42nd Parliament of Ontario

2018-19

The first session of the 42nd Parliament began on July 11, 2018, with the Speech from the Throne delivered by Lieutenant Governor Dowdeswell. In the summer session two bills were adopted. The first bill, adopted by the Parliament on July 26, was the Urgent Priorities Act (Bill 2) which enacted back-to-work legislation to end strike action at York University, canceled the White Pines wind project, and required Hydro One create new compensation packages for their chief executive officer and board of directors which would be subject to government approval.^[12] The second bill, titled Better Local Government Act, 2018 (Bill 5) removed the City of Toronto's powers to determine the composition of City Council and the division of the City into wards and replaced it with a requirement that the city's wards follow the provincial riding boundaries, as well as eliminate elected chair positions in the regions of Peel, York, Niagara and Muskoka, in favour of appointed positions — all applicable to the 2018 municipal elections.^[13]

In the fall 2018 sitting of the first session, seven more bills were adopted. Bill 4 repealed the province's emissions trading legislation, the Climate Change Mitigation and Low-Carbon Economy Act^[14] and Bill 34 repealed the Green Energy Act. Bill 32 amended the Ontario Energy Board Act to spread of the cost of expanding the natural gas distribution system to all rate-payers rather than those immediately benefiting from the expansion. Bill 47, Making Ontario Open for Business Act, retracted the planned 2019 increase to the minimum wage while tying future increases to a calculation of inflation, replaced a mandatory provision for all employees to be provided two paid sick days with unpaid leave days, eliminated mandatory pay-equity for part-time and casual workers, deleted the allowance of a trade union to obtain a list of employees and closed the Ontario College of Trades.^[15] Bill 57 was an omnibus bill that made numerous amendments to various acts, including closing the office of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth, and the office of the Environmental Commissioner, repeals the Ontario Place Corporation Act and the Trillium Trust Act, expanding the area Metrolinx provides service to while deleting the requirement that it consider all forms of transportation it is plans, exempting the Royal Canadian Legion from property taxes, allowing professional full-time fire-fighters to also work part-time at a different fire department,^[16] increasing the maximum allowable contributions that can be made to political parties while removing the prohibition of MLAs from attending fund-raising events, proclaiming March 27, 2019, to be Special Hockey Day, creating a Low-Income Individuals and Families tax credit, closing the offices of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner and the French Language Services Commissioner while moving their duties to the offices of the Integrity Commissioner and the Ombudsman, respectively.^[17] Also, Bill 36 created a licensing system for private cannabis retail stores and allowed cannabis consumption in all areas where the smoking of tobacco is allowed and Bill 67 disallowed strike action by the unionized workers of the Ontario Power Generation.^[18]

In the spring 2019 sitting, several more bills were adopted. The Restoring Ontario's Competitiveness Act (Bill 66) was another omnibus bill that amended numerous unrelated acts, as well as repealed the Pawnbrokers Act, the Toxics Reduction Act, 2009, and the Wireless Services Agreements Act, 2013. Bill 48 amended several education-related acts to make provisions for service animals in schools, require applicants for the Ontario College of Teachers to demonstrate proficiency in mathematics, and amend the provisions regarding teacher-student sexual abuse.^[19] Bill 68 repealed and replaced the Police Services Act and the Police Oversight Act with the Community Safety and Policing Act and the Special Investigations Unit Act.^[20] In addition to repealing the Lung Health Act, Bill 74 enacted the Connecting Care Act to create a new Crown agency titled Ontario Health intended to merge the 14 Local Health Integration Network and several crown agencies such as Cancer Care Ontario, the Gift of Life Network, eHealth Ontario, HealthForceOntario, and provide the ability for the government to create Integrated Care Delivery Systems (or Health Teams) to deliver health care services.^[21] Bill 115 terminated the province's agreement with The Beer Store in favour of making alcoholic beverages available for sale through grocery stores and convenience outlets.^[22] Bill 107 transferred, to Metrolinx from the City of Toronto, the responsibility for designing and developing rapid transit within the city.^[23] Bill 108 amended 13 acts, including the Endangered Species Act by inserting new abilities for the Ministry of the Environment to delay listing species on the endangered list and provide exemptions from the protections under the act for listed species,^[24] the Environmental Assessment Act by allowing for exemptions to routine class environmental assessments, the Ontario Heritage Act by creating a formal process for property owners to appeal a heritage designation, the Development Charges Act and Planning Act regarding what and how certain services may be charged development cost charges, community benefits charges and municipal parkland acquisitions, allow for inclusionary zoning and create lower timelines for local governments to decide on rezoning and subdivision applications, and the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal Act by amending the practices and procedures of the tribunal.

