Legislative Assembly of Ontario

The committee met at 1403 in committee room 1.

Election of Chair

The Clerk of the Committee (Ms. Valerie Quioc Lim): Good afternoon, honourable members. It is my duty to call upon you to elect a Chair. Are there any nominations? Madame Gélinas.

M^me France Gélinas: I would like to nominate MPP Peter Tabuns.

The Clerk of the Committee (Ms. Valerie Quioc Lim): Mr. Tabuns, do you accept the nomination?

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Yes.

The Clerk of the Committee (Ms. Valerie Quioc Lim): Are there any further nominations? There being no further nominations, I declare nominations closed and Mr. Tabuns elected Chair of the committee. Would you please take the chair?

The Chair (Mr. Peter Tabuns): That was the easiest election I’ve had in years.

Mrs. Kathryn McGarry: Quickest, too.

The Chair (Mr. Peter Tabuns): Yes, actually. Thank you all for your confidence.

Election of Vice-Chair

The Chair (Mr. Peter Tabuns): It is my duty to entertain a motion for Vice-Chair. Are there any motions? Ms. Elliott.

Ms. Christine Elliott: I move that M^me Gélinas be appointed as Vice-Chair of the committee.

The Chair (Mr. Peter Tabuns): Are there any other nominations?

A motion has been moved by Ms. Elliott. Is there any debate? There being none, are members ready to vote? Shall the motion carry? Carried.

Appointment of subcommittee

The Chair (Mr. Peter Tabuns): Now we move on to the appointment of the subcommittee on committee business. Is there a motion?

Ms. Christine Elliott: I have one Mr. Chair.

The Chair (Mr. Peter Tabuns): Ms. Elliott.

Ms. Christine Elliott: I move that a subcommittee on committee business be appointed to meet from time to time at the call of the Chair, or at the request of any member thereof, to consider and report to the committee on the business of the committee;

That the presence of all members of the subcommittee is necessary to constitute a meeting; and

That the subcommittee be composed of the following members: the Chair as Chair, M^me Lalonde, Mrs. Martow and M^me Gélinas; and

That substitution be permitted on the subcommittee.

The Chair (Mr. Peter Tabuns): A motion has been moved by Ms. Elliott. Is there any debate? Are members ready to vote?

Shall the motion carry? Carried. Thank you. The motion is carried.

Briefing

The Chair (Mr. Peter Tabuns): Now we have a short briefing by the Clerk and research officer. You’ll start?

The Clerk of the Committee (Ms. Valerie Quioc Lim): Thank you, Chair.

I will just speak very briefly about the committee and my role, and then turn it over to Elaine Campbell, the committee’s research officer. I am Valerie Quioc Lim, the Clerk of this committee.

The Standing Committee on Social Policy is referred to as a policy field committee and is one of three such committees in this Legislature. The House may refer bills or a matter for the committee’s consideration. In addition, the committee may conduct self-directed studies in accordance with the standing orders.

A resource binder with detailed information on the procedural and administrative practices of the committee was previously sent to you. My contact information is on the last page, so please contact me if you have any questions or require any assistance. As committee Clerk, my role is to provide impartial and confidential advice on procedure and to provide administrative support to all committee members.

You will note, if you look around, that our committee meetings are regularly staffed by the Clerk, which is myself; a research officer; and we have a Hansard reporter and a broadcast and recording officer as well. When the committee conducts clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, we will have legislative counsel present instead of the research officer.

Again, please contact me if you require any assistance or have any questions, and I look forward to working with all of you.

Now I pass the time to Elaine.

Ms. Elaine Campbell: For the benefit of the new members here, my name is Elaine Campbell. I’m with the legislative research service. We have staff at all of the committees. We attend all committee and subcommittee meetings. We respond to requests from the subcommittee for research before a set of hearings and from the committee during hearings. When a committee is working on a bill, we often prepare what’s called a summary of recommendations that the members can use when they’re doing their clause-by-clause discussions. We also draft reports with direction from the committee. Finally, if there’s an issue that comes before the committee that is in an area of expertise of someone else in our office, that person will be sitting in this chair.

The Chair (Mr. Peter Tabuns): Any questions? Madame Gélinas, go ahead.

M^me France Gélinas: We will miss the record for the shortest meeting. When do we get to ask questions, such as: Do we finish the LHINs review? Let’s start with that one.

The Chair (Mr. Peter Tabuns): I would say that I have to consult with the Clerk on that and likely the House leaders. We could probably discuss that in the subcommittee as well.

M^me France Gélinas: Ah, okay.

The Chair (Mr. Peter Tabuns): Knowing that you want to ask those questions, I will consult with the Clerk and House leaders on those matters and come back to the committee.

Mrs. Gila Martow: May I ask a question? When does the subcommittee meet?

The Chair (Mr. Peter Tabuns): It doesn’t have a regular meeting. I can call it and you can request it from me.

Mrs. Gila Martow: Okay.

M^me France Gélinas: And when do House leaders meet now? Do we know?

The Chair (Mr. Peter Tabuns): I don’t know exactly when the House leaders will be meeting. As previously, I assume they’ll be meeting once a week, normally Thursdays.

M^me France Gélinas: Okay.

The Chair (Mr. Peter Tabuns): All right? The meeting stands adjourned.

The committee adjourned at 1409.

CONTENTS

Monday 20 October 2014

Election of Chair SP-1

Election of Vice-Chair SP-1

Appointment of subcommittee SP-1

Briefing SP-1

STANDING COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL POLICY

Chair / Président

Mr. Peter Tabuns (Toronto–Danforth ND)

Vice-Chair / Vice-Présidente

M^me France Gélinas (Nickel Belt ND)

Mr. Granville Anderson (Durham L)

Mr. Vic Dhillon (Brampton West / Brampton-Ouest L)

Ms. Christine Elliott (Whitby–Oshawa PC)

M^me France Gélinas (Nickel Belt ND)

Mrs. Marie-France Lalonde (Ottawa–Orléans L)

Mrs. Amrit Mangat (Mississauga–Brampton South / Mississauga–Brampton-Sud L)

Mrs. Gila Martow (Thornhill PC)

Mrs. Kathryn McGarry (Cambridge L)

Mr. Peter Tabuns (Toronto–Danforth ND)

Clerk / Greffière

Ms. Valerie Quioc Lim

Staff / Personnel

Ms. Elaine Campbell, research officer,
Research Services