The first day of the first session of the 40th Parliament of the province of Ontario commenced at 1400 pursuant to a proclamation of His Honour Warren K. Winkler, the Administrator of Ontario.

His Honour the Administrator entered the chamber and took his seat upon the throne.

Hon. Warren K. Winkler (Administrator): Pray be seated.

Hon. John Milloy: I am commanded by His Honour the Administrator to state that he does not see fit to declare the causes of the summoning of the present Legislature of this province until a Speaker of this House shall have been chosen according to law, but tomorrow, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, His Honour will declare the causes of the calling of this Legislature.

His Honour was then pleased to retire.

ELECTION OF SPEAKER /
ÉLECTION DU PRÉSIDENT

The Clerk of the Assembly (Ms. Deborah Deller): Members of the Legislative Assembly, it is my duty to call upon you to elect one of your number to preside over your deliberations as Speaker. Therefore, I ask for nominations for the office of Speaker.

Mr. Monte Kwinter: I, Monte Kwinter, move, seconded by Christine Elliott, that Donna Cansfield, member for the electoral district of Etobicoke Centre, do take the Chair of the House as Speaker.

The Clerk of the Assembly (Ms. Deborah Deller): Does the honourable member from Etobicoke Centre accept the nomination?

Mrs. Donna H. Cansfield: I accept.

The Clerk of the Assembly (Ms. Deborah Deller): Are there any further nominations?

M. Shafiq Qaadri: Merci, madame Deller. Je, Shafiq Qaadri, député d’Etobicoke-Nord, propose, appuyé par Tracy MacCharles, députée de Pickering–Scarborough East, que David Zimmer, député de la circonscription de Willowdale, prenne le fauteuil en tant que Président de l’Assemblée législative.

I, Shafiq Qaadri, MPP of Etobicoke North, move, seconded by my honourable colleague Tracy MacCharles, MPP for Pickering–Scarborough East, that David Zimmer, member for the electoral district of Willowdale, do take the Chair of the House as Speaker.

The Clerk of the Assembly (Ms. Deborah Deller): Does the honourable member from Willowdale accept the nomination?

Mr. David Zimmer: I do.

The Clerk of the Assembly (Ms. Deborah Deller): Are there any further nominations?

Mrs. Liz Sandals: I, Liz Sandals, the member for the riding of Guelph, move, seconded by Jerry Ouellette, the member for the riding of Oshawa, that Dave Levac, member for the electoral district of Brant, do take the Chair of the House as Speaker.

The Clerk of the Assembly (Ms. Deborah Deller): Does the honourable member from Brant accept the nomination?

Mr. Dave Levac: I accept the nomination with thanks.

The Clerk of the Assembly (Ms. Deborah Deller): Are there any further nominations?

Mr. Lorenzo Berardinetti: Thank you, Madam Clerk. I, Lorenzo Berardinetti, move, seconded by Mr. Kim Craitor, that Mr. Kevin Flynn, member for the electoral district of Oakville, do take the Chair of the House as Speaker.

The Clerk of the Assembly (Ms. Deborah Deller): Does the honourable member from Oakville accept the nomination?

Mr. Kevin Daniel Flynn: I do.

The Clerk of the Assembly (Ms. Deborah Deller): Are there any further nominations? There being no further nominations, I declare the nominations closed.

Nominations having been closed, the balloting shall begin. Shortly, there will be a nomination list posted on the four ballot boxes, which will be laid upon the clerks’ table. The members, in order to receive their ballots, will go down towards the door, around and behind the benches, and will pick up their ballots from the clerks, who are attending the tables behind the throne. There will be clerks here to assist you in making your way to the ballot boxes to cast your ballot.

May I have the ballots, please?

1418

The Clerk of the Assembly (Ms. Deborah Deller): Have all members who wish to vote done so? Have all members wishing to vote done so? The ballot is now closed and I will ask the Sergeant to deliver the ballot box to the side office.

Ballots will be counted by the Clerk’s assistant. When there is an announcement to be made, the bells will ring for five minutes to call members back into the chamber.

If the scrutineers would now join the Clerk’s assistant for the counting.

1430

The Clerk of the Assembly (Ms. Deborah Deller): Please ring the bells for five minutes.

1435

The Clerk of the Assembly (Ms. Deborah Deller): Honourable members, we have need of a second ballot. The candidates will be, in alphabetical order, the member for Etobicoke Centre, the member for Brant and the member for Willowdale.

Please prepare the ballot boxes.

1447

The Clerk of the Assembly (Ms. Deborah Deller): Order. Have all members who wish to vote done so?

That being the case, this ballot is now closed. Sergeant, please deliver the ballot box.

1502

The Clerk of the Assembly (Ms. Deborah Deller): Order. Honourable members, I declare the member for Brant elected as Speaker.

Applause.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Well, first of all—

Interjection: Pray be seated.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Pray be seated.

I’m very moved. This is a glorious place. And as I’ve said in the past, of the 13 million people to choose from, we’re here. It’s an honour and a privilege, and I can’t thank you enough for providing me with that opportunity.

To Liz and Jerry: Thank you. I deeply appreciate your faith. To those who supported my colleagues: I thank you. I also thank my colleagues, the three members. I did say this: If any of the four of us were to take this chair, we would be well served.

Applause.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I accept the challenge humbly. I’m very proud to say that we are the elected members of Ontario, and I’ll do my best to work with all of you to keep the dignity, the honour and the trust of this place in your hands. It’s your House; it’s our House; and together, we’ll make it the best House in the province and the best province in the country of Canada.

Last but not least, I will advise this: I have been telling people in my own riding and wherever I have had an opportunity to say it—and by the way, this is as long as I will speak; I won’t ever speak this long—about the idea that there are other parts of the world that can’t even have an assembly like this, and they give up their lives to find our democracy. We are truly blessed.

I thank each and every one of you.

Applause.

Hon. John Milloy: Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn until 2 p.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, November 22, 2011.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The House leader has moved adjournment of the House. All in favour? Opposed? Carried.

Interjection: You never want to work over there.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Oh, here we go.

This House stands adjourned until 2 p.m. tomorrow.

The House adjourned at 1508.