Kathleen Wynne prorogues Ontario legislature, throne speech to be delivered Monday

Premier Kathleen Wynne has prorogued the Ontariolegislature so her government can deliver a throne speech Monday,
pressing the reset button to outline a new list of priorities lessthan two years before the next election.

Wynne'sannouncement Thursday came just daysafter her Liberal party lost a long-held seat in a Toronto byelectionto the Progressive Conservatives.

The premier's personal approval ratings have also hit an all-timelow, in part because of widespread anger over soaring electricitybills.

A new throne speech allows the government to lay out a road map for the plan that will take them into the 2018 provincial election,saidGenevieveTellier, a professor at the University of Ottawa'sschool of public policy.

• Kathleen Wynne says high cost of hydro is concern across province
• PC candidate Raymond Cho wins Scarborough-Rouge River byelection

"Especially considering the result of thebyelectionlast week,where it seemed that the government took stock (that), 'There'ssomething going on out there ... so we need to make a strongerstance and maybe present also a more coherent platform,"' saidTellier.

'A normal tradition for a government'

Government house leader Yasir Naqvi said all Liberal bills thatdied on the order paper when the legislature was prorogued Thursdaywould be reintroduced, including legislation to ban provincialpoliticians from engaging in most fundraising activities.

"The speech from the throne is a normal tradition for agovernment, and will allow us to refocus our priorities and reset
the legislative agenda with a new set of government priorities," hesaid. "My office has asked the PC and NDP if they have any priorityprivate member's bills that they would like carried to the nextsession."

Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown issued a statementcalling prorogation a distraction tactic that won't help theLiberals.

"The Wynne Liberals are an old, tired, and self-interestedgovernment that are desperately trying to frame a new narrativeafter an embarrassing defeat in the Scarborough-Rouge Riverbyelection," Brown said. "No amount of window dressing is going tohelp Ontarians with their skyrocketing energy bills."

'They want to see real action'

The Sept. 1 byelection loss in Scarborough-Rouge River, which hadbeen Liberal since its creation in 1999, gave her "cause forreflection," Wynne admitted following the defeat.

"We heard at the door that hydro rates are increasinglychallenging for people," she said. "I understand, as do my
ministers, that the government needs to focus on helping people withtheir everyday expenses."

NDP House Leader Gilles Bisson said he hopes Wynne doesn't usethe throne speech to "change the channel on her failed record."

"Ontarians will not be fooled by another Liberal publicrelations exercise," he said in a statement. "They want to see
real action on their priorities."

Naqvi and Wynne said the Liberals' legislative priorities areeconomic growth and job creation, but admitted the government needsto find a way to address electricity rates.

Legislature already set to return Monday

Major pieces of legislation for the government's previouspriorities have already been passed, including ones to introduce acap-and-trade system to put a price on carbon, and another allowingthe sale of a majority of Hydro One.

The legislature had already been set to return on Monday, so nositting days are being lost.

Prorogation can be a standard tool for governments, but formerprime minister Stephen Harper sparked vigorous debate after heprorogued in late 2008, when his minority government faced thespectre of being unseated by an opposition coalition.

And in 2012, Dalton McGuinty abruptly announced a plan to resignas Ontario premier and prorogued the legislature just beforecommittee hearings were to begin into the government's costlydecision to cancel two gas plants before the 2011 election.