Government Shuts Down Debate on Police Services Bill

After only a few hours of debate and public hearings, and despite serious concerns expressed by stakeholders, the Wynne Liberals are pushing Bill 175 through the legislative process.

“The Government introduced over 250 amendments to its own bill and even added four last-minute amendments during clause-by-clause in committee. This alone proves that this bill has been rushed, is not well thought-out, and is definitely not ready to become law,” said MPP Scott.

Last week, members of the Standing Committee on Justice Policy had only two days to hear feedback from the public and stakeholders on Bill 175. Shortly thereafter, the government put-forward a Time Allocation Motion further limiting debate on this legislation, including cutting off consideration of opposition amendments.

“This is an example of the disrespect this government has not only for this House and the opposition parties, but for police associations, municipalities, and all Ontarians,” Scott said.

As early as tomorrow, MPPs will have just 20 minutes per party to debate Bill 175 at the third, and final reading.

“The whole process surrounding this legislation has been so horribly mismanaged that there’s no way that this government will be able to restore any goodwill on this file.”