22
July 2004
Mr.
Trevor Day, Committee Clerk
Standing
Committee on Finance and Economics
Queen's
Park
Toronto,
Ontario
By
E-Mail:
trevor_day@ontla.ola.org
Dear Mr.
Day,
Further
to our conversation yesterday, and at the direction of Ms. Deller,
Deputy Clerk and Executive Director of Legislative Services, I would
like to re-iterate my concerns with respect to the public participation
at meetings of the Standing Committee of Finance and Economic Affairs
(“Committee”).
The
Terms of Reference pertaining to the review by Committee consist of
three significant issues, which interested parties have the opportunity
to speak to:
These
are topics of great concern to the investing public, as reflected in
extensive media coverage and public submissions to the OSC and
government committees. As the largest
securities regulator in Canada, the OSC’s strengths and weaknesses are
felt nationally and thereby draw greater attention.
Last
summer Mr. David Brown, Chair of the OSC, created a committee consisting
of Mr. Bryan Finlay, a partner with Weir Foulds; Mr. David Mullan, a
professor in Queens University’s faculty of law; and its chairman, Mr.
Coulter Osborne, a former appeal court associate chief justice who
currently serves as Ontario’s Integrity Commissioner, to report on the
adjudicative tribunal role of the OSC. I will refer to this report as
the Osborne Report.
This
very knowledgeable and respected committee completed the report prior to
April of this year. We are now on the cusp of August and there has been
no release of the report by the OSC, an agency of the government. The
OSC, through their legal counsel, Ms. Donna Martin-Sidey, advised March
16, 2004 that the OSC would not be releasing the Osborne Report.
Instead, it would be tabled to the legislative committee which was
struck to review the Crawford Report and that this Committee would
decide whether to make the Osborne Report public or not.
The
Government of Ontario has publicly committed to transparency and
disclosure. The immediate release of this report would demonstrate that
commitment.
I am
very concerned that an agency whose mandate is to administer and enforce
securities laws would choose not to share with investors the
recommendations of thoughtful experts on the subject of OSC adjudication
and conflicts of interest. Release of the Osborne report would
facilitate further thoughtful discussion at the Ontario Standing
Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs and implementation of
necessary reforms.
The
Osborne Report should be released immediately.
As the
Committee has been scheduled to meet for four days in August, and the
Report’s contents are a subject of that meeting, it does not make sense
to expect the public to comment on a paper which is not before them or
maybe placed before them at those meetings.
The
investing public deserves better disclosure.
Will the
Committee release the Osborne Report immediately in order that
presenters have the opportunity to prepare to comment on this Report
that was almost eight months in the making by such a knowledgeable
committee?
Secondly, since the timelines for presenters has not yet been
established, I suggest that any time limitation on any presenter
should not be less than twenty minutes. The three robust and critical
issues tabled, which affect all Ontarians and Canadians, cannot be
properly addressed if only permitted three minutes per issue, should a
ten minute limit be established.
Lastly,
if the Sub-Committee were to dedicate the entire first day of the
meetings to government experts, Ministry of Finance officials and the
OSC, will they be limited to the same time constraints as the interested
parties?
After
all, the opportunity for the public to participate at this level only
emerges every five years.
I look
forward to your response.
Kind
regards,
Robert
Kyle
Investor
Advocate
Toronto,
Ontario
E-mail:
investoradvocate@rogers.com
c. Pat Hoy, Chair, Standing Committee of Finance and
Economics and Sub -Committee
c. John Milloy, Member, Standing Committee of Finance and
Economics and Sub-Committee
c. John O’Toole, Member, Standing Committee of Finance and
Economics and Sub-Committee
c. Michael Prue, Member, Standing Committee of
Finance and Economics and Sub-Committee
