The committee met at 0904 in committee room 1.

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Eric Rennie): Good morning, honourable members. In the absence of the Chair and Vice-Chair today, it is my duty to call upon you to elect an Acting Chair for this meeting. Are there any nominations for Acting Chair for the meeting? Mr. Pang.

Mr. Billy Pang: I nominate MPP Smith.

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Eric Rennie): Mr. Pang has nominated Mr. Smith, Peterborough–Kawartha. Do you accept the nomination?

Mr. Dave Smith: Yes, I do.

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Eric Rennie): Okay, great. Are there any further nominations? Mr. West.

Mr. Jamie West: I will nominate MPP Miller.

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Eric Rennie): Mr. Miller, do you accept the nomination?

Mr. Paul Miller: Absolutely. I’m outnumbered, but—

Interjections.

Mr. Paul Miller: This could go my way.

Interjection: You never know.

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Eric Rennie): Are there any further nominations? Mr. Smith, Peterborough–Kawartha, and Mr. Miller, Hamilton East–Stoney Creek, have been nominated. There being no further nominations, I declare the nominations closed.

Now we go through one at a time, based on who was nominated first. All those in favour of Mr. Smith, Peterborough–Kawartha, as Acting Chair, please raise your hand.

Having received the majority of votes, Mr. Smith, Peterborough–Kawartha, is duly elected as Acting Chair.

Mr. Smith, will you please take the chair?

Interjection.

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): Thanks, MPP Miller. I appreciate that.

598968 Ontario Limited Act, 2019

Consideration of the following bill:

Bill Pr11, An Act to revive 598968 Ontario Limited.

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): The Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills will now come to order. There are four private bills on the agenda for consideration today.

The first one is Bill Pr11, An Act to revive 598968 Ontario Limited. Could I have the applicant, Paula Downs, please come forward? I understand that the MPP sponsoring it will be MPP West.

Ms. Paula Downs: Good morning, Mr. Chairman.

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): Could I just have you introduce yourself for the record, please?

Ms. Paula Downs: My name is Paula Downs. I am the lawyer for the applicant.

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): Mr. West, do you have any comments?

Mr. Jamie West: No. I’m filling in for MPP Sattler, who is on House duty.

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): Okay. Ms. Downs, do you have any comments that you’d like to make?

Ms. Paula Downs: Just briefly, in summary, this bill is a private bill to revive a private corporation that was dissolved through inadvertence to file their corporate tax returns. It was dissolved many years ago. The corporation holds real property that needs to be dealt with, and we can’t deal with the real property without the corporation being revived.

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): Are there any other interested parties in attendance, and if so, could they come forward, please, to speak to this?

Seeing none, are there any comments from the government? MPP Martow.

Mrs. Gila Martow: Most of the private bills that come to this committee are corporations that were dissolved for various reasons, often with estates, and then it’s found that there are assets that they need to liquidate. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of somebody not paying their taxes, so I’m just wondering if they’re going to be paying their back taxes after they liquidate the assets.

Ms. Paula Downs: I don’t think it’s for outstanding taxes. I think it’s because they failed to file the corporate returns back to 1994. As a prerequisite for coming before you, the corporation has brought all of their filings up to date, and the Minister of Finance has issued a certificate confirming compliance, with the filing of those outstanding corporate returns.

Mrs. Gila Martow: Perfect. Thank you.

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): Are there any other questions or comments from the committee?

Are the members ready to vote, then?

Shall section 1 carry? All those in favour? Carried.

Shall section 2 carry? All those in favour? Carried.

Shall section 3 carry? All those in favour? Carried.

Shall the preamble carry? All those in favour? Carried.

Shall the title carry? All those in favour? Carried.

Shall the bill itself carry? All those in favour? Carried.

Shall I report the bill to the House? Carried.

Thank you very much.

Ms. Paula Downs: Thank you very much.

2345260 Ontario Ltd. Act, 2019

Consideration of the following bill:

Bill Pr12, An Act to revive 2345260 Ontario Ltd.

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): Next, we have Bill Pr12, An Act to revive 2345260 Ontario Ltd.

Could I have the sponsor, MPP Crawford, and the applicant, David Bazar, please come to the table?

Mr. David Bazar: Good morning.

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): Good morning. Could you introduce yourself for us, please, for the record?

Mr. David Bazar: My name is David Bazar. I’m an accountant for the corporation and the shareholders.

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): Thank you very much. MPP Crawford, do you have any comments that you’d like to make?

