Legislative reports: Assemblee Nationale Quebec.

Since the beginning of the new session, last March 22nd, until June 21, the day on which the Assembly adjourned for the summer holidays, 42 bills were passed. The following are among the more noteworthy of these:

* An Act respecting parental insurance, the object of which is to give eligible workers entitlement to maternity benefits and paternity and parental benefits on the birth of a child, and adoption benefits in connection with the adoption of a minor.

* An Act to amend various legislative provisions concerning municipal affairs, which supplements the principles and rules contained in the Act to reform the municipal territorial organization of the metropolitan regions of Montreal, Quebec and the Outaouais.

* An Act to amend the Labour Code, to establish the Commission des relations du travail and to amend other legislative provisions, which enables this Commission to take over the decision-making responsibilities currently exercised by the office of the labour commissioner general in matters related to collective labour relations and dispose of individual complaints and proceedings brought before the labour commissioner general under the Labour Code or other Acts.

* An Act to establish a legal framework for information technology, whose object is to provide the Government with a framework as regards information transfer, legal security, and the norms and standards involved in communications by means of technology-based documents. This bill also provides for various ways of confirming the identity of a person communicating by means of a technology-based document, and measures to protect privacy in the context of such communications.

* An Act to amend the Public Health Protection Act and the Animal Health Protection Act, which enables the Government to adopt a plan of action to protect the population from the West Nile virus. The implementation of the measures in the plan providing for the use of pesticides is not subject to the provisions of any law, regulation or municipal by-law, other than the provisions of the Environment Quality Act, that would prevent or delay the implementation of the measures.

Rulings from the Chair

Last June, President Jean-Pierre Charbonneau rendered important decisions concerning the neutrality of the vice-presidents.

On June 1 and 8, the neutrality of the three vice-presidents was questioned by the Official Opposition House Leader. In the three cases, the latter claimed that the positions publicly expressed...