltender Stuart Skinner. “It could have been an ugly road trip, but we were able to manage two wins which is huge.”

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Skinner says despite the losses the team feels good about its game.

“We were in every single game that we’ve played, in all of our losses,” said Skinner. “I think that’s a really good stepping-stone just on the way that we’ve able to compete and keep ourselves in it.”

The Senators have not played to Travis Green’s liking of late, but the head coach believes his players have responded well to the feedback they’ve received.

Ottawa (2-4-1) is looking to return to the post-season again and while they’re only seven games in the understanding is that good habits need to be established sooner than later.

“I feel like we have a very coachable group,” said Green. “A group that we can be honest with … we’ve had a lot of open dialogue that probably wasn’t complimentary to our team, but I think when you have a team you can be honest with, they can accept responsibility of how they play and hopefully they can respond.”

The Senators have been talking about their identity of late and how they’ve gotten away from what made them successful last season. A team that’s hard to play against and sticks to its system for a full 60 minutes.

“Obviously, you want to get to your game as quick as possible,” admitted Dylan Cozens. “But, you know, it takes time sometimes to really rebuild your identity and, you know, I think we’re right there.”

It’s early in the season but both teams understand the expectations and the challenges ahead.

The Oilers are coming off consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup final, while the Senators are looking to build on their first playoff appearance in seven years last season.

“It’s only seven games here so there’s still lots of hockey to be played,” said Ottawa’s Nick Cousins. “But, you know, the teams that end up there in the playoffs are the teams that find that game consistently and we’re trending there in the right direction, so gotta stay with it.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2025.

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