Few bills were adopted during the fall 2019 sitting but they amended, created or repealed numerous acts. Bill 136 repealed the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and replaced it with the Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act.^[25] Bill 124 caps public sector wage increases to no more than 1% per year.^[26] Bill 138 repealed the Toronto Stock Exchange Act; enacted the Egyptian Heritage Month Act, the Hellenic Heritage Month Act, the Provincial Day of Action on Litter Act, and the Supply Chain Management (Government, Broader Public Sector and Health Sector Entities) Act; repealed and replaced the Liquor Licence Act and the Wine Content and Labelling Act with the new Liquor Licence and Control Act; amended cannabis-related acts to allow for online and telephone purchases from private cannabis retail stores and allowed peace officers and judges to refer a youth to an education program rather than pursuing conviction of a cannabis offense, and created a lower aviation fuel tax rate applicable to purchases made in Northern Ontario. Bill 132, aimed at red tape reduction eliminated or lowered certain penalties for contravening the Environmental Protection Act; repealed the Residential Complex Sales Representation Act, Local Planning Appeal Support Centre Act, Farm Products Grades and Sales Act, Partnerships for Jobs and Growth Act, Paperback and Periodical Distributors Act, Statute Labour Act, and the Freshwater Fish Marketing Act; permits Algoma University and Ontario College of Art & Design University to award degrees and diplomas in all branches of learning; and amended Pesticides Act to allow for more use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes, among other provisions.^[27]

2020-21

The legislature reconvened in 2020 but the events of the COVID pandemic came to dominant the agenda. Covid-related legislation adopted in 2020 included budgetary measures in Bill 188;^[28] Bill 186 to create an unpaid leave of absence within the Employment Standards Act for infectious disease emergencies and to repeal the SARS Assistance and Recovery Strategy Act; Bill 187 to allow local governments to hold meetings through electronic means; Bill 189 to suspend loan repayments in the Ontario Student Assistance Program;^[29] Bill 190 to allow provincially-regulated organizations to conduct business remotely (e.g. use of electronic signatures, filings, affidavits); Bills 192 & 204 to suspend evictions of commercial tenants and freeze residential rents;^[30] Bill 195 to allow the Ontario Provincial Police to enforce covid-related regulations on gatherings; Bill 218 indemnified workers and organizations from legal actions relating to covid exposures;^[31] and Bill 283 enacted the Covid-19 Vaccination Reporting Act.^[32]

Other bills adopted in 2020 included Bill 197 to amend the Environmental Assessment Act to prioritize assessments by anticipated impact, allow for a streamlined-class of assessment, and reduce mandated timelines of other assessments; amend the Planning Act addressing community benefits charges and enhancing order making powers for the minister responsible; amend the Education Act to allow for demonstration schools; create an appeal process for those denied farm business registration; amend the Payday Loans Act to cap fees for dishonoured cheques, pre-authorized debits, and loans under $1,500; create the new Transit-Oriented Communities Act; and repeal and replace the Burden Reduction Reporting Act, 2014 and the Reducing Regulatory Costs for Business Act, 2017 with the new Modernizing Ontario for People and Businesses Act, 2020.^[33] Bill 213, titled the Better for People, Smarter for Business Act, 2020 was adopted to repeal the Ontario Highway Transport Board Act, grant university status and rename several Christian colleges, remove residency requirements for corporate directors, and allow the Ministry of the Environment to levy new fees for providing documents. Bill 215 removes local government ability to regulate noise associated with the delivery of goods, and increases fines for unlicenced ridesharing. Bill 229 reduces the authority of conservation authorities and allows municipalities to opt out;^[34] removes promotion of renewable energy generation from the list of objectives of the Ontario Energy Board; exempts Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans in Canada from paying property tax; creates the "seniors' home safety tax credit"; creates iGaming as a subsidiary of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation; creates the Ontario Centres of Excellence Inc.; exempts forestry operations on crown land from complying with the Endangered Species Act; updates and modernizes the Credit Unions and Caisses Populaires Act; repeals and replaces the Film Classification Act with the new Film Content Information Act; and repeals the Financial Services Commission of Ontario Act.^[35] Bill 236 creates government regulations applicable to food delivery services.^[36]

