(Queen’s Park) – Randy Hillier, PC Party Critic for Northern Affairs, Mining and Forestry, has been battling the forced passing of the Liberal regime’s bleak northern agenda in the General Government committee. That stand came to an end today, with a liberal motion which will ram the bill through committee.
“We met with stakeholders. All of them came to the same conclusion – Bill 173 is seriously flawed,” stated Hillier. “The Liberal members were there too, and heard the same thing. In this scandal-prone liberal government, pushing through bills has become the order or the day, no matter how bad the legislation.”
The committee sat for only 5 sessions before the time allocation motion was filed last Friday. During the sessions, only one Liberal member spoke.
“It’s a charade. They just don’t care about the cost,” said Hillier. “How can we pass good legislation if we don’t even talk about it? This is a perversion of the democratic process.”
Bill 173, the Mining Act Ammendment Act, was originally lauded as an opportunity to modernize severely outdated Mining legislation in the province of Ontario. Excitement quickly turned to dismay when the many flaws of the liberal bill were seen by the public.
“I worked to bring forward valuable improvements to this bill. So did the NDP. I’m sure the Liberal members of the committee would have something to add as well, if they took the muzzles off,” said Mr. Hillier. “It’s just too bad that the government can’t see the forest of good governance for the trees of scandal.
Up next in the committee is Bill 191, which has been even more widely panned by northern citizens. The bill would lock up to 42% of Ontario’s landmass from development.
“The process was a sham. The hearings were disingenuous. The workshops were pre-determined,” said Hillier. “This liberal government is so focused on the scandal of the day that they can’t govern effectively.”
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