Assemblée législative de l'Ontario

The committee met at 1600 in room 151.

Committee business

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Aris Babikian): Good afternoon, everyone. I declare this session open. The agenda is related to Bill 171, An Act to enact the Building Transit Faster Act, 2020 and make related amendments to other Acts.

Interjection.

The Chair (Ms. Natalia Kusendova): Good afternoon, committee members. Does anyone have any motions pertaining to Bill 171, An Act to enact the Building Transit Faster Act, 2020 and make related amendments to other Acts? Mr. Harris.

Mr. Mike Harris: I move that the Standing Committee on Social Policy proceed as follows with respect to Bill 171, An Act to enact the Building Transit Faster Act, 2020 and make related amendments to other Acts:

(1) That the committee hold public hearings on Bill 171 at Queen’s Park on Monday, March 23 and on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, during the committee’s regularly scheduled meeting time.

(2) That the deadline for requests to appear be Wednesday, March 18, 2020, at 6 p.m.

(3) That, if all requests to appear cannot be accommodated, each of the subcommittee members or their designate supply the Clerk of the Committee with a prioritized list of presenters to be chosen from the Clerk’s list by 6 p.m. on Thursday March 19, 2020.

(4) That each witness receive up to 10 minutes for their presentation, followed by 20 minutes for questioning, with eight minutes allotted to the government, eight minutes allotted to the official opposition and four minutes allotted to the independent member.

(5) That the deadline for written submissions be 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24, 2020.

(6) That the deadline for filing amendments to the bill with the Clerk of the Committee be 5 p.m. on Friday, March 27, 2020.

(7) That the committee meet during its regularly scheduled meeting time on Monday, March 30 and on Tuesday, March 31, 2020, for the purpose of clause-by-clause consideration of the bill.

(8) That the Clerk of the Committee, in consultation with the Chair, post information regarding public hearings on Bill 171 on the Ontario parliamentary channel, on the Legislative Assembly’s website and with Cision.

The Chair (Ms. Natalia Kusendova): A copy of the motion provided by the member will now be distributed. Is there any debate? Ms. Bell.

Ms. Jessica Bell: So we’ve got two proposed amendments, but should we start with discussion first?

The Chair (Ms. Natalia Kusendova): Yes.

Ms. Jessica Bell: Okay. I’ll do one and then you’ll speak on the other one.

Mr. Joel Harden: Okay.

Ms. Jessica Bell: The first one is around the time and the date for when amendments should be due, and then the knock-on impact on clause-by-clause after that. The reason is that this is around the budget time frame, so staff are very busy, and we want to make sure that we have amendments that accurately reflect and respect what deputants have to say to us, in order to make sure this bill is as good as it can be.

Our proposal is that we have—I can do this in a formal amendment; I’m not sure. Our request would be that there would be a little bit more time for amendments to be properly drafted, so that they can be the best they can be.

So our proposal is March 30 at 5 p.m.—

The Chair (Ms. Natalia Kusendova): Ms. Bell?

Ms. Jessica Bell: Yes?

The Chair (Ms. Natalia Kusendova): Would you like to move the amendment?

Ms. Jessica Bell: Yes. We have two, though, just so you know. Do we do one at a time?

The Chair (Ms. Natalia Kusendova): We will deal with the first amendment.

Ms. Jessica Bell: Okay, amazing.

The Chair (Ms. Natalia Kusendova): Go ahead, Ms. Bell.

Ms. Jessica Bell: You tell me: What do we say?

The Chair (Ms. Natalia Kusendova): We will recess for 30 seconds.

The committee recessed from 1605 to 1618.

The Chair (Ms. Natalia Kusendova): Good afternoon, members. We are here to resume our discussion on the scheduling of public hearings as well as clause-by-clause consideration of Bill 171, An Act to enact the Building Transit Faster Act, 2020 and make related amendments to other Acts.

I believe there are some amendments. Ms. Bell.

Ms. Jessica Bell: I move that the motion be amended by striking out point number (1) and substituting it with the following:

“(1) That the committee hold public hearings on Bill 171 in Toronto and in Ottawa on Monday, March 23, and on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, during the committee’s regularly scheduled meeting time.”

