Legislature’s 14-week break ‘appalling,’ MPP says

By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Source: Thunder Bay Source

Ontario’s legislative assembly is taking a 14-week break after having already taken a 19-week summer break and sitting only 51 days this year. And the MPP for Thunder Bay-Superior North doesn’t like it one bit.

“It’s appalling, really,” Lise Vaugeois, a New Democrat, said of the Progressive Conservative government’s long hiatus.

“Here’s a game that’s being played: They have very short sessions in which they ram through huge bills,” she continued.

“And the other piece is that they are mired in scandal, and the legislative session is when they can best be held to account.”

Legislators returned to Queen’s Park in late October after a nearly five-month break and concluded their fall sitting on Thursday. 

Government MPPs voted to delay their return until late March, more than a month later than originally scheduled.

The fall proceedings included “a housing bill that really undermines tenant rights,” Vaugeois said, referring to a bill that amends the Residential Tenancies Act.

And Premier Doug Ford’s government proposed big changes for conservation authorities, among other things, she said.

Government controversies this year included allegations that the Skills Development Fund has been misused to enrich friends of the premier.

Now the Conservatives are avoiding accountability in the legislative assembly’s question period, she said.

“It’s anti-democratic, what is going on here.”

Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa, the NDP’s deputy leader, posted a similar take on his Facebook page.

“Although I am glad to spend more time in Kiiwetinoong, it is very concerning that this government is taking short cuts to avoid facing criticism over their laws.”

Newswatch reached out to PC Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford and Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Kevin Holland, who are both members of the Ford cabinet, for comment but received no response.

A news release from the premier’s office said the fall siting included “passage of 12 government bills that deliver on the government’s plan to protect Ontario by building the most competitive, self-reliant and resilient economy in the G7.”

The release also quoted Ford as saying his government is “building critical energy infrastructure and unlocking our vast reserves of critical minerals in the Ring of Fire in partnership with First Nations.”