STANDING COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
COMITÉ PERMANENT DES ORGANISMES GOUVERNEMENTAUX
Wednesday 12 December 2007 Mercredi 12 décembre 2007
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The committee met at 1006 in room 151.
ELECTION OF CHAIR
The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Douglas Arnott): Honourable members, it is my duty to call upon you to elect a Chair of the government agencies committee. Are there any nominations, please?
Ms. Lisa MacLeod: I nominate MPP Munro.
The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Douglas Arnott): Mrs. Munro has been nominated. Do you accept the nomination, Mrs. Munro?
Mrs. Julia Munro: Yes.
The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Douglas Arnott): Are there any further nominations?
Mrs. Liz Sandals: I move that nominations be closed.
The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Douglas Arnott): There being no further nominations, I declare nominations closed and Mrs. Munro elected Chair of the committee.
The Chair (Mrs. Julia Munro): Thank you very much for placing that confidence in me.
ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIR
The Chair (Mrs. Julia Munro): I would just like to continue with our agenda here and the election of a Vice-Chair. Is there anyone who would like to nominate someone as Vice-Chair?
Mr. Randy Hillier: I would like to nominate MPP MacLeod.
The Chair (Mrs. Julia Munro): Do you accept the nomination?
Ms. Lisa MacLeod: I accept.
The Chair (Mrs. Julia Munro): Are there any other nominations?
Mrs. Maria Van Bommel: I move that nominations be closed.
The Chair (Mrs. Julia Munro): Nominations being closed, I would congratulate you on being the Vice-Chair.
APPOINTMENT OF SUBCOMMITTEE
The Chair (Mrs. Julia Munro): I want to draw your attention to the third item on our agenda this morning:
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 subcommittee be composed of the following members: the Chair as Chair, and three members of the committee–
Interjection.
The Chair (Mrs. Julia Munro): As this is a motion, I'm going to ask that this motion stand in the name of a committee member and that the subcommittee should include MacLeod, Gélinas and Van Bommel.
Mrs. Liz Sandals: Do you want me to move that as if it has been read?
The Chair (Mrs. Julia Munro): Yes. Thank you very much. All those in favour? Agreed.
I would just like to take a few moments here and ask Mr. Arnott to briefly go over some of the mandate of this committee since there are a number of people here who are new to this committee.
The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Douglas Arnott): I placed at each member's seat a short repetition of the standing order that governs this committee and provides its mandate.
The committee has a two-part mandate. On the first page, the highlighted portion of standing order 106(e) deals with the mandate to review the operation of agencies, boards and commissions of the Ontario government and to conduct those reviews according to certain criteria that are set out in the standing order. The second page deals with the second part of the committee's mandate, which was added to the committee in 1990, and that's the authorization to review intended appointments to agencies, boards and commissions of the Ontario government.
Again, there are rules, procedures and criteria set out in the following pages, the principal steps being on the next pages: the tabling of a certificate showing intended appointees to agencies, boards and commissions; a selection process by the subcommittee, which has just been created today; reporting back by the subcommittee to the full committee; scheduling of intended appointees selected as witnesses before the committee for interviews here; committee determination; and reporting back to the full House.
Those two areas of the committee's mandate have, over time, created quite a bit of work for the committee. That work is supported by me, as committee clerk, offering procedural advice and administrative support, and by the research service, which also provides two legislative research officers to this committee. Larry Johnston is with us today.
The Chair (Mrs. Julia Munro): Larry, you might want to briefly outline the extent of the kind of research services that are available to members of this committee.
Mr. Larry Johnston: I'd just like the members to know that for each agency that the committee is reviewing or for each appointment to an agency, research prepares a backgrounder. That backgrounder will provide information concerning the agency—for example, its legislative basis, its mandate and responsibilities, its structure, its finances etc.; background on issues that have arisen concerning that agency; and possible lines of questioning for members to raise with witnesses who appear before the committee. If the committee is reviewing an agency, the work of research is a little more extensive. It will involve a backgrounder—along that line, maybe a little more extensive—but also summaries of the committee hearings with an agency and drafting the committee's report under its instructions.
I should also say to members that they can make research requests to the research officers at any point in time, either on your own behalf or on the committee's behalf, through the Chair.
The Chair (Mrs. Julia Munro): Any questions?
Ms. Lisa MacLeod: I'm wondering if it's possible, through the Chair, to have a list of all government agencies that we might possibly review in this committee. I know that we'll probably select, through the subcommittee, who we will have before us, but is there a possibility to have that inventory list?
Mr. Larry Johnston: We can make that attempt. During the last Parliament, when the committee selected agencies for review, there were a couple of instances in which an agency was determined not to be subject to review. So there is a certain lack of clarity, but we can endeavour to give you the best possible list.
Ms. Lisa MacLeod: Thank you.
The Chair (Mrs. Julia Munro): Any other comments or questions? Seeing none, I will move to adjourn this committee and look forward to seeing you in the new year.
The committee adjourned at 1015.
CONTENTS
Wednesday 12 December 2007
Election of Chair A-1
Election of Vice-Chair A-1
Appointment of subcommittee A-1
STANDING COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
Chair / Présidente
Mrs. Julia Munro (York—Simcoe PC)
Vice-Chair / Vice-Présidente
Ms. Lisa MacLeod (Nepean—Carleton PC)
Mr. Michael A. Brown (Algoma—Manitoulin L)
Mr. Kevin Daniel Flynn (Oakville L)
Mme France Gélinas (Nickel Belt ND)
Mr. Randy Hiller (Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington PC)
Ms. Lisa MacLeod (Nepean—Carleton PC)
Mrs. Julia Munro (York—Simcoe PC)
Mr. David Ramsay (Timiskaming—Cochrane L)
Mrs. Liz Sandals (Guelph L)
Mrs. Maria Van Bommel (Lambton—Kent—Middlesex L)
Clerk / Greffier
Mr. Douglas Arnott
Staff / Personnel
Mr. Larry Johnston, research officer,
Research and Information Services