The Chair (Ms. Natalia Kusendova): Is there any debate? Mr. Harden.

Mr. Joel Harden: If you haven’t noticed, we have some massive transit concerns in our city, and I would love to work with my friends to give an opportunity for our residents to speak to some of those. These were under agreements signed by a previous government, Chair, to be clear, but that motivates this particular amendment.

The Chair (Ms. Natalia Kusendova): Any further debate? Are the members ready to vote? Those in favour of the motion, please say “aye.” Those against, please say “nay.” The motion is lost.

We will now move on to the next amendment. Ms. Bell.

Ms. Jessica Bell: I move that the motion be amended by striking out point number (6) and substituting it with the following:

“(6) That the deadline for filing amendments to the bill with the Clerk of the Committee be 5 p.m. on Monday, March 30, 2020.”

The Chair (Ms. Natalia Kusendova): Any debate? Ms. Bell.

Ms. Jessica Bell: The reason for filing this amendment is because we need more time to develop thoughtful and substantive amendments to improve this bill. There will be people coming to the committee who have a lot of expertise on how to make sure transit construction is done right. We want to make sure that there is staff available, both within the Legislature and in our offices, to do a really good job. This is happening at the time of the budget for the year, which is a very heavy workload time. We want to make sure that this bill is as good as it can be, so we would like a few extra days to do that work.

The Chair (Ms. Natalia Kusendova): Any further debate? Are the members ready to vote? Those in favour, please raise your hand. Those opposed, please raise your hand. The motion has been lost.

We will now move on to the motion proposed by Mr. Harris—

Interjection.

The Chair (Ms. Natalia Kusendova): My apologies. Ms. Bell.

Ms. Jessica Bell: Number (6) is kind of related to number (7), because if we extended the deadline for filing amendments, we would also have to extend clause-by-clause. So we can not do this one because I’ve lost this one.

The Chair (Ms. Natalia Kusendova): Are you withdrawing your amendment?

Ms. Jessica Bell: Yes.

The Chair (Ms. Natalia Kusendova): Is there any further debate on the motion proposed by Mr. Harris? Seeing none, are the members ready to vote? Those in favour, please raise your hand. Those opposed, please raise your hand. The motion is carried.

There being no further business, the committee now stands adjourned until Monday, March 23, at 2 p.m.

The committee adjourned at 1622.

STANDING COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL POLICY

Chair / Présidente

Ms. Natalia Kusendova (Mississauga Centre / Mississauga-Centre PC)

Vice-Chair / Vice-Président

Mr. Aris Babikian (Scarborough–Agincourt PC)

Mr. Aris Babikian (Scarborough–Agincourt PC)

Mr. Jeff Burch (Niagara Centre / Niagara-Centre ND)

Ms. Amy Fee (Kitchener South–Hespeler / Kitchener-Sud–Hespeler PC)

Mr. Michael Gravelle (Thunder Bay–Superior North / Thunder Bay–Supérieur-Nord L)

Mr. Joel Harden (Ottawa Centre / Ottawa-Centre ND)

Mr. Mike Harris (Kitchener–Conestoga PC)

Ms. Christine Hogarth (Etobicoke–Lakeshore PC)

Mrs. Belinda C. Karahalios (Cambridge PC)

Mr. Terence Kernaghan (London North Centre / London-Centre-Nord ND)

Ms. Natalia Kusendova (Mississauga Centre / Mississauga-Centre PC)

Mrs. Robin Martin (Eglinton–Lawrence PC)

Substitutions / Membres remplaçants

Ms. Jessica Bell (University–Rosedale ND)

Mr. Vijay Thanigasalam (Scarborough–Rouge Park PC)

Ms. Effie J. Triantafilopoulos (Oakville North–Burlington / Oakville-Nord–Burlington PC)

Clerk / Greffier

Mr. Eric Rennie

Staff / Personnel

Mr. Michael Vidoni, research officer,
Research Services