MPP column
Legislature returns for spring session
Word Count: 454

On Monday March 19 the Ontario Legislature returns for its next session. This will be the last session before the provincial election on October 10th.

The first week will be eventful with two budgets – the Federal budget on March 19th and the provincial budget on Thursday March 22. We are expecting a budget big on promises but with a lot of the funding coming in later years.

We expect to see some of the bills that have had public hearing during the break returning for third and final reading. These include Bill 140, The Long-Term Care Homes Act; Bill 103, Independent Police Review Act; and Bill 155, Electoral System Referendum Act.

In Oxford I heard from many people about their concerns with the proposed Long-Term Care Homes Act. When first introduced this Bill limited license renewals for many nursing homes to 10 years which caused uncertainty for residents and limited the ability of Nursing homes to obtain the financing needed to upgrade.

The opposition from our party and the long-term care industry, including many of the homes in Oxford, has resulted in the license terms for nursing homes being extended slightly. However this bill still creates an unacceptable level of uncertainty for seniors

This year a Citizen’s Assembly, made up of 103 randomly chosen Ontarians, has been meeting to investigate and recommend the best electoral system for Ontario. The proposed Electoral System Referendum Act would allow a referendum question on the ballot next October asking Ontarians whether they prefer the current system or the option recommended by the Citizen’s Assembly. As the Assembly has discovered, there are pros and cons to every system and it is not an easy decision to make.

This is the first time in Ontario that we have had fixed election dates and therefore the first time we have really known how much time the government has left to fulfill their commitments.

One of the dangers of the fixed election date is that governments are tempted to stop governing and focus on campaigning long before the actual writ period. Over the last year we have seen more and more studies and reviews launched to bury issues until after the election.

However there are still some problems that the McGuinty government needs to deal with this session. The tobacco farmers urgently need an exit strategy because right now they are facing decisions about planting this year’s crop. Municipalities need the McGuinty government to stop using their drawn out review as an excuse and take steps to balance the services municipalities are being asked to deliver with their ability to pay. Finally here in Oxford we need to see concrete progress on the Woodstock hospital and get the shovels in the ground.