Ontario.

• Author: Short, William
• Position: Legislative Reports - Report

Following prorogation on October 15, 2012 by former Premier Dalton McGuinty, the Liberal Party of Ontario held its Leadership Convention on the weekend of January 25, 2013. Kathleen Wynne was the successful candidate and became the first female Premier of Ontario. The weeks following saw the resignation of two Cabinet Ministers; Dwight Duncan, Minister of Finance and the Member for Windsor-Tecumseh and Chris Bentley, Minister of Energy and the Member for London West and an eventual cabinet shuffle. There has not been a date set for the by-election in either riding; however the resignations have left the Liberals with 51 of 107 seats in the minority legislature.

The Second Session of the Fortieth Parliament convened on February 19, 2013 at which time the Lieutenant Governor David Onley read the Speech from the Throne.

The following day, the Government House Leader moved a motion that re appointed Committee Membership of the nine standing Committees. The motion also included an order for the production of documents that had been passed by the Standing Committees on Public Accounts and Estimates in the first session that had remained outstanding at the date of prorogation.

A controversial issue consuming the time of the Legislature was the Government's decisions in 2010 and 2011 to cancel the construction of planned gas-fired electricity generating stations in the Toronto suburbs of Oakville and Mississauga. This issue gave rise to points of privilege concerning the non-production of documents during the First Session of the Fortieth Parliament, which were raised again at the outset of the Second Session.

On February 20, 2013 Speaker Dave Levac delivered a ruling to the House with respect to the point of privilege that was raised in the previous session by the Member for Cambridge, Rob Leone concerning the non-production of documents relating to the cancellation and relocation of the Mississauga and Oakville gas plants. In his ruling the Speaker stated that a prima facie case of privilege had been established and that prorogation does not nullify such a finding. The Speaker re-confirmed his ruling of September 13, 2012 that the committees of the Legislative Assembly are effectively empowered to order the production of documents and that non-compliance with a production order made by a committee can, in proper cases, constitute a matter of privilege. The Speaker then invited the Member for Cambridge to renew his motion to refer this matter to...