From Queen’s Park by Sylvia Jones MPP — Proroguing and throne speech shows a Liberal government out of ideas

March 21, 2018 · 0 Comments

The Liberal government prorogued the Legislative Assembly of Ontario March 15 and announced that there would be a throne speech March 19.
Essentially, the government has decided to use a legislative trick so they can get free publicity from the Lieutenant Governor and dominate debate for the next week. By proroguing the legislature, the government removes all of the legislation currently being considered from the order paper, meaning bills like my private member’s bill, The Organic Products Act, will need to start the legislative process, despite passing unanimously during second reading.
It appears that the government is hoping that by resetting the legislative agenda, they can reset their government. However, after 15 years of Liberal waste and mismanagement, it will take more than a legislative trick to reset their government.
I plan on reintroducing many of my proposed private member’s bills that were removed by the Liberals. They include the Sewage Bypass Reporting Act, which would ensure that Ontarians know when partially treated or untreated sewage is bypassed into their local waterways. The Organic Products Act, which would create a standard for organic products in Ontario. The End the Public Funding of Partisan Government Advertising Act, which would stop the government’s ability to spend taxpayer dollars on partisan ads. Finally, I plan on reintroducing the Recycled Aggregate Promotion Act¸ which will ensure that all infrastructure projects in Ontario must consider using recycled aggregate in their projects.
The Liberals’ throne speech is a disappointment. The Liberals announced that they would break last years’ commitment to balance the budget and run a $8 billion deficit. Ontario is already the most indebted region in the world. Increasing the debt will only limit the ability of our government to make the needed investments in things like health care and education, now and in the future, because more and more of your money is being spent paying the interest on the Liberal government’s debt.
In the end, no legislative reset will get back the billions of dollars the Liberals have wasted including, $8 billion on eHealth according to the Auditor General, $1.1 billion cancelling the gas plants, $400 million on PRESTO card cost overruns, and $4.5 million salary for the CEO of Hydro One.