LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO
ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L'ONTARIO
Tuesday 11 October 2005 Mardi 11 octobre 2005
The Second Session of the 38th Parliament of the province of Ontario opened at 4 p.m. for the dispatch of business pursuant to a proclamation of His Honour James K. Bartleman, Lieutenant Governor of the province.
His Honour the Lieutenant Governor entered the chamber and took his seat upon the throne.
Hon James K. Bartleman (Lieutenant Governor): Pray be seated.
Hon. Dwight Duncan (Minister of Energy, Government House Leader): I am commanded by His Honour the Lieutenant Governor to state that he does not see fit to declare the causes of the summoning of the present Legislature of this province until a Speaker of this House shall have been chosen according to law, but tomorrow, at 2:30 o'clock in the afternoon, His Honour will declare the causes of the calling of this Legislature.
His Honour was then pleased to retire.
ELECTION OF SPEAKER
The Clerk of the Assembly (Mr. Claude L. DesRosiers): Members of the Legislative Assembly, it is my duty to call upon you to elect one of your number to preside over your deliberations as Speaker. Therefore, I ask for nominations for the office of Speaker.
Mr. Bruce Crozier (Essex): Sir, it is my honour to move, seconded by Ms. Wynne, that Mr. Michael Brown, member for the electoral district of Algoma-Manitoulin, do take the chair of the House as Speaker.
The Clerk of the Assembly: Does the honourable member for Algoma-Manitoulin accept the nomination?
Mr. Michael A. Brown (Algoma-Manitoulin): Mr. Clerk, I accept.
The Clerk of the Assembly: Are there any further nominations?
Mrs. Julia Munro (York North): I move, seconded by Ms. Scott, that Mr. Ted Arnott, member for the electoral district of Waterloo-Wellington, do take the chair of the House as Speaker.
The Clerk of the Assembly: Does the honourable member for Waterloo-Wellington accept the nomination?
Mr. Ted Arnott (Waterloo-Wellington): I accept.
The Clerk of the Assembly: Are there any further nominations?
There being no further nominations, I declare the nominations closed.
I would just like to take a few moments to very briefly tell you about the procedure we will follow, because we don't do this very often.
A list of candidates is now being posted in the voting booths. To receive your ballot, please proceed away from the dais toward the main chamber entrance and make your way behind the benches and around that way to the front of the chamber. Members in the opposition side, please use the route on that side. Members on the government side, please use the route on that side.
When you arrive again at the front of the chamber, you will come upon a table where committee clerks will register you and give you a ballot. Please take your ballot to any of the four voting booths that will have been placed on the table, and please print as legibly as possible the name of the candidate for whom you wish to vote. Please then move away from the table and allow room for the members behind you to get to the voting booths.
After all members wishing to vote have done so, the party scrutineers and two table Clerks will leave the chamber to a private room where the ballots will be counted. After I receive a message that the count has been done, I will cause the bells to ring for five minutes to advise members that the result is about to be announced. I will then announce either that a Speaker has been elected or that there is a need for a second ballot.
I would like to announce that the balloting will now begin. Would members direct themselves by either that side or that side to the table here, please.
The House recessed from 1607 to 1616.
The Clerk of the Assembly: Order, please. Have all members who want to vote voted? We're about the close the ballot boxes. Are there any members who had intended on voting who still have not done so?
Interjection: Can we vote again?
The Clerk of the Assembly: No, you may not vote a second time.
Seeing no one, the clerks and the scrutineers will now leave the chamber and go and count the ballots.
The House recessed from 1616 to 1635.
The Clerk of the Assembly: I would like to announce that the honourable member from Algoma-Manitoulin has received a majority of the ballots.
Applause.
The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Order. I want to thank everybody. This is an important day for me, and hopefully for the Parliament. I'm sure this is the last time I will receive a standing ovation, at least across the chamber.
I want to thank some people. I want to thank the member for Essex, Bruce Crozier, and the member for Don Valley West, Kathleen Wynne, for moving and seconding my nomination. I want to thank all the members for their support. I appreciate it. I hope that I can earn -- I repeat: earn -- your respect over the next while. I will work very hard to do that.
I want to recognize my wife, who is here today with me with my --
Applause.
The Speaker: Lynn has fought all five election campaigns by my side, usually leading me on the door-to-door, and is a great part of the reason I'm here serving all those folks in Algoma-Manitoulin. I also have my daughters Jennifer and Amy here with me today. They can do mean door-to-doors and stuff envelopes with the best of them also. I want to just recognize that daughter Mickey is teaching high school in England these days and daughter Paula is at university in Sault Ste. Marie.
I want to thank everyone very much for all their help, and I'm sure that will continue. Let's get on with it.
Hon. Dwight Duncan (Minister of Energy, Government House Leader): Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn until 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 12, 2005.
The Speaker: Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.
The House adjourned at 1639.