David's Legislative Placement with Procedural Services (committees)

Over the past month, I have had the pleasure of working with the Committee Clerks division of the Office of the Assembly’s Procedural Services Branch. At Queen’s Park, the Procedural Services Branch is responsible for providing procedural advice to the House and to legislative committees. My placement was with the committee clerks, who provide procedural advice to each standing and select, committee at the Ontario Legislative Assembly.

During my placement, I had the opportunity to create a plain-language guide to the application process for Private Bills. Private Bills are legislative tools used only in very specific cases in private business in Ontario. If an individual were seeking to, for example, revive a corporation that had previously been dissolved, they would need to submit an application to the Legislative Assembly to table a Private Bill in the House. Current documents outlining the application process do not necessarily convey the instructions as clearly as possible. I had the wonderful opportunity to write a guide that will help simplify the language of the application process.

I have also had the opportunity to explore the specifics of the work that happens on legislative committees. My supervisor, Lesley Flores, kindly agreed to meet with me twice a week to discuss the procedures and processes by which committee work takes place, from pre-budget consultations to committee formation. I’m grateful to have had this wonderful learning opportunity!

I’d like to thank each and every staff member from the Procedural Services Branch for fostering a great work and learning environment. Thank you in particular to Erin Mopas and Christopher Tyrell, who helped me better understand Private legislation and guided me to a better understanding of this type of legislation. I would also like to thank Daniel Boyomo Yakana and Tori Lewellyn for their warm welcome upon my arrival at the branch. And, of course, a massive thank you to Lesley Flores, for directly supporting me throughout this project and these great four weeks.