Fall sitting of legislature wraps

The fall sitting of the P.E.I.Legislature has ended.

The sitting began three and a half weeks ago on Nov. 13.

During the sitting, the government introduced its capital budget, which includes $38 million for ahigh school in Stratford as well as20 new school busesat a cost of $2.1 million, new classrooms in West Royalty at a cost of $4.7 million, and $3.6 million for sports facilities at cole-sur-Mer.

The capital budget also includes new investments in mental health for both the mental-health campus that will eventually replace Hillsborough Hospital and supports in communities around the Island.

New legislation introduced

A number of new pieces of legislation were introduced during the sitting.

Sonny Gallant,minister of workforce and advanced learning, introduced a bill toensure Island post-secondary institutions have appropriate policies in place to addressacts of sexual violence.

A bill from PC MLA Jamie Fox thatwould mandateall newly-appointed provincial court judges receive education on how to deal with cases involving sexual assaultpassed third reading on Wednesday.

The Green Party of P.E.I. passed its very first bill in the house. A bill toamendthe Innovation PEI Act toaddthe sector of "creative and cultural industries" to the act and expand the definition of renewable energy to include "clean technology" passed third reading.

This sitting also saw the government announce it will be opening adoption records and that details will emerge in the coming months, with legislation expectedover the next year.

Government also announced new financial incentives for Islanders to offset theprovincial gas tax includingreducing transit fees, making driver's licences and electric vehicle registration free and reduced hybrid vehicle registration costs. This brought about heated debate in the House.

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