Ontario.

• Author: Przezdziecki, Sylwia
• Position: Legislative Reports

On April 27, the Legislative Grounds were the site of an event commemorating the bicentennial of the Battle of York which was fought in present-day Toronto on April 27, 1813. The event was attended by His Royal Highness Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, and by Lieutenant Governor David Onley. Soldiers from the Third Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment, Canada's senior infantry regiment, took part in a military capability demonstration for the Prince and the Lieutenant Governor. A pair of soldiers parachuted from a plane above the legislature, landing in a nearby University of Toronto field, while others rappelled down the sides of the Frost and Whitney government buildings, the latter where Committee offices are located. Teams of snipers in camouflage deployed a belt-fed machine gun and a C-16 grenade launcher. Prince Philip who has served as the Battalion's colonel-in-chief since 1953, inspected rows of soldiers dressed in crisp red uniforms and presented new regimental colours to the Battalion. The Prince wore his numerous medals, including presumably his two most recent orders: the previous day he was presented with the insignias of Companion of the Order of Canada and the Commander of the Order of Military Merit by Governor General David Johnston.

The Legislative Building was open to military families after the ceremony, which was followed by a military parade that marched from Queen's Park to Fort York National Historic Site where subsequent commemorative ceremonies took place.

Budget 2013

On May 2, Finance Minister Charles Sousa presented the 2013 Ontario Budget, the first under Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne. Constituting a minority, the government needed the support of at least one opposition party--Progressive Conservative or New Democratic--to pass its Budget and avoid an election. The government had previously negotiated with the NDP and the May 2 Budget contained a number of NDP proposals, among them a 15 percent reduction to auto insurance rates, and a youth employment strategy. The NDP subsequently proposed that the government create an independent Financial Accountability Office, modeled on the federal Parliamentary Budget Office.

On May 28, the Government House Leader moved a motion to apply a timeline to the consideration of the Budget bill, which provided both for an extension of the regular sitting period (beyond June 6), if required, and for establishment of a Financial Accountability Office. Debate on the...