2000 Legislative Session: 4th Session, 36th Parliament

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.

[ Progress of Bills . . . ]

No. 10

VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

Sunday, April 2, 2000

Two o'clock p.m.

Prayers by Mr. Janssen.

The Hon. P. Ramsey (Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations) presented to the Speaker a Message from His Honour the Administrator, which read as follows:

Allan McEachern           
Administrator

The Administrator transmits herewith Bill (No. 7) intituled Public Education Support Staff Collective Bargaining Assistance Act and recommends the same to the Legislative Assembly.

Government House,
April 1, 2000

Bill introduced and read a first time.

The Speaker declared a recess for distribution of the Bill.

The Hon. D. Lovick proposed that, pursuant to Standing Order 81, the Bill be permitted to be advanced all stages this day.

Mr. Farrell-Collins made representations.

Mr. Weisgerber made representations.

Mr. de Jong made representations.

The Speaker reserved his decision and declared a recess.

The Speaker ruled that, pursuant to Standing Order 81, the Bill be permitted to be advanced all stages this day, and reserved his reasons.

On the motion for second reading of Bill (No. 7) intituled Public Education Support Staff Collective Bargaining Assistance Act, a debate arose.

The debate continued.

The Speaker delivered his reserved decision as follows:

Honourable Members:

Today the House has been called together to consider legislation to end the support staff strike in the school system, and to permit students to return to school tomorrow, April 3, 2000. Upon introduction of Bill (No. 7) Public Education Support Staff Collective Bargaining Assistance Act, the Government House Leader requested that the Speaker exercise discretion pursuant to Standing Order 81 to permit the bill to advance through all three stages today. Standing Order 81 provides as follows:

"Every bill shall receive three readings on different days, prior to being passed. . . On urgent or extraordinary occasions, a Bill may be read twice or thrice, or advanced two or more stages in one day."

All parties in the House appeared to agree that Part 1 of the bill qualified in that it would put an end to the strike or a lockout and provide a method through arbitration to bring the issues to an end. Exception was taken by Members of the Opposition to Part 2 of the bill which created a process for addressing the bargaining structure and which they considered did not co-exist with conditions that would render the situation urgent or extraordinary.

The Government House Leader urged that the provisions were necessary to address a long-term solution to the problems identified in the special report of the Industrial Inquiry Commission appointed last week.

Having listened to the submissions of the members and considered the authorities, I stated that I was prepared to apply Standing Order 81 to allow the bill to proceed through more than one stage, but that I would provide further written reasons.

It is the practice in this House that the Speaker determines whether a bill may proceed through all stages in one day. Such rulings have been made with respect to interim Supply Acts on numerous occasions in anticipation of the imminent end of the Government's fiscal year, and with respect to emergency legislation to end labour stoppages (see Bill (No. 34) intituled Metro Transit Collective Bargaining Assistance Act, 1984.)

In 1996 at a special sitting of the House to deal with a labour stoppage, the Speaker found that the requirements of Standing Order 81 were not met with respect to a bill, as its form went well beyond the situation at hand, namely, in Surrey. I have compared that bill with the one at hand and note that it applied to all collective bargaining, while the bill at hand is strictly addressed to the work stoppage in the various school districts and involving clearly identified groups. The definition of employer in section 1 and the enumeration of school districts in the schedule of the bill, make its application specific.

I have considered the possibility that the bill might be severed into two bills so that Part 2 of the bill could be dealt with separately from Part 1. I have reviewed the Speaker's decision to be found at page 152-153 of the Journals of this House in 1995, citing the decision of Mr. Speaker Jerome of the House of Commons (Ottawa), where it was ruled that the Speaker has no authority to sever a bill.

In summary, I have considered the background circumstances and the format of the bill as a whole, and determined that Standing Order 81 should be applied to permit the bill to pass through all three stages today.

Bill Hartley, Speaker

The debate on second reading of Bill (No. 7) continued.

The House divided.

Motion agreed to nemine contradicente on the following division:

Bill (No. 7) read a second time.

On the motion of the Hon. P. Ramsey, Bill (No. 7) was referred to a Committee of the Whole House to be considered forthwith.

Bill (No. 7) was committed.

Mr. Hogg moved an amendment to section 4 of Bill (No. 7) which was defeated, on division.

In consideration of section 6 of Bill (No. 7) the Committee divided, as follows:

The Chair announced that the division had been a tie vote and, in accordance with established practice, he cast his vote in favour of the motion.

In consideration of section 11 of Bill (No. 7) the Committee divided, as follows:

The Chair announced that the division had been a tie vote and, in accordance with established practice, he cast his vote in favour of the motion.

Bill (No. 7) was reported complete without amendment, read a third time and passed.

The Speaker declared a short recess.

His Honour the Administrator having entered the House, and being seated in the Chair--

Ian D. Izard, Esq., Law Clerk and Clerk Assistant, read the title to the following Act:

Bill (No. 7) Public Education Support Staff Collective Bargaining Assistance Act.

His Honour was pleased in Her Majesty's name to give assent to the said Act.

The said assent was announced by Ian D. Izard, Esq., Law Clerk and Clerk Assistant of the House, in the following words:

"In Her Majesty's name, His Honour the Administrator doth assent to this Act."

His Honour the Administrator was then pleased to retire.

And then the House adjourned at 8.31 p.m.

BILL HARTLEY, Speaker

NOTICE OF MOTIONS

Tuesday, April 4

 

  6  Mr. de Jong to move in amendment, seconded by Mr. Hansen--

Be it resolved that the motion "That the Speaker do now leave the Chair" for the House to go into Committee of Supply, be amended by adding the following: "But the house regrets that the budget has not been balanced for nine consecutive years; the resulting debt has the fastest growing debt service costs of any province in Canada; the transfer of half billion dollar BC Ferry debt to the public pocket has now added an enormous burden to the hard-working people of this province; and, this government has not been accountable to the public and does not understand that a long term strategy is required in order to put B.C. back on the economic track it was on nine years ago."

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