Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is proroguing the legislature so her government can deliver a new throne speech Monday.
It's less than two years away from the next provincial election, and a speech from the throne will give the Liberal government the opportunity to outline a new set of priorities.
It's not clear what it will mean for private members bills, but all government bills currently before the legislature are still active, including election finance reforms.
"At the halfway point of our mandate, a Throne Speech is an opportunity to provide an update on what we have achieved over the past two years, and to lay out the next steps in our balanced economic plan to build Ontario up and help people in their everyday lives," the Premier says in a news release. "I’m looking forward to another productive legislative session that helps deliver on my number-one priority — economic growth that creates good jobs."
But the decision to prorogue the Legislature is not sitting well with PC leader Patrick Brown.
In a statement released Thursday afternoon, he claimed the Liberals are just trying to change the channel.
“The Wynne Liberals are an old, tired, and self-interested government that are desperately trying to frame a new narrative after an embarrassing defeat in the Scarborough-Rouge River by-election," says Brown. "What’s more, every failed policy decision this Government has made for the last 13 years has made life more unaffordable for Ontarians. Unfortunately, today’s prorogation distraction tactic is too little, too late. The results of the by-election proves that the people of Ontario are tired of paying the highest electricity rates in North America."
