Legislative Assembly of Ontario

The committee met at 0906 in room 151.

Subcommittee report

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Matthew Rae): Good morning, everyone. I’d like to call the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs to order. I understand that there is a subcommittee motion and report. If any of the government members—I’m looking at you—would like to move the motion?

Mr. Mike Harris: MPP West, did you want to?

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Matthew Rae): MPP West.

MPP Jamie West: Your subcommittee on committee business met on March 23, 2023, to consider the method of proceeding on Bill 75, An Act to enact the Queen’s Park Restoration Secretariat Act, 2023, and to make certain amendments to the Legislative Assembly Act and the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and recommends the following:

(1) That the committee meet for two days of public hearings on Bill 75 on the following dates: Thursday, April 20, 2023, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.; and Tuesday, April 25, 2023, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.

(2) That the Clerk of the Committee be authorized to immediately post notices regarding the hearings on the Ontario parliamentary channel and the Legislative Assembly’s website.

(3) That the deadline for requests to appear be at 12 p.m.—high noon, for those of you—on Thursday, April 13, 2023.

(4) That the Minister of Legislative Affairs be invited to appear as the first witness at 9 a.m. on Thursday, April 20, 2023, and that the minister be allotted 20 minutes to make an opening statement, followed by 40 minutes for questions from members of the committee.

(5) That subsequent witnesses be allotted 10 minutes to make an opening statement, followed by 20 minutes for questions from members of the committee.

(6) That witnesses be permitted to participate in person or remotely.

(7) That the Clerk of the Committee shall provide a list of all interested presenters to each member of the subcommittee on committee business and their designate as soon as possible following the deadline for requests to appear.

(8) That each member of the subcommittee or their designate shall provide the Clerk of the Committee with a prioritized list of presenters to be scheduled, chosen from the list of all interested presenters, by 12 p.m. on Monday, April 17, 2023.

(9) That the Clerk of the Committee schedule presenters from the prioritized lists provided by the members of the subcommittee or their designates.

(10) That the deadline for written submissions be 12 p.m. on Tuesday, April 25, 2023.

(11) That legislative research provide the committee with a summary of oral presentations and written submissions as soon as possible following the written submission deadline.

(12) That the deadline for filing amendments to the bill be 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 4, 2023.

(13) That committee meet for clause-by-clause consideration of Bill 75 on Tuesday, May 9, 2023, from 9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

That concludes the report.

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Matthew Rae): Does MPP West want to move adoption of the report?

MPP Jamie West: I will move adoption of the report.

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Matthew Rae): Are there any debate, comments, questions? Yes, MPP Oosterhoff.

Mr. Sam Oosterhoff: Just a quick question: How are we making this available? I know it’s always posted on the website and things like that, but a lot of people don’t necessarily watch exactly what’s going to come before committee at a particular period of time. I was just wondering what the plan is to ensure that the public is aware of the opportunity to appear. And I’m sure not every member of the public—we’d be getting into a lot of weeds if we did that, but still, we obviously want to make sure that we have good representation.

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Matthew Rae): MPP Harris.

Mr. Mike Harris: Yes, MPP Oosterhoff, that’s a good question, for sure. Certainly we’ll be putting it out through our usual channels here, but the committee will also be looking to specifically invite groups that will have a little bit more of an in-depth, sort of working knowledge of what we’re trying to accomplish with the bill, such as historical societies, disability advocate groups, things like that. We’ll want them to come specifically, but of course, we certainly want to hear from members of the public as well if they have specific insight into the bill specifically. Like you said, we don’t want to get too far into the weeds with some of the minutia of the matter.

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Matthew Rae): MPP West.

MPP Jamie West: Just further to that, we had a really fulsome conversation in subcommittee about being sure that people are coming to talk to the bill specifically, because we know there are a lot of interested parties longer term, and we’ll be developing a plan as a committee on how we get everyone to talk about beyond the bill. But in terms of going into the weeds, I think went into the weeds a little bit on how we make sure we don’t miss anybody and then came back to the core of what we’re discussing: this bill specifically and who we want to come talk about this bill.

Mr. Sam Oosterhoff: Right. As opposed to the project as a whole.

MPP Jamie West: Exactly.

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Matthew Rae): I believe the Clerk would like to say something about it.

The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Christopher Tyrell): Just to both of those points, with every bill that comes before the Legislative Assembly, as soon as it’s introduced, it appears on our website, and anyone who wants to make a request to appear is able to do so. That’s a standard across the board, so any request that we’ve received so far—notwithstanding this report, anyone is at this point able to make a request to appear, which will go to the subcommittee members if this is passed.

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Matthew Rae): No other comments?

I’m going to call the question. All those in favour, please raise your hands. Great, it’s unanimous. Thank you. Anyone opposed? I can’t forget that. Sam?

Mr. Sam Oosterhoff: No, no.

The Vice-Chair (Mr. Matthew Rae): It’s carried. Thank you.

If there is no other business before this committee, this committee stands adjourned until Thursday, April 20, at 9 a.m.

The committee adjourned at 0912.

STANDING COMMITTEE ON PROCEDURE AND HOUSE AFFAIRS

Chair / Présidente

Ms. Jennifer K. French (Oshawa ND)

Vice-Chair / Vice-Président

Mr. Matthew Rae (Perth–Wellington PC)

Ms. Jessica Bell (University–Rosedale ND)

Ms. Jennifer K. French (Oshawa ND)

M^me Dawn Gallagher Murphy (Newmarket–Aurora PC)

Mr. Mike Harris (Kitchener–Conestoga PC)

Ms. Christine Hogarth (Etobicoke–Lakeshore PC)

Mr. Ted Hsu (Kingston and the Islands / Kingston et les Îles L)

Mr. Graham McGregor (Brampton North / Brampton-Nord PC)

Mr. Sam Oosterhoff (Niagara West / Niagara-Ouest PC)

Mr. Matthew Rae (Perth–Wellington PC)

Mr. Amarjot Sandhu (Brampton West / Brampton-Ouest PC)

Mr. Stéphane Sarrazin (Glengarry–Prescott–Russell PC)

MPP Jamie West (Sudbury ND)

Substitutions / Membres remplaçants

Miss Monique Taylor (Hamilton Mountain ND)

Clerk / Greffier

Mr. Christopher Tyrell

Staff / Personnel

Mr. Nick Ruderman, research officer,
Research Services