42nd Parliament of Ontario

The Members of the Provincial Parliament (MPP) that served in the Legislative Assembly of the 42nd Parliament of Ontario were elected in the general election held on June 7, 2018. The election returned 76 Progressive Conservatives, 40 NDP members, 7 Liberals, and 1 Green. This allowed the Progressive Conservative Party to form a majority government with its leader Doug Ford becoming Premier and the NDP forming the Official Opposition.[4] Neither the Liberals, nor the Green Party had sufficient number of seats to provide them with party status in the legislative assembly.[5] Ford assembled a 21-member Executive Council which was sworn in by Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell on June 29. The Executive Council featured Ford as Premier and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs with former Progressive Conservative leadership candidates Christine Elliott as Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, and Caroline Mulroney as Attorney General. Former interim leaders of the Progressive Conservatives Vic Fedeli and Jim Wilson were assigned to be Minister of Finance and Minister of Economic Development, respectively. This initial cabinet also featured Lisa MacLeod as both Minister of Community and Social Services and Minister of Children and Youth Services, Lisa Thompson as Minister of Education, Rod Phillips as Minister of the Environment, and John Yakabuski as Minister of Transportation.[6] In addition, 26 other Progressive Conservative MPPs were appointed to be parliamentary assistants. Todd Smith was appointed Government House Leader and Ted Arnott was elected Speaker.[3]

The first change to the Executive Council came on November 2, 2018, when Jim Wilson resigned to sit as an independent and Todd Smith assumed his role as Minister of Economic Development.[7] The first major cabinet shuffle came on June 20, 2019, as the premier expanded the cabinet to 28 members[8] with 31 other Progressive Conservative MPPs being parliamentary assistants.[9] Doug Downey, Paul Calandra, Stephen Lecce and Ross Romano were promoted to cabinet to be Attorney General, Government House Leader, Minister of Education, and Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, respectively. Jill Dunlop, Kinga Surma, and Prabmeet Sarkaria were promoted to be Associate Ministers. Rod Phillips became Minister of Finance, Jeff Yurek the Minister of the Environment, Todd Smith the Minister of Children and Youth Services, Caroline Mulroney the Minister of Transportation, Vic Fedeli the Minister of Economic Development, Lisa Thompson the Minister of Government and Consumer Services, Lisa MacLeod the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, Laurie Scott the Minister of Infrastructure, and Monte McNaughton the Minister of Labour. Bill Walker and Michael Tibollo were demoted from ministerial positions to be Associate Ministers, and Christine Elliott's portfolio split with Merrilee Fullerton taking over the newly created Ministry of Long-Term Care.

The first session of the 42nd Parliament began on July 11, 2018, with the Speech from the Throne delivered by Lieutenant Governor Dowdeswell on behalf of the Premier Ford and the Progressive Conservative government. 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.[10] 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.[11]

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[12] 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.[13] 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,[14] 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.[15] 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.[16]

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.[17] 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.[18] 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.[19] 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.[20] Bill 107 transferred, to Metrolinx from the City of Toronto, the responsibility for designing and developing rapid transit within the city.[21] 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,[22] 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.[23] Bill 124 caps public sector wage increases to no more than 1% per year.[24] 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.[25]

The following notable events occurred during the 2018–present period:

• July 11, 2018: The 42nd Parliament of Ontario begins its first session. Ted Arnott, MPP for Wellington—Halton Hills, is elected as the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.[26]
• July 12, 2018: Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell addresses the speech from the throne.[27]
• November 2, 2018: Progressive Conservative MPP Jim Wilson (Simcoe—Grey) resigns from cabinet and the PC caucus after allegations of sexual misconduct.[28]
• November 29, 2018: Progressive Conservative MPP Amanda Simard (Glengarry–Prescott–Russell) leaves the PC caucus after opposing the government's cuts to French-language services.[29]
• February 20, 2019: Progressive Conservative MPP Randy Hillier (Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston) is suspended from the PC caucus by Premier Doug Ford for being disrespectful toward parents concerned about cuts to autism funding.[30]
• July 31, 2019: Liberal MPP Nathalie Des Rosiers (Ottawa—Vanier) resigns from the legislature accept a position as Principal of Massey College at the University of Toronto.[31]
• September 20, 2019: Liberal Marie-France Lalonde (Orléans) resigns from the legislature after being nominated as the Liberal Party of Canada candidate for the federal riding of Orléans in the 2019 Canadian federal election.[32]
• January 16, 2020: Independent MPP Amanda Simard (Glengarry–Prescott–Russell) joins the Liberal caucus.[33]
• July 21, 2020: Progressive Conservative MPP Belinda Karahalios (Cambridge) is removed from the PC caucus after voting against a government bill extending emergency powers for up to two years.[34]
• January 15, 2021: Progressive Conservative MPP Roman Baber (York Centre) is removed from the PC caucus after releasing an open letter to end the province-wide lockdown, saying it was "deadlier than COVID".[35]
• January 18, 2021: Independent MPP Belinda Karahalios (Cambridge) forms the New Blue Party of Ontario caucus in the Legislative Assembly.[36]

Officeholders in the Legislature

• Legislative Assembly of Ontario.