Mr. Stephen Crawford: No. Good morning to you all. I’m here to support Mr. Bazar.

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): Mr. Bazar, do you have comments that you would like to make? You don’t have to stand; you’re free to sit.

Mr. David Bazar: I always assume that I do, unless I’m told that I don’t. Thank you.

This is a corporation that has some assets, and the shareholders thought it was finished because they’d converted the assets to cash but hadn’t distributed the cash. Since they weren’t earning any more income, they had the company dissolved voluntarily, and I undertook, because I couldn’t find a lawyer who knew how to do it, to take care of it for them and get it revived. That’s what we’re asking for today in this private bill.

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The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): Are there any other interested parties present who would like to speak? Seeing none, are there any questions from the government?

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): MPP Martow.

Mrs. Gila Martow: Whenever it’s a numbered company, I always wonder what kind of business they were in. Is that appropriate to ask?

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): Sure.

Mr. David Bazar: They simply held investments.

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): Any questions from the other members? MPP Sabawy.

Mr. Sheref Sabawy: You said it was a voluntary dissolving—

Mr. David Bazar: Voluntary, yes.

Mr. Sheref Sabawy: What’s the reasoning to revive it?

Mr. David Bazar: They have some assets in the company that can’t be paid out once it’s dissolved, because the assets return to the crown, unless we revive it.

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): Any other comments? MPP Miller.

Mr. Paul Miller: I believe you stated that there were some liabilities and the company dissolved and there were some remaining assets that were financial that were there that they didn’t know about, or now they want to get their hands on it. It’s a little confusing, to say the least. Now you’re reviving the company so that they can get their hands on stuff that was still there, even though they had liabilities. How about the people with the liabilities? Did they get taken care of?

Mr. David Bazar: The only liabilities were to the shareholders, as shareholder loans. There are no third parties.

Mr. Paul Miller: So they didn’t clear this up originally and they have to revive it.

Mr. David Bazar: No, they just didn’t realize that they were not finished yet.

Mr. Paul Miller: I guess you need a new accountant, then.

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): Any further questions? Are the members ready to vote?

Shall section 1 carry? Those in favour, please raise your hand. It carries.

Shall section 2 carry? Those in favour, please raise your hand. Carried.

Shall section 3 carry? Those in favour, please raise your hand. It carries.

Shall the preamble carry? Those in favour, please raise your hand. It carries.

Shall the title carry? Those in favour, please raise your hand. It carries.

Shall the bill itself carry? Those in favour, please raise your hand. It carries.

Shall I report this bill to the House? Yes.

Thank you very much. I appreciate your time. The bill carries and we will report it to the House later today.

Mr. David Bazar: Thank you.

A&One Fashion Jewellery Wholesale Ltd. Act, 2019

Consideration of the following bill:

Bill Pr13, An Act to revive A&One Fashion Jewellery Wholesale Ltd.

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): Next up, we have Bill Pr13, An Act to revive A&One Fashion Jewellery Wholesale Ltd. Could I have MPP Babikian please come to the table, as well as Helen Pun?

Ms. Helen Pun: Hi. My name is Helen Pun. I’m the representative.

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): MPP Babikian, do you have any comments that you’d like to make?

Mr. Aris Babikian: I believe there is a motion to make an amendment to the bill with the name.

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): We will deal with it when we get to the vote.

Ms. Pun, do you have any comments that you would like to make?

Ms. Helen Pun: The company dissolved voluntarily because there was no business. The reason they want to revive the corporation is because the property management told them that they can refund some of the property tax to them.

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): Are there any other interested parties who would like to speak to this? Seeing none, are there any questions from the government? Any questions from other members? Are the members ready to vote?

Shall section 1 carry? Those in favour, please raise your hand. It carries.

Shall section 2 carry? Those in favour, please raise your hand. It carries.

Shall section 3 carry? Those in favour, please raise your hand. It carries.

I understand that there is a motion on the preamble. MPP Martow.

Mrs. Gila Martow: I move that the preamble to the bill be amended by striking out “Yun Ling Yan” and substituting “Jun Ling Yan”.

The Acting Chair (Dave Smith): Is there any debate on this motion? MPP Miller.

Mr. Paul Miller: So really, it’s just transferring from one person to another person,

Mrs. Gila Martow: It’s just a spelling error.

Mr. Paul Miller: Just a spelling error?

Mrs. Gila Martow: Yes.

Mr. Paul Miller: I think you told me that already, didn’t you? Okay.

Mrs. Gila Martow: We’ll get you some coffee.

