Legislative Assembly of Ontario

The committee met at 1003 in room 151.

Subcommittee report

The Chair (Mr. Peter Z. Milczyn): I call the meeting to order.

This morning’s meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs is to review the subcommittee report on how we will address Bill 148, An Act to amend the Employment Standards Act, 2000 and the Labour Relations Act, 1995 and to make related amendments to other Acts. Does a member of the subcommittee wish to move adoption of the report?

Mr. Mike Colle: Yes, Mr. Chair. I would like to move adoption of the subcommittee report.

The Chair (Mr. Peter Z. Milczyn): You have to read the full report into the record.

Mr. Mike Colle: Okay.

Your subcommittee on committee business met on Tuesday, June 13, 2017, to consider the method of proceeding on Bill 148, An Act to amend the Employment Standards Act, 2000 and the Labour Relations Act, 1995 and to make related amendments to other Acts, and recommends the following:

(1) That the committee meet from July 10, 2017, to July 14, 2017, and from July 17, 2017, to July 21, 2017, for the purpose of holding public hearings on the bill.

(2) That the committee hold public hearings in Thunder Bay, North Bay, Ottawa, Kingston, Windsor-Essex, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Niagara, Hamilton and Toronto.

(3) That on each day of the public hearings, the committee may sit from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

(4) That in the event of oversubscription to the public hearings for a given day, the subcommittee, by unanimous consent, may determine whether to extend the sitting of the committee up to 9 p.m. that day.

(5) That the Clerk of the Committee, with the authorization of the Chair, post information regarding the public hearings on the parliamentary channel, on the Legislative Assembly website and with Canada NewsWire.

(6) That the Clerk of the Committee, with the authorization of the Chair, place an advertisement in a major newspaper for one day in each of the cities or regions where the committee intends to hold public hearings, and that the advertisements be placed in both English and French papers where possible.

(7) That the Clerk of the Committee identify various media outlets or other vehicles of communication that would inform indigenous communities of the hearings and give notice of public hearings to such media outlets.

(8) That the deadline for requests to appear for the week of July 10, 2017, to July 14, 2017, shall be 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 4, 2017.

(9) That the deadline for requests to appear for the week of July 17, 2017, to July 21, 2017, shall be 10 a.m. on Monday, July 10, 2017.

(10) That in the event of less than three hours of interested presenters at any given location, the Chair may cancel the hearing and reschedule presenters to call in another day.

(11) That if there is a minimum of three hours of interested presenters in any given location and the hearing is undersubscribed, the Clerk of the Committee may schedule all interested presenters.

(12) That if all requests to appear cannot be accommodated in any given location, each of the subcommittee members or their designate supply the Clerk of the Committee with a prioritized list of witnesses chosen from the Clerk’s list by 3 p.m. on the day in which the list was received.

(13) That the Clerk of the Committee shall schedule witnesses based on these prioritized lists.

(14) That each witness will receive up to five minutes for their presentation, followed by 15 minutes for questions from committee members, divided evenly by caucus.

(15) That the Clerk of the Committee consult with the subcommittee to organize the itinerary of public hearings based on the dates and locations above.

(16) That the deadline for written submissions be 5:30 p.m. on July 21, 2017.

(17) That the research officer provide a summary of all consultations to the committee by August 8, 2017.

(18) That the deadline for filing amendments to the bill with the Clerk of the Committee shall be Wednesday, August 16, 2017, at 12 noon.

(19) That the committee meet in Toronto from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on August 21, 2017, to August 25, 2017, for the purpose of clause-by-clause consideration of the bill.

(20) That the committee authorize two staff persons from each recognized party to travel with the committee, space permitting, for the purpose of public hearings on the bill, and that reasonable expenses incurred for travel, accommodation and meals be paid for by the committee upon receipt of a properly filed expense claim.

(21) That the Clerk of the Committee, in consultation with the Chair, be authorized to make any arrangements necessary to facilitate the committee’s proceedings.

I so move the recommendations, as read into the record, of the subcommittee.

