Legislative reports: Yukon.

• Author: McCormick, Floyd

The 2001 Fall Sitting of the Second Session of the 30th Legislature began on October 18, 2001 and ended on December 3, 2001. The Fall Sitting saw, among other things, 13 bills receive assent, substantial changes to the Standing Orders, and a report of a conflict of interest investigation. In January 2002 Liberal Premier Pat Duncan shuffled her cabinet.

Changes to the Standing Orders

The Assembly adopted two sets of amendments to the Standing Orders during the 2001 Fall Sitting. The first set took effect October 25, 2001 after the Assembly adopted the recommendations of a report of the Standing Committee on Rules, Elections and Privileges. The adoption of these recommendations amended the Standing Orders by:

* Broadening the definition of Ministerial Statements and limiting the number of statements to one per sitting day; * Deleting the standing order respecting anticipation;

* Explicitly mentioning "threatening" and "sexist" language as unparliamentary;

* Reducing the length of speeches in Committee of the Whole from 30 minutes to 20 minutes;

* Making it explicit that a motion for First Reading of a bill shall be decided without introductory statement, debate or amendment;

* Clarifying that petitions be responded to in eight sitting days, rather than "two weeks"; and

* Limiting the Ministerial response to a petition to five minutes.

The three party leaders negotiated the second set of revisions. The amendments, presented on motion of the Premier, carried on November 19, 2001 and will take effect during the 2002 Spring Sitting, due to commence on April 4.

The purpose of the changes is to establish a regular calendar of business for the Assembly. This includes designating a maximum number of days the legislature will sit in a calendar year and the number of Sittings per year. The amendments are contained in a separate chapter of the Standing Orders and contain a number of features.

The first feature is a mechanism for calling the Assembly into session when it stands adjourned for an indefinite period of time. This requires that when the Premier wishes to see the Assembly recalled the Speaker must be advised "in sufficient time to allow the Speaker opportunity to give a minimum of two weeks' notice of the date on which the House shall meet."

A second feature is that once the Assembly is in session "the government shall introduce all legislation, including appropriation bills, to be dealt with during that Sitting by the fifth sitting day."

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