Ontario.

• Author: Tyrell, Christopher
• Position: Legislative Reports

Tributes

On March 6, 2017, the Legislature paid tribute to the Member for York-Simcoe, Julia Munro for her distinguished 22 years of public service. Ms. Munro is the longest-serving female member of the Ontario Legislature.

Changing of the Guard

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario has a new Sergeant-at-Arms. Jacquelyn Gordon brings 34 years of experience with the Halton Regional Police Service to the role, which she began on January 16, 2017. Ms. Gordon is also the first female Sergeant-at-Arms in the history of the Ontario Legislature.

Accessibility at the Legislature

On November 15, 2016, the Legislature passed a motion authorizing a change in format to the online and printed bills. As part of the Legislative Assembly's commitment to accessibility and in an effort to facilitate the use of screen readers for the visually impaired, the two-column format of bills has been abandoned. Previously, bills were formatted with two columns on each page, displaying both English and French text side-by-side. Effective January 1, 2017, all new bills are now printed in a flip format, allowing the reader to read the entire bill in English and, by flipping the bill over and beginning from the other cover, read it entirely in French. The bills are also available on the Legislative Assembly's website in both languages.

Committee Activities

The Standing Committee on General Government considered Bill 27, An Act to reduce the regulatory burden on business, to enact various new Acts and to make other amendments and repeals. The bill, which was introduced by Minister of Economic Development and Growth Brad Duguid was comprised of 17 schedules in which the amendments, repeals and new Acts, affecting a dozen ministries, were set out.

Schedule 10 of the bill proposed an amendment to the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998, that would, among other things, authorize the Board to make rules respecting the periods during which gas or electricity may not be disconnected from low volume consumers. This measure was the subject of much discussion in the House and, in an effort to expedite its passage during a cold winter period, both the member for Prince Edward-Hastings Todd Smith and Minister of Energy Glenn Thibeault, introduced stand-alone bills...