Bills adopted in 2021 included Bill 245 which enacted the Ontario Land Tribunal Act to consolidate several different boards and tribunals into one body;^[37] Bill 251 which enacted the Anti-Human Trafficking Strategy Act and repealed and replaced the Hotel Registration of Guests Act with the Accommodation Sector Registration of Guests Act;^[38] Bill 283 which created the Health and Supportive Care Providers Oversight Authority; and Bill 282 which enacted the Towing and Storage Safety and Enforcement Act to regulate towing services.^[39] Bill 246 mandated that school buses be equipped with four overhead amber signal-lights and four overhead red signal-lights. Bills 254 and 307 brought social media accounts under the purview of the Members' Integrity Act and invoked the "notwithstanding clause" to double the amount of time spending limits are imposed on political advertising by third parties.^[40] Bill 269 created Invest Ontario and the Ontario jobs training tax credit^[41] while Bills 222 and 257 expedited certain transit and broadband projects that were deemed to be a priority. Bill 288 replaced the Ontario College of Trades with a new Crown corporation Skilled Trades Ontario.^[42] Bill 276 made the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and the Collège de Hearst into universities,^[43] dissolved the Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council and the Ontario Drug Benefit Act's Pharmacy Council and a Citizens' Council, and created a prohibition on recordings hearings of the Landlord and Tenant Board.^[44]

Family business

Remarkably, this parliament consisted of three members, all of the PC caucus, who were children of former first ministers:

• Norm Miller (PC, Parry Sound—Muskoka), son of Premier Frank Miller (Premier 1985, MPP for Muskoka 1971–87)
• Mike Harris Jr. (PC, Kitchener—Conestoga), son of Premier Mike Harris (Premier 1995–2002, MPP for Nipissing 1981–2002, minister in the Miller ministry)
• Caroline Mulroney (PC, York—Simcoe), daughter of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (Prime Minister 1984–93)

Other members with parliamentarian parents included:

• Jill Dunlop (PC, Simcoe North), daughter of Garfield Dunlop (MPP for Simcoe North 1999–2015)
• Doug Ford (PC, Etobicoke—North), son of Doug Ford Sr. (MPP for Etobicoke—Humber 1995–99)
• John Yakabuski (PC, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke). son of Paul Yakabuski (MPP for Renfrew South 1963–87)
• Laurie Scott (PC, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock), daughter of William C. Scott (MP for Victoria 1965–93)

While no opposition members was known to have parents who were former members, at least one opposition members had family relation, and actually to a current member. Other members with family relations with members or former members included:

• Christine Elliott (PC, Newmarket—Aurora) previously succeeded her late husband Jim Flaherty (MPP 1995–2006, MP 2006–14, minister of Harris and Eves minister, and federal Finance minister in Harper ministry 2006–13) when he resigned to run federally.
• John Vanthof (NDP, Timiskaming—Cochrane) is a nephew of Ernie Hardeman (PC, Oxford)
• Gurratan Singh (NDP, Brampton East) is a brother of Jagmeet Singh (MPP for Bramalea—Gore—Malton 2011–17, MP & federal NDP leader 2019–25)
• Toby Barrett (PC, Haldimand—Norfolk) grandson of Theobald Butler Barrett (MP for Norfolk 1945–49)

In both good times and bad

The previous dean of the legislature, long-time Liberal minister Jim Bradley, was first elected in 1977. Upon his defeat in the 2018 election, the distinction went to three joint-deans who were first elected to the legislature in the 1990 election: Jim Wilson (PC, Simcoe—Grey), Ted Arnott (PC, Wellington—Halton Hills) and Gilles Bisson (NDP, Timmins), all having served long enough to have seen government of all three strips, and each have spent more time on the opposition bench than on the government bench.

Not surprisingly given their recent tenure in government, six of the seven Liberal members went into opposition with cabinet experience. Two members of the PC caucus, Jim Wilson (PC, Simcoe—Grey) and Ernie Hardeman (PC, Oxford) has previously served in cabinet when the PC were last in power, while the Ontario cabinet, while Greg Rickford (PC, Kenora—Rainy River) has recently served in the federal Harper ministry. No member of the NDP have served in cabinet, though Bisson had served as a parliamentary assistant.

Grace and dedication in defeat

Despite having led her party to a devastating defeat, former Premier Kathleen Wynne served out the full four-year term and maintained an active presence in the legislature and served as her party's house leader. In honouring the mandate given by voters of her home riding, she followed a time-honoured tradition of all three former Liberal Premiers who have retained their seats after leading the party to defeat. George Ross, the first Ontario Liberal Premier to go into opposition, led the party for two more sessions before accepting a Senate appointment and a knighthood. With their internal disagreements undoubtedly contributed to their government's defeat, Mitch Hepburn and Harry Nixon reconciled with Nixon willingly relinquished the party leadership back to Hepburn. Hepburn served until he was voted out by voters back home in the subsequent election, and Nixon served four more terms until his death midway through the fifth.^[a] The tradition was not limited to Liberal premiers, however. Of the three Conservative premiers who retained their seat while leading their party to defeat, Frank Miller served a full term, and George Henry served two.^[b]