Ontario.

• Author: Sourial, Susan
• Position: Legislative Reports

The Ontario Legislative Assembly sat for the spring session from March 23, 2006 to June 22, 2006. By the end of the spring sitting, the Assembly had debated and passed 15 bills that then received Royal Assent.

The only Private Members' Bill to receive Royal Assent was Bill 209, An Act to amend the Highway Traffic Act with respect to the suspension of drivers" licences. Introduced by David Zimmer, MPP (Willowdale) the Bill amends the Highway Traffic Act to include the suspension of drivers' licences for boaters who drink while operating a vessel equipped with a motor.

Question Period was dominated by the native land dispute (the First Nations' occupation of the Douglas Creek Estates in Caledonia), electricity prices and supply, and a new regulation that, in the view of the Opposition, would exempt the government's yet-to-be-built nuclear plants from the provincial environmental assessment process.

In the Summer 2006 issue of the Canadian Parliamentary Review we reported that the Speaker had received a letter of resignation from Jim McCarter, Auditor General of Ontario. On June 14, 2006, the Chair of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Norm Sterling, MPP (PC), introduced Bill 129, An Act to amend the Auditor General Act. The Bill amends the Auditor General Act to allow an Auditor General who resigns before the expiry of his or her original term of office to be reappointed for a period that expires no later than at the expiry of the original term. It also permits the Auditor General to choose whether or not to be a member of the Public Service Pension Plan.

When introducing the Bill, Mr. Sterling stated:

"By passing this bill, it is our hope that the Assembly will be able to convince the most recent Auditor to serve as Auditor General past October 4, 2007, the expected date of the next election. This would mean that he would be responsible for the pre-election audit of the 2007-08 provincial budget. The new Parliament elected on October 4, 2007, would choose his successor. I want to assure all members of the Legislature that the members of the Public Accounts Committee, including those from all three parties ... continue to have the utmost respect and confidence in Mr. McCarter."

The Bill received Second and Third Reading and Royal Assent on June 20, 2006. On June 21, 2006, the House resolved to re-appoint Jim McCarter as Auditor General.

Committee Activity

On May 11, 2006, the Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly met to...