TORONTO -- The Ontario legislature has adjourned for the holidays and will not return until February 2021.
The motion was moved by Government House Leader Paul Calandra early Tuesday night, two days ahead of schedule.
Members of Provincial Parliament will return to Queen’s Park for a new session on Feb. 16.
In a news release issued later in the evening, the Ontario government touted their “successful session” and listed a number of their achievements, including the passage of 36 bills and the introduction of a new budget.
"While we started 2020 with a very different focus than we ended it, our priorities have not changed, we are always working on behalf of all the people of Ontario," Calandra said in a statement. "We will continue to fight against COVID-19, strengthen the provincial economy and build a brighter, and more prosperous future for every individual, family and worker in the province."
Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath, however, questioned why the government would move to adjourn the legislature at what appears to be the height of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“MPPs should be staying at the legislature and working to use the $12 billion in COVID funding (Ontario Premier) Doug Ford has been withholding from the people of Ontario. We can do so much more to stop the spread, and save lives – from paid sick days to supports for small businesses and a plan to hire thousands of staff in long-term care,” Horwath said in a statement.
“Giving up, going home, and waiting for a vaccine is not a good second-wave plan.”
The government has been in session since mid-September following a roughly month-and-a-half-long summer break.
