The Ontario legislature will begin debate before the sun rises on Tuesday morning as it rushes to pass a bill that would outlaw a planned strike by education workers on Friday.
The Ford government will recall politicians to Queen’s Park for 5 a.m. on Tuesday.
An order in council, which will be published Monday evening, notes that “it is deemed that the public interest requires the Assembly to reconvene at an earlier time.”
It instructs the speaker to give notice that the legislature will reconvene earlier than scheduled on Tuesday.
The order was issued after the government tried — and failed — to receive unanimous consent from the house.
The unusual schedule is to speed up the passage of Bill 28 — Keeping Students in Class Act — ahead of a planned strike by Ontario education workers on Friday.
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The legislation is designed to impose a deal on workers represented by Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and outlaw their proposed strike.
It includes fines of up to $4,000 per person who is convicted of breaking its rules and going on strike.
The union has vowed to go ahead with its action on Friday and compensate workers who are hit with fines from the government.
The house was originally scheduled to open at 9 a.m. with orders of the day, followed by members’ statements at 10:15 and question period, according to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario’s website
In 2018, the newly-elected Ford government ordered a midnight sitting of the legislature to expedite the passage of a bill that dramatically cut the size of Toronto’s city council.
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