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Bill 75 Creates New Secretariat for Queen’s Park Restoration
On the afternoon of Tuesday, March 7th the Minister for Legislative Affairs, Paul Calandra introduced Bill 75, Queen’s Park Restoration Act for First Reading. It is another early step towards the modernization of the Main Legislative Building affectionately known as the Pink Palace.
Anyone who has been inside the Pink Palace in the last ten years recognizes how this beautiful old building is badly in need of a total refit. And Minister Calandra has publicly stated that following the next Ontario general election, legislators in the province’s 44th Parliament will convene at a temporary location to allow the restoration to begin.
The Explanatory Notes posted onto the Legislative Assembly’s website with the Bill state the following:
- “Schedule 1 enacts the Queen’s Park Restoration Secretariat Act, 2023. That Act establishes the Queen’s Park Restoration Secretariat. The Minister responsible for that Secretariat has the responsibility of carrying out the project to restore, refurbish, rehabilitate and preserve the Legislative Building (the “Queen’s Park Restoration Project”). Various consulting and reporting requirements are also enacted.
- Schedule 2 amends the Legislative Assembly Act to facilitate the Queen’s Park Restoration Project, for example by permitting regulations to adjust the definition of “Legislative Precinct”. In addition, the Act is amended to allow for alternate commissioners on the Board of Internal Economy.
- Schedule 3 amends the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to provide that that Act does not apply to records prepared by the Office of the Assembly and provided to an institution in connection with the Queen’s Park Restoration Project until 20 years after the Queen’s Park Restoration Secretariat Act, 2023 is repealed.”
While there is general all-party agreement with respect to the need for the restoration project, Schedule 3 has created significant controversy among opposition legislators. Their concerns are that certain documents related to the Queen’s Park Restoration Project will not be subject to Freedom of Information (FOI) applications, that the project’s operations may not be open and transparent.
The Bill passed its First Reading on March 7th, Second Reading on March 9th and was referred to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. It’s not known if the Committee will convene public hearings on Bill 75 before it conducts a clause-by-clause review and returns the Bill back to the Legislature for Third Reading.