The Chair (Mr. Peter Z. Milczyn): Thank you. Ms. Forster?

Ms. Cindy Forster: Just a question, actually, to Eric: Number 6 is an advertisement placed in “a major newspaper.” I’m assuming “major” means “major for that area.” I think the discussion was really around a local newspaper, right? In Niagara, it might be the St. Catharines Standard as opposed to the Toronto Star sold in Niagara—or the Sudbury Star, or whatever.

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Eric Rennie): Right. What I’ve done is, I contacted the communications company that we use to place advertisements in papers. What they recommended was one newspaper in each of the cities or locations that the committee is travelling to. Yesterday, actually, we ran one advertisement in English in each of the 10 locations that the committee is travelling to. For Toronto, it was the Toronto Star, for example. I do have a more detailed list here that I can share as well.

Ms. Cindy Forster: Oh, that’s great. Okay. Thank you.

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Eric Rennie): The advertisement is also running in five French weeklies in the province, as recommended, again, based on region and necessity, and, I think, to point 7, in three indigenous media outlets as well.

Ms. Cindy Forster: Great.

The Chair (Mr. Peter Z. Milczyn): Mr. McNaughton?

Mr. Monte McNaughton: I’m just curious: What’s the cost for advertising?

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Eric Rennie): The cost for advertising varies based on the newspaper. Some of them—

Mr. Monte McNaughton: But the total, say, for this piece of legislation—

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Eric Rennie): Sure. I actually have an estimate here. For the newspapers, including all of the fees and the HST, it was just under $26,000. That’s for all of the newspapers: English, French and indigenous outlets as well. In-house, for the website and for our TV station, that’s all just done internally by us.

The Chair (Mr. Peter Z. Milczyn): Any further discussion on the motion? Ms. Forster.

Ms. Cindy Forster: Do we have any more information with respect to the geography of the trips at this point in time? Has the staff worked on that piece of where we’re starting and where we’re ending? We did have some discussion on the phone, but that was kind of based on what they could charter and—

Mr. Mike Colle: We’re going to meet after. The subcommittee is going to meet after to go over that.

The Chair (Mr. Peter Z. Milczyn): The Clerk has worked out the logistics for us. Just, I guess, for advisory, since the subcommittee is still supposed to meet, the first week of July will be travel by air to Thunder Bay, North Bay, Ottawa, Kingston and Windsor. That’s the proposal. The second week will be travel by bus, starting in London and making our way back to Toronto. That’s the idea at this point.

Ms. Cindy Forster: I just wondered if there was any change from the discussion we had on the phone.

The Chair (Mr. Peter Z. Milczyn): No, I don’t believe so.

Ms. Cindy Forster: Okay.

The Chair (Mr. Peter Z. Milczyn): Any further discussion? All in favour of the motion? Opposed? That is carried.

Is there any other business? Then, the committee is adjourned.

The committee adjourned at 1012.

STANDING COMMITTEE ON FINANCE AND ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

Chair / Président

Mr. Peter Z. Milczyn (Etobicoke–Lakeshore L)

Vice-Chair / Vice-Présidente

Ms. Ann Hoggarth (Barrie L)

Mr. Yvan Baker (Etobicoke Centre / Etobicoke-Centre L)

Mr. Toby Barrett (Haldimand–Norfolk PC)

Mr. Han Dong (Trinity–Spadina L)

Mr. Victor Fedeli (Nipissing PC)

Ms. Ann Hoggarth (Barrie L)

Ms. Harinder Malhi (Brampton–Springdale L)

Mrs. Cristina Martins (Davenport L)

Mr. Peter Z. Milczyn (Etobicoke–Lakeshore L)

Mr. John Vanthof (Timiskaming–Cochrane ND)

Substitutions / Membres remplaçants

Mr. Mike Colle (Eglinton–Lawrence L)

Ms. Cindy Forster (Welland ND)

Mr. Monte McNaughton (Lambton–Kent–Middlesex PC)

Clerk / Greffier

Mr. Eric Rennie

Staff / Personnel

Ms. Erin Fowler, research officer,
Research Services