Prince Edward Island.

• Author: Johnston, Marian
• Position: Legislative Reports - Legislative addresses; legislative bills; appointment of Horace Carver as Land Protections Act Commissioner

The Second Session of the Sixty-fourth General Assembly was prorogued on November 9, 2012.

The Third Session of the Sixty-fourth General Assembly opened on November 13, 2012, with the Speech from the Throne delivered by the Lieutenant Governor H. Frank Lewis. Highlights of the Speech included new testing for Grade 9 literacy and Grade 11 math skills; an exploration of collaborative emergency centres, and the introduction of pension legislation. Government also announced its goal of 75,000 jobs by 2016 and a number of priorities in health care.

Significant Legislation

During the fall sitting of the Legislative Assembly, several pieces of significant legislation received Royal Assent:

Bill No. 15, Highway Traffic (Combating Impaired Driving) Amendment Act, strengthens existing legislation by expanding the ignition interlock program to include mandatory participation for first-time offenders; outlining minimum time frames for participation in the program including: one year for the first offence, two years for the second offence, and five years for the third offence; increasing the mandatory time in the ignition interlock program by one year if a passenger under the age of 16 is in the vehicle at the time of the offence; and adds new measures to impound vehicles of drivers convicted of offences.

Bill No. 6, Public Health Act, will prohibit the marketing, sale or access to tanning equipment to a person under the age of 18 years. It also requires a person who appears to be younger than 18 years of age to produce identification as proof of age in order to obtain access to tanning equipment. The bill provides an exemption for ultraviolet light treatments as prescribed by a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner.

The Retail Sales Tax Act, Bill No. 24, ratifies the Comprehensive Integrated Tax Coordination Agreement between Prince Edward Island and the federal government which provides for the implementation of the Harmonized Sales Tax as of April 1, 2013.

Harmonized Sales Tax

In November, the province signed the Comprehensive Integrated Tax Coordination Agreement with the Government of Canada which provides the framework necessary for the implementation of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) in Prince Edward Island. It confirms the province's policy to eliminate the Provincial Sales Tax, currently at 10 per cent, and replace it a value-added tax of 9 per cent. Combined with the Goods and Services Tax, this will create a 14 per cent HST, which will...