Legislative Assembly of Ontario

No. 122

N^o 122

Votes and Proceedings

Procès-verbaux

Legislative Assembly
of Ontario

Assemblée législative
de l'Ontario

Monday
April 4, 2005

Daytime Meeting - Sessional Day 176
Evening Meeting - Sessional Day 177

Lundi
4 avril 2005

Séance de l'après-midi - jour de session 176
Séance du soir - jour de session 177

1^st Session,
38^th Parliament

1^re session
38^e législature

PRAYERS
1:30 P.M.

PRIÈRES
13 H 30

MOTIONS

MOTIONS

Mr. Duncan moved,

M. Duncan propose,

That pursuant to Standing Order 9(c)(i), the House shall meet from 6:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Monday, April 4, 2005, for the purpose of considering government business.

The question being put on the motion, it was carried on the following division:-

La motion, mise aux voix, est adoptée par le vote suivant:-

AYES / POUR - 70

Arnott

Arthurs

Baird

Bartolucci

Bentley

Berardinetti

Bradley

Broten

Brownell

Bryant

Cansfield

Caplan

Chambers

Cordiano

Delaney

Dhillon

Di Cocco

Dombrowsky

Duguid

Duncan

Dunlop

Flaherty

Flynn

Fonseca

Gerretsen

Gravelle

Hardeman

Hoy

Jackson

Jeffrey

Kennedy

Klees

Kwinter

Lalonde

Leal

Levac

Marsales

Matthews

Mauro

McMeekin

McNeely

Meilleur

Miller

Mitchell

Mossop

Munro

Orazietti

O'Toole

Ouellette

Parsons

Peters

Phillips

Racco

Ramal

Rinaldi

Runciman

Ruprecht

Sergio

Smith

Sterling

Takhar

Tory

Van Bommel

Watson

Wilkinson

Witmer

Wong

Wynne

Yakabuski

Zimmer

NAYS / CONTRE - 6

Bisson

Horwath

Kormos

Marchese

Martel

Prue

Following remarks by Mr. McGuinty, Mr. Tory and Mr. Hampton, the House observed a moment of silence in respect of the death of His Holiness Pope John Paul II.

The Speaker delivered the following ruling:-

On Tuesday, March 29, 2005, the Member for Simcoe North (Mr. Dunlop) rose on a question of privilege concerning the circumstances surrounding a public announcement by the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services (Mr. Kwinter) on March 22, 2005. According to the Member, only government Members received advance notice of the announcement, and the Ministry ignored or rebuffed Opposition requests for information about the announcement, contrary to the custom and tradition of the House.

I have had an opportunity to review the Hansard for that day, together with our precedents and the relevant parliamentary authorities.

Our precedents indicate that although the Speaker has a duty to preserve Members' rights to seek information under the Standing Orders, there are limits to the Speaker's authority. For example, on October 9, 1997, at page 801 of the Journals of that day, Speaker Stockwell made the following remarks concerning Ministry financial information that was released to Opposition members only after it had been released to government Members and the media:

... I appreciate that the member would have preferred that all members could have received the information at the same time. However, the Speaker cannot require the government to release such information -- or to release it at a certain time. There is nothing in our rules or our practice that would permit the Speaker to control the dissemination of that kind of information. It is clear from any number of previous Speakers' rulings that these types of situations do not amount to a prima facie case of privilege.

I agree with this view and find therefore that a prima facie case of privilege has not been established.

In closing, I thank the Member for Simcoe North for raising his concern.

PETITIONS

PÉTITIONS

Petition relating to passing Bill 3, An Act to protect anaphylactic students (Sessional Paper No. P-180) Mr. Levac.

Petition relating to placing restrictions on the eligibility of persons who act as volunteers in schools (Sessional Paper No. P-183) Mr. Flaherty.

Petition relating to removing the present minimum amount regarding non-refundable income tax credit prescribed in the Income Tax Act (Sessional Paper No. P-200) Mr. O'Toole.

Petition relating to stopping public private partnership hospital deals and return to public funding (Sessional Paper No. P-208) Mr. Leal.

Petition relating to consulting with farmers to develop a long-term strategy to ensure the viability of agriculture in Ontario (Sessional Paper No. P-243) Mr. O'Toole.

Petition relating to Rural Revolution's resolution concerning farm income (Sessional Paper No. P-250) Mr. Hardeman.

Petition relating to keeping the Rideau Regional Centre open (Sessional Paper No. P-258) Mr. Sterling.

Petitions relating to creating new landlord-tenant legislation (Sessional Paper No. P-263) Mr. Bisson and Mr. Ruprecht.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

ORDRE DU JOUR

A debate arose on the motion for Second Reading of Bill 155, An Act to amend the Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act, 1996 and to make consequential amendments to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997.

Il s'élève un débat sur la motion portant deuxième lecture du projet de loi 155, Loi modifiant la Loi de 1996 sur les obligations familiales et l'exécution des arriérés d'aliments et apportant des modifications corrélatives à la Loi de 1997 sur la protection du poisson et de la faune.

After some time, pursuant to Standing Order 9, the motion for the adjournment of the debate was deemed to have been made and carried.

Après quelque temps, conformément à l'article 9 du Règlement, la motion d'ajournement du débat est réputée avoir été proposée et adoptée.

The House then adjourned at 6:00 p.m.

À 18 h, la chambre a ensuite ajourné ses travaux.

6:45 P.M.

18 H 45

ORDERS OF THE DAY

ORDRE DU JOUR

A debate arose on the motion for Second Reading of Bill 92, An Act to amend the Municipal Act, 2001.

Il s'élève un débat sur la motion portant deuxième lecture du projet de loi 92, Loi modifiant la Loi de 2001 sur les municipalités.

After some time, pursuant to Standing Order 9, the motion for the adjournment of the debate was deemed to have been made and carried.

Après quelque temps, conformément à l'article 9 du Règlement, la motion d'ajournement du débat est réputée avoir été proposée et adoptée.

The House then adjourned at 9:30 p.m.

À 21 h 30, la chambre a ensuite ajourné ses travaux.

le président

Alvin Curling

Speaker