What are the Hansard indexes?

Hansard indexes can help you find information in the House debates. Information is organized by SUBJECT (e.g. Health care) or SPEAKER (e.g. Smith, Hon. M.M.). There are two indexes for House debates called the HOUSE SUBJECT INDEX and the HOUSE SPEAKER INDEX.

In all indexes, information appears as entries with main headings, subheadings, and page locators. The subject index is an alphabetical list of subject headings followed by the names of members who spoke about the subject and one or more page references. The speaker index is an alphabetical list of members’ names, followed by one or more subject headings and page references.

Page references are hyperlinked directly to the top page of the Hansard transcript in which the information appears. Scroll down the web page to find the information you are looking for or use the CTRL-F function on your browser to find relevant keywords on the web page. You can also click on the PDF link at the top of the web page to view the PDF file and use CTRL-F to go directly to the page number(s) you are looking for.

How do I use the House subject index

Searching by subject

You can search for information by SUBJECT. Subject headings summarise the overall content of a debate. They include names of committees, initiatives, institutions, people, publications, etc. The indexing term is not necessarily the term used in the printed Hansard. For example, a speaker may refer to “First Nations” or “Native peoples” in the verbatim text, but all related terms on this topic will be indexed under the term “Aboriginal peoples.” Subject entries in general refer to Ontario unless otherwise stated. In some cases, subheadings are used to break down large topics in more detail.

Examples:

Aboriginal communities
    Prue, 2078-2079

Health care
    wait times
        Elliott, 5069

Water quality
    Ottawa River
        Chiarelli, 2404

Searching by title

Bills are also indexed by title in the subject index. Subheadings for first, second or third reading of the bill are provided.

Examples:

Accounting Professions Act, 2010 (Bill 158)
    third reading
        Kormos,1468-1469

Health Protection and Promotion Amendment Act, 2011 (Bill 141)
    first reading
        Matthews, 3825

Water Opportunities and Water Conservation Act, 2010 (Bill 72)
    second reading
        Delaney, 2031-2032

Searching for procedural information

Procedural headings are used for parliamentary business including motions, oral questions, petitions and Speaker’s rulings and statements.

Examples:

Oral questions
    Aboriginal land claims
        presented
            Barrett, 3020-3021
        responded to
            Bentley, 3320-3021

Petitions
    Air quality
        McNeely, 4807

Speaker's rulings/statements
    Legislative procedure
        addressing matters through the Speaker, 2066

Searching for French-language debates

All substantive debates in French are indexed under the heading “French-language debates.”

Examples:

French-language debates
    Budget de l'Ontario de 2010
        Gélinas, 536-537
    Loi de 2010 sur le Jour des Franco-Ontariens et des Franco-Ontariennes, projet de loi 24
        deuxième lecture
            Lalonde, 950-951
    Pétitions
        Carte d'identification
            McNeely, 6374

Cross-References

There are two types of cross-references found in the subject index. “See” references direct the user from an unused subject heading to the subject heading under which entries will be found in this index. “See also” references direct the user to a related heading in the index which may be of interest.

Examples:

Air ambulances. see Ambulance services—air ambulances

Physicians. see Doctors

Advertising. see also Election advertising

Unions. see also Workers’ rights—right to unionize

How do I use the House speaker index?

You can search for information in House debates by SPEAKER. Speakers are listed alphabetically by last name. Browse the list of speakers; all items that a particular member spoke on are found here. This includes subject-based entries, index entries for individual bills and procedural headings.

Example:

Marchese, R. (NDP, Trinity–Spadina)
    Broader Public Sector Accountability Act, 2010 (Bill 122)
        second reading, 3152-3153
    Food banks
        increased usage, 2891
    Petitions
        Services for the developmentally disabled, 1914
    Throne speech debate
        participation, 48-49

Questions or comments?

Call us at 416-325-3708; 416-325-7411 or email us at hansard@ola.org.