Daytime Meeting - Sessional Day 20
Evening Meeting - Sessional Day 21
Mardi
4 juin 2002
Séance de l'après-midi - jour de session 20
Séance du soir - jour de session 21
3rd Session,
37th Parliament
3e session
37e législature
PRAYERS
1:30 P.M.
PRIÈRES
13 H 30
REPORTS BY
COMMITTEES
RAPPORTS DES
COMITÉS
Mr. Gilchrist from the Standing
Committee on General Government presented the Committee's report
as follows and moved its adoption:-
M. Gilchrist du Comité
permanent des affaires gouvernementales présente le rapport
du comité et propose l'adoption comme suit:-
Your Committee begs to report
the following Bill without amendment:-
Votre comité propose qu'il
soit permis de faire rapport sur le projet de loi suivant sans
amendements:-
Bill 81, An Act to provide
standards with respect to the management of materials containing
nutrients used on lands, to provide for the making of regulations
with respect to farm animals and lands to which nutrients are
applied, and to make related amendments to other Acts.
Projet de loi 81, Loi
prévoyant des normes à l'égard de la gestion des
matières contenant des éléments nutritifs
utilisées sur les biens-fonds, prévoyant la prise de
règlements à l'égard des animaux d'élevage et
des biens-fonds sur lesquels des éléments nutritifs
sont épandus et apportant des modifications connexes à
d'autres lois.
The motion having been put, was
carried on the following division:-
La motion, mise aux voix, est
adoptée par le vote suivant:-
AYES / POUR -
51
Arnott
Baird
Barrett
Beaubien
Chudleigh
Clark
Clement
Coburn
Cunningham
DeFaria
Dunlop
Ecker
Elliott
Eves
Galt
Gilchrist
Gill
Hardeman
Hodgson
Hudak
Jackson
Johns
Johnson
Klees
Marland
Martiniuk
Maves
Mazzilli
McDonald
Miller
Molinari
Munro
Mushinski
Newman
O'Toole
Ouellette
Runciman
Sampson
Snobelen
Spina
Sterling
Stewart
Stockwell
Tascona
Tsubouchi
Turnbull
Wettlaufer
Wilson
Witmer
Wood
Young
NAYS / CONTRE -
39
Agostino
Bartolucci
Bisson
Bountrogianni
Boyer
Bradley
Brown
Bryant
Christopherson
Cleary
Colle
Conway
Cordiano
Crozier
Curling
Di Cocco
Dombrowsky
Duncan
Gerretsen
Gravelle
Hampton
Hoy
Kormos
Lalonde
Levac
Marchese
Martel
McLeod
McMeekin
Parsons
Patten
Peters
Phillips
Prue
Pupatello
Ramsay
Ruprecht
Sergio
Sorbara
And the Bill was accordingly
Ordered for Third Reading.
En conséquence, le projet
de loi est ordonné pour la troisième
lecture.
INTRODUCTION OF
BILLS
DÉPÔT DES PROJETS
DE LOI
The following Bills were
introduced and read the first time:-
Les projets de loi suivants sont
présentés et lus une première fois:-
Bill 80, An Act respecting
directors and officers of Hydro One Inc. and its subsidiaries.
Hon. Mr. Stockwell.
Projet de loi 80, Loi concernant
les administrateurs et les dirigeants de Hydro One Inc. et de ses
filiales. L'hon. M. Stockwell.
Bill 82, An Act respecting the
compensation of Hydro One Inc. executives and sponsorships and
political contributions by Hydro One Inc. and other entities. Mr.
Hampton.
Projet de loi 82, Loi traitant
de la rétribution des cadres de Hydro One Inc. ainsi que des
activités de parrainage et des contributions politiques de
Hydro One Inc. et d'autres entités. M. Hampton.
With unanimous consent, the
House observed a moment of silence in respect of the tragic
deaths of Constable Terry Ryan from Durham Police Service and
Detective-Sergeant Steve McAteer from Toronto Police
Service.
At 4:00 p.m., pursuant to
Standing Order 30(b), the Speaker interrupted the proceedings and
called Orders of the Day.
À 16 heures,
conformément à l'article 30(b) du Règlement, le
Président interrompt les délibérations et passe
à l'ordre du jour.
PETITIONS
PÉTITIONS
Petitions relating to Stopping
the deregulation and privatization of Ontario's electricity
system (Sessional Paper No. P-8) Mr. Caplan and Mr.
Cleary.
Petition relating to Funding of
Ontario's universities and colleges (Sessional Paper No. P-33)
Mr. Bartolucci.
Petition relating to Closing the
cardiac surgery services at Children's Hospital of Eastern
Ontario (Sessional Paper No. P-36) Mr. Conway.
