Gas Price Watchdog Act, 1999 Colle, Mike — Bill 27 (36th Parliament, 3rd Session)

Bill 27, 36-3

Ontario — Bills

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Bill 27, Gas Price Watchdog Act, 1999

Colle, Mike

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Bill 27

Bill 271999

An Act respecting the price of motor vehicle fuel and the

appointment of a Gas Price Watchdog

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative

Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Definitions

1. In this Act, "

consumer" means a person who acquires motor vehicle fuel for his or her

own use and not for the purpose of selling, exchanging or otherwise disposing

thereof and does not include a person who purchases motor vehicle fuel for

use in a business under a written contract containing bulk purchasing

provisions with volume discounts; ("consommateur") "

Gas Price Watchdog" means the person appointed to hold office under

section 3; ("agent de surveillance des prix du carburant") "

manufacturer" means any person who manufactures, refines or makes motor

vehicle fuel or any component thereof; ("fabricant") "

Minister" means Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations;

("ministre") "

motor vehicle" means any vehicle legally entitled to be driven on public

roads, highways and streets and which operates by means of motor vehicle

fuel; ("vhicule automobile") "

motor vehicle fuel" means a liquid product, whether or not distilled or

recovered from petroleum, which by itself or in mixture with other products,

by combustion, develops the power required for operating internal combustion

engines, and includes gasoline, diesel fuels, propane and ethanol fuels;

("carburant pour vhicules automobiles") "

prescribed" means prescribed by regulation; ("prescrit") "

regulation" means a regulation made under this Act; ("rglement") "

retailer" means a person who keeps for sale or sells motor vehicle fuel to

a consumer and includes a person who is also a wholesaler; ("dtaillant")

retailer margin" means the difference between the price at which a

retailer buys a motor vehicle fuel from a wholesaler and the price at which

the retailer sells the motor vehicle fuel to a consumer; ("marge brute du

dtaillant") "

retail outlet" includes every location at which a retailer sells motor

vehicle fuel, whether on a permanent or temporary basis; ("point de vente")

wholesaler" means a person who keeps for sale or sells motor vehicle fuel

to a retailer and includes a person who is also a retailer. ("grossiste")

Purpose

2. The purpose of the Act is,

(a)to ensure that retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers be accountable

to the public with respect to the pricing of motor vehicle fuel;

(b)to ensure reasonable and competitive prices of motor vehicle fuel

within Ontario; and

(c)to protect employees of retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers from

retaliation for having disclosed any pricing practices of the retailer,

wholesaler or manufacturer that contravene this Act.

Gas Price Watchdog

(1) An office is hereby established to be known as the

carburant in French.

Appointment

(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may appoint a person to hold the

office of Gas Price Watchdog.

Qualification, term of appointment

(3) The qualifications, term of appointment and replacement of the Gas

Price Watchdog shall be as set out in the regulations.

Duties

(4) The duties of the Gas Price Watchdog are,

(a)to monitor and report to the Minister on pricing practices with respect

to motor vehicle fuel in the Province;

(b)to conduct inquiries under

section 4;

(c)to receive, consider and determine the validity of complaints about

reprisals made under

section 7; and

(d)to carry out such other duties as may be prescribed.

Inquiry by Gas Price Watchdog

(1) Upon order of the Minister, the Gas Price Watchdog

shall conduct an inquiry into pricing practices in the Province with respect

to motor vehicle fuel.

Scope of inquiry

(2) The scope of the inquiry shall be specified by the Minister and may be

limited to one or more retailer, wholesaler or manufacturer.

Public hearings

(3) The Gas Price Watchdog may hold public hearings in the course of an

inquiry under this section.

Petitions

(4) The Minister shall order the Gas Price Watchdog to conduct an inquiry

under subsection (1) if the Minister receives a petition requesting an

inquiry into a matter relating to the price of motor vehicle fuel and the

petition is signed by at least 50,000 residents of Ontario.

Report

(5) The Gas Price Watchdog shall prepare a report of the results of its

inquiry for the Minister who shall table the report in the Assembly.

Prohibition, collusion to set prices

(1) No person shall conspire, agree or collude to

increase or decrease the price of motor vehicle fuel.

Prohibition, collusion to set retailer margin

(2) No person shall conspire, agree or collude to increase or decrease the

retailer margin with respect to motor vehicle fuel.

Evidence of collusion

(3) Evidence of two or more retailers, wholesalers or manufacturers

increasing or decreasing the price of motor vehicle fuel or the retailer

margin with respect to motor vehicle fuel simultaneously or in close

succession shall not, absent any corroborating evidence of actual

communication or agreement between the parties, constitute sufficient

evidence of conspiracy, agreement or collusion for the purposes of a

conviction under subsection (1) or (2).

Prohibition, reprisals

6. No retailer, wholesaler or manufacturer of motor

vehicle fuel shall dismiss, discipline, penalize or in any way coerce or

intimidate an employee because the employee has, acting in good faith, done

any of the following:

1.Complied with or sought the enforcement of this Act or the

regulations.

