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November 4, 1997
(Executive Council)

The following is being distributed at the request of the Office of the Government House Leader:

Government House Leader Beaton Tulk announced today that the House of Assembly will resume the current session on November 17, 1997. "This timing is consistent with past practice to call the legislature together in the fall, except," said Mr. Tulk, "during the 1986-88 period, when Mr. Hodder's party cancelled the fall session of the House."

Mr. Tulk said there will be a busy legislative agenda during the fall sitting. "So far this year, the House has sat for 31 days, and dealt with some 15 pieces of legislation - most notably the Schools Act and the Education Act - which required major amendments and debate," said Mr. Tulk. "During the fall, we will sit for as many days as necessary to deal with the important business of the House," said Mr. Tulk. "We will sit in January or February if the time is needed."

Mr. Tulk also took Harvey Hodder, Opposition House Leader, to task. "Mr. Hodder is misleading the public. We have been very active on the legislative front. We opened the House in July 1996 to deal with education legislation, and once again in early September this year after the Education Referendum. What surprises me is that the Opposition has not used their time effectively. During the closure debate on Committee stage of Bill 48, the Schools Act, last fall, the Opposition was allowed 220 minutes to speak. They used only 60 minutes. And they never did avail of other procedures open to them to keep the House open. The truth is that we were ready; they were not." Mr. Tulk added, "I find it strange to hear these complaints coming from Mr. Hodder when it was his party which cancelled the fall session of the House for three years in the 1980s. It took a Liberal administration to reinstate the fall session."

Among the legislation expected to be advanced in the session are further changes to the Schools Act arising from the recent Education referendum and proposed changes to Term 17, if they are passed in Ottawa; amendments to the Registered Nurses Act to allow Nurse Practitioners to perform certain functions; and amendments to the Family Law Act to implement Child Support guidelines.

Mr. Tulk said: "The true measure of success in any legislative session is the business dealt with by the House. In 1996, this administration opened the House for 57 days, and dealt with 50 pieces of legislation. This productivity compares favourably with any legislature in this province in the past 15 years. We also compare favourably with many provinces, and exceeded Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and British Columbia, all of which were open for less than 40 days. The British Columbia legislature, for example, sat for 35 days in 1996. Our performance was in the same range as Nova Scotia and Alberta, which were open 60 and 61 days respectively."

Mr. Tulk added: "It should be noted that during 1996, there was a leadership convention and a general election. Yet we still carried on the business of the House. In previous election years - notably 1989 and 1993 - the House sat for about the same period of time, so 57 days was not unusual. In 1997, the Cabot 500 celebration and Education Reform were dominant events. Yet we still opened for 31 days, and the year is not over yet."

Contact: Heidi Bonnell, Office of the Premier,(709) 729-3564.