Why can’t you subscribe to Provincial Parliament activities?

The Government of Ontario’s – Legislative Assembly of Ontario website is terrible and stuck in the 1990s.

It’s:

• Hard to navigate
• Difficult to search
• Lacking features
• Gatekeeping documents
• Impossible to follow along with what’s happening

Users can’t follow or subscribe to notifications by RSS feed, email, SMS or web browser of activities by the:

• MPP, Minister or Critic in charge of the topic they’re interested in
• Committee responsible for a topic they’re interested in
• Legislature on bills and petitions

Trying to navigate and follow along with the status of business is near impossible.

The legislative process in Ontario follows a very strict process and procedures, and yet, how that process is communicated and reflected on its website is disjointed, poorly organized and reduces civic engagement.

And if you want to access one of the reports, communications or other documents listed on of these pages, instead of clicking a link, you’re instructed to call the Procedural Services Branch at 416-325-3500 or email the clerk of the committee responsible to get a copy.

Member activities

There is no way sign up for alerts to be notified of new Bills and Motions by a particular MPP:

House proceedings

Hansard transcripts

There is no way sign up for alerts to be notified of new transcripts:

Hansard indexes can help you find information in the committee transcripts. Information is organized by SUBJECT (e.g. Health care) or SPEAKER (e.g. Smith, Hon. M.M.). There are two indexes for committee debates called the COMMITTEE SUBJECT INDEX and the COMMITTEE SPEAKER INDEX.

Orders and Notices

There is no way sign up for alerts to be notified of new orders and notices:

Votes and Proceedings

There is no way sign up for alerts to be notified of new votes and proceedings:

Status of committee business

There is no way sign up for alerts to be notified of changes to the status of committee business:

Current bills

There is no way sign up for alerts to be notified of current bills:

Bill debates and progress

There is no way sign up for alerts to be notified of bill debates and progress:

Government motions

There is no way sign up for alerts to be notified of new government motions:

Private members’ motions

There is no way sign up for alerts to be notified of new private members’ motions:

Ballot list

There is no way sign up for alerts to be notified of new ballot list items:

Opposition Day debates and want of confidence motions

There is no way sign up for alerts to be notified of new Opposition Day debates:

Opposition Day is a reserved block of time on certain sessional days. This time is used to consider a motion that has been proposed by a member of an opposition party.

A want of confidence motion, if carried, signals that the government has lost the confidence of the House.

For more information, please call the Procedural Services Branch at 416-325-3500.

Petitions and responses subject index

There is no way sign up for alerts to be notified of new petitions and responses:

Schedule of estimates

There is no way sign up for alerts to be notified of new schedules of estimates:

Estimates are the proposed expenditures for each government department, agency, board, and commission. They are divided into main estimates and supplementary estimates. Main estimates are tabled in the House within 12 days of the budget. Supplementary estimates are tabled to provide funds for expenditures that were not in the main estimates.

This page shows the summary of reports to and from standing committees, including the reports on the estimates of ministries and offices selected for consideration in the current session of Parliament by fiscal year.

For more information, please call the Procedural Services Branch at 416-325-3500.

Sessional papers

There is no way sign up for alerts to be notified of new sessional papers:

Sessional papers are documents tabled in the House. They can be tabled during a session of Parliament or during the interval between sessions. Sessional papers can include annual reports, appointment certificates, expenditure estimates, reports by ministries or committees, and compendia to government bills.

Sessional paper documents for ministries, agencies, boards, and commissions will be accepted if tabled in print or electronic format. 

Responses to written questions list

There is no way sign up for alerts to be notified of new responses to written questions:

This page lists questions published in the Orders and Notices paper. It also lists the dates responses were provided. The government must file a response within 24 sessional days of the tabling of the question. The response is delivered to the Clerk of the House and to the MPP who tabled the question.

Final Status of Business and Journals

There is no way sign up for alerts to be notified of new Final Status of Business and Journals:

The Final Status of Business provides information on the status of all House and committee business at the conclusion of a session. Types of business include motions, petitions and responses, sessional papers, written questions, committee business, and more.

Journals are the official record of the decisions of the House. At the end of a session, the daily Votes and Proceedings documents are compiled to create the publication called the Journals.

Media Centre

There is no way sign up for alerts to be notified of new news releases in the Media Centre:

News releases and media resources issued by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 

Other Government of Ontario departments have these features

It’s not as if the Province doesn’t have the capability to provide these features. Here are two websites that offer keyword and category based email notifications:

Environmental Registry of Ontario

Ontario’s Regulatory Registry

Best practices: federal government

You can subscribe to federal government committee activities by registering and verifying an email address. This lets you select the committee(s) for which you wish to receive information and the type of updates you wish to receive (reports, meetings, news releases, etc.):