TORONTO, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- The House speaker for Ontario's provincial legislature has proposed doubling members' work hours in order to be more family-friendly, the Toronto Star said.
Liberal House Leader Michael Bryant made the surprise announcement of his plans Sunday in Toronto in response to an all-party committee study on improving family life for politicians with young children, the report said.
His proposal would see legislative business begin at 9:30 a.m. instead of 1:30 p.m., which would end business occurring in the evening, Bryant said. It also would require the legislature to convene on Fridays, which it doesn't do now.
"This will allow for 50 percent more debate and avoid evening sittings that have been time-fillers with no real debate," Bryant said. "We're trying to take the Legislature out of the era of the gaslight and into the age of the BlackBerry."
The Ontario legislature is to reconvenes Feb. 25 and Bryant told the newspaper he hoped the changes could be in place "either for the spring or the fall."
