Below please find the following comments, they are in this page.

1)  Prorogue and the Petition to Support Bill 239.
2)  Jeff Gray - Eric Mackie article.
3)  Louise Elliott article.

The two comments  below are linked to  the  page 26
4)  Please Support Bill 239 letter.
5)  A copy of Bill 239 in MSWord format.

Items 1) and 4) are the most important.
 

Eves appoints Hodgson to lead consultation on Kawartha Highlands

Prorogue and the Petition to Support Bill 239

As many of you know the Ernie Eves Ontario Government prorogued the Legislature on Wed. March 12th, 2003, until April 30th and this means that any Bills that were on the order paper have effectively died there, including Bill 239.

Should the government wish to pursue any legislation that has died because of this action it must re-introduce it in the next session of the Legislature.  Different sources have provided different answers to the question "At what stage could the legislation be re-introduced?" .  However, it seems most likely that if  Bill 239 were to be introduced, it would be re-introduced at the First Reading stage.

Many persons have been predicting an early election call, but this too has been deferred.

Gray and Mackie provide the following information (see the attachment):

Quote:
 Mr. Eves said that before he presents the Throne Speech, which will lay out the Conservative government's policy plans, he will consult Ontarians about their priorities.
"I believe that a Speech from the Throne should be written by the people who will be most affected by it, the people of Ontario," Mr. Eves said.
End quote:
The article by Louise Elliott provides some insight as to why governments decide to utilize the prorogue tool and what factors can affect whether, or at what stage, legislation might be re-introduced.
The quotation attributed to Mr. Eves reminded me of another quotation, one made by Chris Hodgson when he introduced the Lands for Life initiative in February, 1997  with Mike Harris.  That quotation is:
"Under this new process, the people most affected will have a say in what can and cannot take place on Crown land."
Of course, the Lands for Life process evolved into the Ontarioís Living Legacy process.
I contend that the people most affected by the KHSS initiatives are the roughly 2,000 private property owners that the LSC proposes to cover with the green-blue blob shown on its maps, representing a provincial park.  The vast majority of us have been saying for five years that we do not wish to be directly adjacent to a provincial park.  We do not object to the KHPP, we just donít want to be immediately adjacent to it.
Therefore, putting the quotation from Eves together with the quotation from Hodgson we submit that this is not the time to drop the ball.  Rather, this is the time to intensify our lobby and to make sure that the Bill 239 concepts are carried forward.  We should work hard to get as many persons as possible to be aware of the unnecessary confiscation of property rights/privileges and Free Use Policy Privileges that would result if the LSCís recommendations were to be implemented.  Get them to sign the petition!

I am contacting some of my friends who live outside of the KHSS area but are all property owners and, therefore, should identify with our plight.  Most of them have not been following the KHSS/KHRR process closely and they are, generally, not the kind of people who would sign a petition simply because someone asked them to.
For the purpose of soliciting their support regarding Bill 239, I have prepared the attached outline of KHSS/KHRR issues.  It may be too long and detailed, or it may be  too short and insufficiently detailed - you be the judge.  In any event, please feel free to use it or not, edited as you see fit, to help gain support for Bill 239.
One thing is certain - the KHSS/KHRR issues will resurface.  They must.  The reasonable development of a  significant number of properties is on hold, boundaries are up for grabs, the designation is unknown and we have no idea what form the management of the KHSS area will take.  All this after five years.
The advertising of the area by the LSC as a relatively uninhabited wilderness has been most successful and we anticipate that local property owners will notice how successful it has been again this summer.  The inaccurate map promoted by Mike Colle, which was obtained from the Supporters of the Kawartha Highlands Park website, will likely aggravate this problem.
The KHPP was dropped from the Parks Ontario website during the 2002 season at the request, I believe, of the Council for G-C & H because of complaints from adjacent property owners.  But itís back  on the website now with access advertised from Catchacoma.
Finally, has anyone noticed?  According to Professor Paul Eagles, who studies such matters, there were 107 operating parks in the province in 2001 .  There are only 102 advertised this evening.  Does this suggest that the provincial park  model may no longer be working and that a new model must be found?
Regards,
Gary B. Faulkner

Ontario Tories announce Throne Speech, budget

By JEFF GRAY and RICHARD MACKIE
Globe and Mail Update
 

ó Ontario Premier Ernie Eves has ordered the province's current legislative session prorogued, saying MPPs will now return on April 30 for a Throne Speech. And his Finance Minister, Janet Ecker, announced Wednesday that she would bring down a budget ó outside the legislature ó on March 27.
The legislature had been set to come back from an extended break on March 17, but Wednesday's move ends the current session and kills any pending legislation.
Mr. Eves said that before he presents the Throne Speech, which will lay out the Conservative government's policy plans, he will consult Ontarians about their priorities.
"I believe that a Speech from the Throne should be written by the people who will be most affected by it, the people of Ontario," Mr. Eves said.
The move to prorogue means that Ontario's budget will be made public when the legislature is not in session.
Mr. Eves had repeatedly promised to bring in a budget before the end of March.
Some observers had predicted a spring election, perhaps as early as May 8 ó but Wednesday's moves appeared to push this back somewhat. The election could still come in late spring or the fall.
Besides the budget, the only significant new legislation the government has previously promised for the spring is a bill to protect drinking-water sources as recommended by the inquiry into the Walkerton E. coli tragedy.
NDP House Leader Peter Kormos said the lateness of the decision on when the sitting will resume suggests the Tories are disorganized.
"The circumstances confirm what a whole lot of people have suspected and that is that their level of organization, their planning, is not very advanced," Mr. Kormos said.
Before Mr. Eves made his announcement, only a tight inner circle of campaign people appeared to have known what he had in mind. "They aren't telling us anything," said one Tory insider. "It's an absolute clampdown."
With a report from Canadian Press