ORDERS OF THE
DAY
ORDRE DU JOUR
Opposition Day
Jour de l'opposition
Mr. McGuinty moved,
M. McGuinty propose,
That, the Legislative Assembly
of Ontario offer its unequivocal support to the people in Ottawa
and London in their efforts to convince the Eves government to
reconsider its decision to remove life-saving children's heart
surgery programs from their communities
A debate arising, after some
time, the motion was lost on the following division:-
Un débat s'ensuit et
après quelque temps, la motion est rejetée par le vote
suivant:-
AYES / POUR -
31
Agostino
Bartolucci
Bountrogianni
Boyer
Bryant
Caplan
Christopherson
Cleary
Colle
Conway
Crozier
Curling
Di Cocco
Dombrowsky
Duncan
Gerretsen
Gravelle
Hoy
Lalonde
Marchese
McGuinty
McLeod
Parsons
Patten
Peters
Phillips
Pupatello
Ramsay
Ruprecht
Sergio
Smitherman
NAYS / CONTRE -
53
Arnott
Baird
Barrett
Beaubien
Chudleigh
Clark
Clement
Coburn
Cunningham
DeFaria
Dunlop
Ecker
Elliott
Eves
Galt
Gilchrist
Gill
Hardeman
Hastings
Hodgson
Hudak
Jackson
Johns
Johnson
Kells
Klees
Marland
Martiniuk
Maves
Mazzilli
McDonald
Miller
Molinari
Munro
Mushinski
Newman
O'Toole
Ouellette
Runciman
Sampson
Snobelen
Spina
Sterling
Stewart
Stockwell
Tascona
Tsubouchi
Turnbull
Wettlaufer
Wilson
Witmer
Wood
Young
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
The Acting Speaker (Mr. Brown)
delivered the following ruling:-
Earlier today, the member for
Niagara Centre (Mr. Kormos) rose on a point of order respecting
the orderliness of Bill 58, An Act to amend certain statutes in
relation to the energy sector. His submissions on this point
referred to the sub judice rule making reference to a
current notice of appeal before the courts respecting Hydro One.
He also argued that the bill could be ruled out of order due to
its omnibus nature. The Government House Leader (Mr. Stockwell)
also made submissions on these points.
Let me start with that which was
put last, namely the omnibus argument. As Members will know,
omnibus bills have been the subject of procedural scrutiny in
many Parliamentary jurisdictions as governments have increasingly
used them as vehicles for submitting related proposals for
consideration of the House.
However, to date, I know of no
Speaker in any jurisdiction who has, on his or her own initiative
ruled a bill out of order because of its omnibus nature. While it
is possible to envision a circumstance where a Speaker might find
no alternative but to break with that practice, it is my opinion
that this would occur only if that Speaker were faced with a
piece of legislation that has gone beyond what has to date been
procedurally acceptable.
Given previous examples of
omnibus bills considered by this House and the fact that upon
careful consideration of the bill I cannot find that its parts
are so disparate as to have no tangible connection I find I am
unable to rule Bill 58 out of order on the basis of its omnibus
nature.
The member for Niagara Centre
also made submissions respecting the applicability of Standing
Order 23(g), the Assembly's sub judice rule.
The member for Niagara Centre
noted that a former Speaker of this House indicated in a 1966
ruling that the sub judice rule can apply to civil proceedings.
The Government House Leader stated otherwise. Let me clarify that
point. Sub judice according to Beauschesne has been
applied consistently in criminal cases but there is no settled
practice in relation to civil cases. This does not mean it can
never be applied in a civil case, but Beauschesne goes on
to say that the House would never allow "the sub judice
convention to stand in the way of its consideration of a matter
vital to the public interest or to the effective operation of the
House".
On the point of the
applicability of the rule to a bill let me refer to the following
ruling of Speaker Hipel, which can be found at page 22 of our
Journals for January 29, 1937:
"Instances of the passing of
Bills affecting particular actions or other proceedings before
the courts are not uncommon in the history of this
Legislature...."
In my opinion, it is clear that
... Erskine May ... goes no further than to state that during the
course of a debate Members should not refer to matters awaiting
the adjudication of a court of law, such matters being sub
judice. It is not intended to interfere with the right of
legislative bodies to alter existing laws, even though such
alteration may affect a matter before the courts.
I hold that it would be a
stultification of the powers of this Assembly to rule that an Act
may not be introduced to remedy a condition in an Act and to make
clear the will of the Assembly even though the Act to be remedied
is under consideration by a Court of Law.
Accordingly, it is my ruling
that an Act may be introduced and considered by the Assembly,
notwithstanding that such Act may interfere with actions pending
before the courts.
Let me add that ever since our
sub judice rule was created in 1970 and then amended to its
current form in 1978 -- its invocation has become infrequent. I
appreciate that the member for Niagara Centre may find this
situation unfortunate, but he and other members should remember
that the less frequently the rule is invoked, the greater the
vindication of the single most important parliamentary privilege
that members of this House enjoy, namely their right to freedom
of speech in this House.
I find that Bill 58 is in
order.
In closing, I thank the member
for Niagara Centre for his thoughtful submissions.
A debate arose on the motion for
Second Reading of Bill 58, An Act to amend certain statutes in
relation to the energy sector.
Il s'élève un
débat sur la motion portant deuxième lecture du projet
de loi 58, Loi modifiant certaines lois en ce qui concerne le
secteur de l'énergie.
After some time, pursuant to
Standing Order 9(a), the motion for the adjournment of the debate
was deemed to have been made and carried.
Après quelque temps,
conformément à l'article 9(a) 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
GARY CARR
Speaker
PETITIONS TABLED PURSUANT TO
STANDING ORDER 38 (A)
Petition relating to funding of
Secondary Education (Sessional Paper No. P-26) Mr.
Duncan.
SESSIONAL PAPERS PRESENTED
PURSUANT TO STANDING ORDER 39(A):-
DOCUMENTS PARLEMENTAIRES
DÉPOSÉS CONFORMÉMENT À L'ARTICLE 39(A) DU
RÈGLEMENT
Compendia:
Bill 80, An Act respecting
directors and officers of Hydro One Inc. and its subsidiaries
(No. 17).