TORONTO – Ontario’s provincial members of parliament are heading back to Queen’s Park today, as the legislature sits for the first time since December.
The governing Progressive Conservatives recessed the legislature on Dec. 11 for an unusually long winter break, which the opposition has called undemocratic.
The spring session should be a busy one, with the budget being delivered Thursday and Premier Doug Ford’s government facing criticism for restricting public access to records and reducing the amount of grants college and university students can receive.
One of the legislative changes the government plans to make this spring is to exempt records of the premier, cabinet ministers, their staff and parliamentary assistants from disclosure under freedom-of-information laws.
Opposition critics say it suggests Ford and his government have something to hide, but the minister in charge says it will bring Ontario’s rules in line with those of other provinces and the federal government.
Post-secondary education is also expected to be a hot topic, with a second protest scheduled over the government scaling back Ontario Student Assistance Program grants in favour of loans.
A protest earlier this month saw a statue vandalized and two arrests made.
