E-Laws Discontinues the Detailed Legislative History Tables – Sign Our Petition Today!
As you may have heard, during the recent E-Laws website migration, the decision was taken to discontinue producing the Detailed Legislative History Tables.
In 2002, Ontario stopped publishing the Table of Public Statutes in the Statutes of Ontario. Instead the SO directed users to E-Laws for these tables moving forward.
The Table of Public Statutes has been published since 1877 as an important historical legal research tool.
Now the tables have been discontinued outright, however the E-Laws team has not yet devised a solution to take its place.
Accordingly, I have prepared a letter and petition to the Ontario Attorney General requesting that these tables be re-instated, at least as long as a suitable replacement tool can be devised.
To sign the petition, please click here. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/elaws
Please visit this website to view the entire letter.
Please circulate this petition widely. I hope to deliver it by June 15.
At the e-laws Lunch & Learn held on Wednesday, we were expressly told by the speaker (who’s name escapes me, but she was the Director or Manager of the Legislative office overlooking e-laws, so someone who ought to know) said she was shocked and appalled by the number of errors found in the Table as it appeared on e-laws. She recommended when doing Legislative research to always use the Source Law; do not rely on the Table. And there is an explicit warning on it to this effect. Maybe they shouldn’t be continued.
There are plans to use footnotes (as is being done in the Manitoba online statutes) to serve as Legislative History. The new e-laws is not yet in its final form.
Linda, just because there were errors doesn’t mean the product should be discontinued. The unwieldiness of the tables caused by the cancellation of the RSO could have been solved in a manner similar to what BC does. these and other solutions are in the petition letter.