Ontario.

• Author: Tyrell, Christopher
• Position: Legislative Reports

New Parliament

Ontario's June 7 election returned 76 Progressive Conservatives, 40 New Democrats, seven Liberals and one Green Party member. The Legislature reconvened on Wednesday, July 11, 2018 to begin the First Session of the 42nd Parliament with the election of a Speaker. Ted Arnott, MPP for Wellington--Halton Hills and a 27-year veteran MPP at Queen's Park, was elected as Speaker of the Legislature on the first ballot. The House returned the following day, when the Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell delivered the new Government's speech from the throne.

Bills

Bill 2, Urgent Priorities Act, 2018, was introduced on July 16, 2018 and was subsequently time allocated, receiving Royal Assent on July 25, 2018. The Bill altered the structure of the board of directors for Hydro One, Canada's largest electricity transmission distribution service provider. The Bill also addressed a labour dispute at York University and set terms by which the White Pines Wind Project would be retroactively terminated.

Bill 5, Better Local Government Act, 2018, was introduced on July 30, 2018 and was subsequently time allocated, receiving Royal Assent on August 14, 2018. The Bill altered the City of Toronto Act, 2006 to cause the ward boundaries in the City of Toronto to align with federal and provincial electoral districts for the region, reducing the total number of wards in the October election from 47 to 25.

Following a legal challenge and court ruling that found Bill 5 to be unconstitutional, the Government introduced Bill 31, Efficient Local Government Act, 2018, on September 12, 2018. This Bill substantially recreated the contents of Bill 5, but added a provision declaring that the amendments made would operate notwithstanding sections 2 and 7 to 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The use of the notwithstanding clause in legislation is a first in Ontario's history.

The Official Opposition House Leader rose on a point of order on September 15,2018, claiming that Bill 31 should not be allowed to proceed for two reasons. First, the subject matter of the bill falls under the sub judice convention, as it was still being reviewed by the courts. Second, the Bill attempted to make a decision on a question that has already been decided on by the House in the same session of Parliament. The Speaker delivered his ruling two days later, explaining that the sub judice convention does not "operate to limit the superior and pre-eminent right of the...