The Ontario Legislature will prorogue for a “limited break” before starting a new session with a Speech from the Throne after the Vancouver Olympics, Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday.
He wouldn't say when he plans to pull the plug, but confirmed that elected politicians will have to head back to work next Tuesday as scheduled.
“There will be a Throne Speech, but we will not follow the federal example of an extended break before we have that throne speech,” Mr. McGuinty said from a solar panel testing facility near Brockville.
“That Throne Speech will likely come after the Olympics are over, just so you know what our thinking is generally on that.”
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell is cramming a Throne Speech into a three-day session ahead of the Olympics, which start Friday and end Feb. 28.
Ontario's spring session will include legislation on pension reform, “protection from door-to-door energy retailers” and his government's plan to provide all-day kindergarten next fall, Mr. McGuinty said.
“There will be legislation for our full-day learning for four- and five-year-olds, so there will be a resolution that will urge the federal government to use the opportunities created in its upcoming budget to support the plan that we're putting in place here in Ontario to grow a stronger province and a stronger economy,” he added.
Mr. McGuinty had been tiptoeing for weeks around prorogation, an issue that's taken a toll on Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government. Source...
