Miller vows to keep fighting for Bill 6
Hamilton East-Stoney Creek NDP MPP Paul Miller’s private member’s Bill 6 keeps dying, but the former steelworker keeps resurrecting it in the Ontario Legislature.
For the second time in nearly two years, Miller reintroduced his Bill 6, which would establish an advisory group to recommend Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program rates for each part of Ontario, based on actual cost of living requirements.
When Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, in a surprise move, prorogued the legislature March 15, all the bills on the order table died with it. The same thing happened in September 2016 to Miller’s bill when Wynne unexpectedly prorogued the legislature after facing harsh criticism over rising hydro rates.
Miller at the time quickly reintroduced the bill. It passed first and second reading, but was stalled at the committee level.
“I’m putting the pressure on (the Liberals) again,” said Miller, after he reintroduced his bill for the third time.
The veteran Stoney Creek politician blames the Liberals for holding up the bill, which in the past has received all-party support. But as the bill languished at the committee level, Miller criticized the Liberals for backing of the bill’s contents but doing nothing to move it forward.
While Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale Liberal MPP Ted McMeekin praised Miller for his continued championing of the bill, he blamed the NDP for allowing it to languish at the committee level.
“They could have passed that bill, but it was not a priority for the party,” said McMeekin, who is chair of the standing committee on regulations and private bills.
Private member’s bills are usually difficult to get passed in the legislature, especially if it’s from an opposition MPP. Still, Miller said the majority of the Liberals voted in favour of it during first and second readings.
Anti-poverty groups have been rallying in support of the bill, in an attempt to put pressure on the Liberals to pass it.
Last year the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction launched Fix the Gap, a campaign encouraging the province to approve Miller’s bill.
There are about 45,000 people in Hamilton receiving social assistance.
Miller said he remained hopeful, but not optimistic, that his bill could be approved before the legislature adjourns prior to the June 7 provincial election.