Tuesday, September 17, 2002
 
 
 

Liberals prorogue Parliament

By LOUISE ELLIOTT-- Canadian Press
 

OTTAWA (CP) -- The federal government has ended the current session of Parliament, clearing the decks for a new start Sept. 30 but killing or delaying the passage of many key bills in the process.

The decision to prorogue Parliament, which had been on summer break, and start fresh with a throne speech means a new package of priorities favoured by Prime Minister Jean Chretien will be ushered in.
It also means some key initiatives will die, although they may be resurrected later.
Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson will read the speech from the throne Sept. 30, said Government House Leader Don Boudria in a press release.
The priorities, dubbed by some as Chretien's legacy, are expected to include new spending initiatives for social programs, and changes to make the government appear more accountable following a string of Liberal scandals last spring.
Some of the bills killed by the announcement are:

C-5: Protecting species at risk. It was awaiting Senate approval.

C-15B: New offences for animal cruelty, also awaiting Senate approval.

C-56: Regulating reproductive technology.

C-61: New rules for First Nations governance.

The decision to prorogue also throws into question a report, due this fall, which was expected to criticize the government's handling of three advertising contracts.
Such reports would usually die along with the session, but Alliance MP John Williams, head of the Commons public accounts committee that is preparing the paper, said he thinks it may still be issued.
Conservative Leader Joe Clark called the decision to prorogue "indefensible" given an escalating international crisis between the U.S. and Iraq, and said the Liberals were trying to bury the unflattering report by public accounts.
"Instead of coming back early to deal with an international crisis, Canada's Parliament will come back late and could toss out much of the last session's work as a tactic to disguise the government's internal chaos."
Senior officials maintain that the majority of the bills will return to the Commons and eventually be passed -- albeit much delayed.

All parties must agree at the beginning of a new session to allow the bills back at the same stages they were when the previous session ended. Then it's up to each minister to decide if the bill will be reintroduced.
Opposition parties are already saying they won't guarantee support for such a motion.
Some of the bills, such as the one aimed at protecting species at risk, have been debated for years and have died twice before.
Animal rights activists said the dissolution of the session is a huge disappointment for Canadians who want animals to be protected from abuse and extinction. They called for the reinstatement of the bill.
"After so many years of delay, the Liberals must move as quickly as possible to finally make good on their promises," said Rick Smith, director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Alliance party members said they were skeptical the fall agenda would go beyond what the Liberals have announced in the past.
"What I'm expecting to see is a lot of the 1999 throne speech regurgitated," said Opposition House leader John Reynolds.
"They made promises about Kyoto, helping the poor, children -- and they haven't done any of that."

Reynolds added the Opposition plans to attack government legislation and Chretien's plan to ratify the Kyoto accord.
"We've got three of the biggest provinces in Canada on our side on that issue," he said, referring to Alberta, B.C. and Ontario.
"They haven't given any details and it looks like they're going to go forward like that."

 Canada NewsWire
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Attention News Editors:
Eves appoints Hodgson to lead consultation on Kawartha Highlands

    TORONTO, March 18 /CNW/ - Ernie Eves, Ontario's Premier, and Natural Resources Minister Jerry Ouellette, announced today that Haliburton-Victoria- Brock MPP Chris Hodgson will consult with the local community and various stakeholders interested in the Kawartha Highlands Signature Site in an attempt to reach a consensus on appropriate levels of protection and traditional uses.
 
    In compiling the public comments from the six-week Environmental Bill of Rights registry on Bill 239, it became apparent that further consultation is needed. Chris Hodgson will be addressing those outstanding concerns regarding the legislation, which ceased to exist when the Legislature prorogued on  March 12, 2003.

    "I am very proud of our government's achievements with the Ontario Living Legacy and its signature sites. Mr. Hodgson was an important part of that process, " said Eves. "I have asked Mr. Hodgson to make recommendations to the minister on how we can move forward in the Kawartha Highlands."
 
    Chris Hodgson has held a number of senior cabinet positions, and is a former Minister of Natural Resources. He launched the Lands for Life process in 1996, resulting in Ontario's Living Legacy and the creation of 378 new parks and protected areas - the largest expansion of protected areas in
Ontario's history. As Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Hodgson introduced the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, 2001, which was passed unanimously by the Legislature.

    "The Apsley and Kawartha Highlands area is a provincial treasure," concluded Eves. "We want to ensure that it is appropriately protected for future generations and Chris Hodgson has a proven record of consensus building, mediation and environmental protection."

For more information visit www.gov.on.ca

For further information: Premier's Media Office, (416) 325-7600
Office of the Premier of Ontario has 427 releases in this database.