British Columbia.

• Author: Robinson, Gordon
• Position: Legislative Reports

The spring sitting of the Legislative Assembly concluded with the adjournment of the House on May 29, 2014. The final weeks of the sitting were notable for the inauguration on May 4, 2014 of John Horgan as Leader of the New Democratic Party and Leader of the Official Opposition. In addition, on May 15, 2014, the Legislative Assembly unanimously adopted a historic bipartisan motion, apologizing for over 100 laws, regulations, and policies imposed by past provincial governments between 1871 and 1947 against people of Chinese descent.

On May 26, 2014, the Legislative Assembly adopted a motion authorizing meetings of the Committee of Supply in three concurrent sections to consider the Estimates. This continued a practice initially used in 2012 and again in 2013, and facilitated the consideration of ministry estimates during the spring sitting. The Committee of Supply has typically sat in two concurrent sections, and did so for the majority of the spring sitting.

On May 27, 2014, the House adopted, on division, a government motion pursuant to Standing Order 81.1(2), providing for time allocation of the remaining stages of debate of Bill 24, Agricultural Land Commission Amendment Act, 2014, by 5:30 pm on May 29, 2014.

Legislation

By the end of the spring sitting, the government had introduced 26 bills (excluding Bill 1) since the opening of the second session of the 40th Parliament on February 11, 2014. Of these bills, 25 received Royal Assent. The one bill which was not adopted was Bill 25, the Port Metro Vancouver Container Trucking Services Continuation Act, which was no longer needed when the government settled the Vancouver port strike.

Notable bills which received Royal Assent in the spring sitting included:

Bill 20, Local Elections Campaign Financing Act, 2014 and Bill 21, Local Elections Statutes Amendment Act, 2014--this legislation reforms campaign disclosure statements, advertising sponsorship disclosure and registration, and compliance and enforcement duties for Elections BC; the legislation also extends the terms of office for locally-elected officials from three to four years, and moves the general local elections voting day from November to October, beginning in 2018.

Bill 2, Electoral Boundaries Commission Amendment Act, 2014--which provides for up to 87 electoral ridings, up from the previous 85, and divides the province into regions to ensure balanced electoral representation and preserve seats in rural and northern areas.

Bill...