Bill 1 explained in plain English
An Act to perpetuate an ancient parliamentary right
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
An Act to perpetuate an ancient parliamentary right is a pro forma bill introduced to assert and record the Legislative Assembly's historical right to meet and act without leave from the Crown.
This bill, titled "An Act to perpetuate an ancient parliamentary right," is a pro forma bill. It is introduced to affirm and record the long-standing right of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, through its elected representatives, to meet and conduct business without requiring permission from the Crown. The bill asserts the Assembly's right to prioritize matters it deems important, independent of the Sovereign's agenda. This practice has historical roots dating back to at least 1558 and was formally recognized by the House of Commons in 1604.
- It states that the purpose of the bill is to perpetuate the established right of Parliament, through elected representatives, to sit and act without permission from the Crown.
- It asserts the right of the Legislative Assembly to give precedence to matters other than those stated by the Sovereign.
- It explains that this practice of introducing a pro forma bill is adopted from other parliamentary jurisdictions to explain and record the constitutional importance of the first bill of a session.
- The Legislative Assembly of Ontario
- The Crown (Sovereign)
- Elected representatives
- The established right of Parliament, through elected representatives, to sit and act without leave from the Crown.
- The right of the Legislative Assembly to give precedence to matters other than those expressed by the Sovereign.
- The practice dates to at least 1558.
- The practice was codified by resolution of the House of Commons in 1604.
- The bill was introduced for its 1st Reading on March 8, 2010.
- The bill is introduced before the consideration of the Throne Speech, a procedural detail.
- The bill follows a practice adopted from certain other parliamentary jurisdictions; the specifics of how this practice is adopted by Ontario are not detailed beyond its purpose.
- The bill does not specify what happens if the right it asserts is challenged or ignored.
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced