The committee met at 0900 in committee room 2.

Subcommittee report

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Will Bouma): The Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills will now come to order.

The first item of business on the agenda is a report from the subcommittee on committee business. Would a member of the subcommittee like to read the report into the record and move its adoption? Mr. Smith.

Mr. Dave Smith: I have a report from the Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills subcommittee on committee business.

“Report of the subcommittee

“Your subcommittee on committee business met on Tuesday, December 3, 2019, to consider the method of proceeding on Bill 123, An Act to amend the Highway Traffic Act respecting electric vehicle charging stations, and recommends the following:

“(1) That the committee hold public hearings on Bill 123 on Wednesday, December 11, 2019, from 9:20 a.m. to 10 a.m., following the consideration of other committee business.

“(2) That the Clerk of the Committee post information regarding the hearings on the Ontario Parliamentary Channel and on the Legislative Assembly’s website.

“(3) That the deadline for requests to appear be Monday, December 9, 2019, at 12 noon.

“(4) That the Clerk of the Committee provide a list of all interested presenters to each member of the subcommittee and their designate following the deadline for requests to appear by 1 p.m. on Monday, December 9, 2019.

“(5) That, if the hearings are oversubscribed, each member of the subcommittee or their designate provide the Clerk of the Committee with a prioritized list of presenters to be scheduled, chosen from the list of all interested presenters received by the Clerk by 4 p.m. on Monday, December 9, 2019.

“(6) That each witness will receive up to five minutes for their presentation followed by four minutes divided equally amongst the recognized parties for questioning, and one minute for the independent member.

“(7) That the deadline for filing written submissions be Wednesday, December 11, 2019, at 10 a.m.

“(8) That, time permitting, the committee may begin clause-by-clause consideration of Bill 123 immediately following public hearings on the bill.

“(9) That the Chair, on behalf of the committee, write to the House leaders and request that a motion be presented to the House authorizing the committee to meet from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, December 11, 2019, for the purpose of clause-by-clause consideration of Bill 123.”

I move its adoption.

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Will Bouma): Thank you, Mr. Smith. Is there any debate? Mr. Miller.

Mr. Paul Miller: How many applicants asked to present?

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Will Bouma): To date, none.

Mr. Paul Miller: There were none?

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Will Bouma): No.

Mr. Paul Miller: Well, that’s unusual, to just do 40 minutes. I guess if there are no applicants, that’s sufficient.

So nobody applied to talk about electric charging stations?

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Will Bouma): To date, not yet.

Mr. Paul Miller: And when’s the deadline? December 9?

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Will Bouma): Yes, next Monday at 12 p.m.

Mr. Paul Miller: That’s interesting. Since there are no presenters, obviously that doesn’t matter, but normally you’d get more than five minutes to present. I mean, that’s kind of an expediated, I’d say—

Interjection.

Mr. Paul Miller: No, it’s not your dime yet.

I’m just wondering why only five minutes. That’s my second question. If somebody can alleviate my pressure here?

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Will Bouma): Mr. Smith? He’s our member of the subcommittee.

Mr. Dave Smith: Thank you very much. Through you, Chair, to MPP Miller: No one has asked to present to it yet because it hasn’t been advertised yet. When we looked at it in discussion as the subcommittee, we didn’t believe that there was going to be a contentious issue that would arise from it.

We had a conversation with the member from the Green Party who co-sponsored it, I believe. He believed that, from his experience, if there were going to be any presenters to it, they would be presenting in favour of it. There didn’t seem to be any thoughts that this would arise with any negatives.

It appeared, from the member of the Green Party, that there would be potentially one presenter and probably no more than that—hence our decision then: Since there would not be very many presenters, let’s try and deal with that that day and give the opportunity to have multiple presenters if someone else shows up.

Mr. Paul Miller: So my question is—I can go through the Chair to you—we haven’t advertised it yet. You know what “assume” does? How do we assume there are going to be none until we’ve finished the advertising? Was everybody on the committee in agreement to this?

Mr. Dave Smith: Everybody in the committee was in agreement to it. Actually—

Mr. Toby Barrett: Subcommittee.

Mr. Dave Smith: Sorry; on the subcommittee—and the member representing the NDP actually suggested less time than what we had agreed upon.

Mr. Paul Miller: Really?

Mr. Dave Smith: Yes.

Mr. Paul Miller: Interesting. Okay. Thank you.

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Will Bouma): Mr. Barrett.

Mr. Toby Barrett: I was subbed off last week. There was an NDP bill before the committee last week, or am I mistaken? Was it the same process for that—I think it was Percy’s bill. Was it the same process?

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Will Bouma): For your information, there were no hearings held for the poet laureate bill. We moved directly to clause-by-clause.

Mr. Toby Barrett: I see.

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Will Bouma): Mr. Smith.

Mr. Dave Smith: We did have significant discussion on whether we should go straight to clause-by-clause, and the decision was made that perhaps this was one that we may have someone who wanted to speak to it.

Mr. Paul Miller: Thank you.

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Will Bouma): Very good. Is there any other debate? Are the members ready to vote? All those in favour, please raise your hand.

Interjections.

Ms. Doly Begum: So is there a time that’s dedicated?

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Will Bouma): We’re already voting. We can answer questions afterwards, yes.

All those in favour? That’s unanimous. Thank you.

Sorry. If you could ask your question?

Ms. Doly Begum: So my question is, how much time are we allocating for the public hearings?

Mr. Paul Miller: Forty minutes.

Ms. Doly Begum: Forty minutes? Okay.

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Will Bouma): Okay. So the report of the subcommittee is carried.

The committee will now go into closed session to consider the draft report on regulations made in the second half of 2018. We will have a five-minute recess in order to allow members of staff and the public to clear the room.

The committee recessed at 0908 and later continued in closed session.

STANDING COMMITTEE ON REGULATIONS AND PRIVATE BILLS

Chair / Président

Mr. Deepak Anand (Mississauga–Malton PC)

Vice-Chair / Vice-Président

Mr. Will Bouma (Brantford–Brant PC)

Mr. Deepak Anand (Mississauga–Malton PC)

Mr. Toby Barrett (Haldimand–Norfolk PC)

Mr. Will Bouma (Brantford–Brant PC)

Mr. Stephen Crawford (Oakville PC)

Ms. Mitzie Hunter (Scarborough–Guildwood L)

Ms. Laura Mae Lindo (Kitchener Centre / Kitchener-Centre ND)

Mrs. Gila Martow (Thornhill PC)

Mr. Paul Miller (Hamilton East–Stoney Creek / Hamilton-Est–Stoney Creek ND)

Mr. Billy Pang (Markham–Unionville PC)

Mr. Dave Smith (Peterborough–Kawartha PC)

Mr. Jamie West (Sudbury ND)

Substitutions / Membres remplaçants

Ms. Doly Begum (Scarborough Southwest / Scarborough-Sud-Ouest ND)

Clerk / Greffier

Mr. Eric Rennie

Staff / Personnel

Ms. Monica Cop, research officer,
Research Services

Ms. Tamara Hauerstock, research officer,
Research Services