Mr. Paul Miller: Thank you. I need that.

The Acting Chair (Dave Smith): Thank you, MPP Miller. That really enhanced the proceedings this morning. I appreciate your feedback that way.

Are the members ready to vote, then, on the motion? Shall the motion carry? Those in favour, please raise your hand. The motion carries.

Shall the preamble, as amended, carry? Those in favour, please raise your hand. It carries.

Shall the title carry? Those in favour, please raise your hand. Carried.

Shall the bill carry? Those in favour, please raise your hand. The bill is carried.

Shall the bill, as amended, be reported to the House? Those in favour? Carried.

Thank you very much for your time.

Ms. Helen Pun: Thank you.

Haggart Belting Canada Ltd. Act, 2019

Consideration of the following bill:

Bill Pr15, An Act to revive Haggart Belting Canada Ltd.

The Acting Chair (Dave Smith): Next up, we have Bill Pr15, An Act to revive Haggart Belting Canada Ltd. Could MPP Crawford and Donnie Haggart please come to the table, as well as Colleen Peffers?

Could the applicants please introduce yourselves for the official record?

Ms. Colleen Peffers: Good morning. I’m Colleen Peffers, the counsel for Donnie Haggart and Haggart Belting Canada.

Mr. Donnie Haggart: I’m Don Haggart. I’m the president of the company.

The Acting Chair (Dave Smith): Thank you very much. MPP Crawford, do you have any comments that you’d like to make?

Mr. Stephen Crawford: No. I’m just here to support my constituents.

The Acting Chair (Dave Smith): Do the applicants have any comments that they’d like to make?

Ms. Colleen Peffers: I just wanted to give a brief summary of why we’re here today. The corporation was inadvertently dissolved because a box was not ticked on the form 1 notice initial return indicating that Mr. Haggart is a Canadian resident, which is required to have a closely held private corporation. Mr. Haggart, I can confirm, is a Canadian resident, and we’d like to be able to continue his business. It has been ongoing. There are no taxes owing. It’s still an ongoing concern, with employees and work to do. I thank you.

The Acting Chair (Dave Smith): Are there any other parties who would like to speak to this?

Seeing none, are there any questions from the government? MPP Martow.

Mrs. Gila Martow: I just want to ask MPP Crawford if he’s trying to compete with me for the person who has the most private bills coming to this committee.

Mr. Stephen Crawford: We’ll see. When we tally it up, I’ll get back to you on that one.

Mrs. Gila Martow: Okay.

The Acting Chair (Dave Smith): Any other questions from the government? Seeing none, are there any from other members?

Mr. Paul Miller: I wouldn’t be too proud of that because it means there’s a lot of screw-ups.

The Acting Chair (Dave Smith): I’m sorry, you can’t, MPP Miller. This is like Jeopardy. You have to ask that in the form of a question.

Mr. Paul Miller: Yes, I do. And thank you for filling in for the Chair. You’ve done a wonderful job, by the way.

The Acting Chair (Dave Smith): Thank you very much.

Mr. Paul Miller: If you need any additional help, let me know.

The Acting Chair (Dave Smith): I appreciate the comments, yes.

Can we have order, please? That was out of order.

I’ve lost my spot—are the members ready to vote?

Interjection: This is my favourite committee.

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): Yes, it’s a good thing it’s not televised.

Ms. Colleen Peffers: To be honest, I wish court was like this. This has been a much more pleasant environment.

The Acting Chair (Dave Smith): Are the members ready to vote?

Shall section 1 carry? Those in favour, please raise your hand. Carried.

Shall section 2 carry? Those in favour, please raise your hand. Carried.

Shall section 3 carry? Those in favour, please raise your hand. Carried.

Shall the preamble carry? Those in favour, please raise your hand. Carried.

Shall the title carry? Those in favour, please raise your hand. Carried.

Shall the bill carry? Those in favour, please raise your hand. Carried.

Shall I report the bill to the House? Those in favour, please raise your hand. Carried.

Thank you very much for your time. I hope that this was much nicer for you than court.

Ms. Colleen Peffers: This was much nicer being at the committee, so I thank you.

The Acting Chair (Mr. Dave Smith): As there is no other business, we are adjourned.

The committee adjourned at 0920.

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. Lindsey Park (Durham PC)

Mr. Sheref Sabawy (Mississauga–Erin Mills PC)

Clerk / Greffier

Mr. Eric Rennie

Staff / Personnel

Ms. Jennifer Gold, legislative counsel