2.Given information to an appropriate authority for the purposes of an

investigation or inquiry related to the enforcement of this Act or the

regulations.

3.Given evidence in a proceeding under this Act.

4.Done a prescribed act.

Complaints about reprisals

(1) Any person may file a written complaint with the

Gas Price Watchdog alleging that an employer has contravened

section 6.

Inquiry by Gas Price Watchdog

(2) The Gas Price Watchdog shall inquire into any complaint received under

subsection (1).

Order of Gas Price Watchdog

(3) If the Gas Price Watchdog, after inquiring into the complaint, is

satisfied that the employer has contravened

section 6, the Gas Price Watchdog

shall make one or more of the following orders:

1.An order directing the employer to cease doing the act or acts

complained of.

2.An order directing the employer to rectify the act or acts complained

of.

3.An order directing the employer to reinstate in employment or hire the

employee, with or without compensation, or to compensate, instead of hiring

or reinstatement, for loss of earnings or other employment benefits in an

amount determined by the Gas Price Watchdog.

Failure to comply

(4) If an employer fails to comply with a term of an order made under

subsection (3) within 14 days of the date the order was made, the employee

may file a copy of the order with the Superior Court of Justice and the order

may be enforced as though it were an order of the court.

Civil remedy

(5) This

section shall not be interpreted so as to limit any other right

an employee may have under this Act, any other Act or at law to seek a remedy

with respect to adverse employment action.

Inspectors

(1) The Minister may appoint inspectors for the

purpose of ensuring compliance with this Act.

Inspection

(2) For the purpose of determining whether this Act is being complied

with, an inspector may, without a warrant, enter and inspect places owned or

operated by a retailer, wholesaler or manufacturer.

Restricted appointment

(3) The Minister may, in an appointment, restrict the inspector's powers

of entry and inspection to specified places or types of places.

Time of entry

(4) The power to enter and inspect a place without a warrant may be

exercised only during daylight hours or, in the case of a place of business,

during the place's regular business hours.

Dwellings

(5) The power to enter and inspect a place without a warrant shall not be

exercised to enter and inspect a part of the place that is used as a dwelling

unless reasonable notice has been given to the occupier of the dwelling.

Use of force

(6) An inspector is not entitled to use force to enter and inspect a

place.

Identification

(7) An inspector conducting an inspection shall produce, on request,

evidence of his or her appointment.

Powers of inspectors

(8) An inspector conducting an inspection may,

(a)examine a record or other thing that is relevant to the inspection;

(b)demand the production for inspection of a document or other thing that

is relevant to the inspection;

(c)remove for review and copying a record or other thing that is relevant

to the inspection;

(d)in order to produce a record in readable form, use data storage,

information processing or retrieval devices or systems that are normally used

in carrying on business in the place; and

(e)question a person on matters relevant to the inspection.

Written demand

(9) A demand that a record or other thing be produced for inspection must

be in writing and must include a statement of the nature of the record or

thing required.

Obligation to produce and assist

(10) If an inspector demands that a record or other thing be produced for

inspection, the person who has custody of the record or thing shall produce

it and, in the case of a record, shall on request provide any assistance that

is reasonably necessary to interpret the record or to produce it in a

readable form.

Removal of things

(11) A record or other thing that has been removed for review and

copying,

(a)shall be made available to the person from whom it was removed, for

review and copying, on request and at a time and place that are convenient

for the person and for the inspector; and

(b)shall be returned to the person within a reasonable time.

Copy admissible in evidence

(12) A copy of a record that purports to be certified by an inspector as

being a true copy of the original is admissible in evidence to the same

extent as the original, and has the same evidentiary value.

Obstruction

(13) No person shall hinder, obstruct or interfere with an inspector

conducting an inspection, refuse to answer questions on matters relevant to

the inspection or provide the inspector with information, on matters relevant

to the inspection, that the person knows to be false or misleading.

Offences

(1) Any person who contravenes subsection 5 (1) or

(2),

section 6 or subsection 8 (13) is guilty of an offence and on conviction

is liable to a fine of up to,

(a)$20,000, if the person is an individual; or

(b)$250,000, if the person is a corporation.

Additional penalties

(2) A court may prohibit a retailer, wholesaler or manufacturer convicted

of an offence referred to in subsection (1) from selling motor vehicle fuel

for a period of up to three months.

Directors and officers

(1) A director or officer of a corporation that

engages in the sale of motor vehicle fuel has a duty to take reasonable care

to prevent the corporation from contravening subsection 5 (1) or (2),

section

6 or subsection 8 (13).

Offence

(2) A director or officer who is subject to a duty under subsection

(1) and fails to carry it out is, on conviction, liable to a fine of up to

$75,000.

Failure to pay fines

11. A person who is convicted of an offence under

section

9 or under subsection 10 (2) and who fails to pay the imposed fine is guilty

of an offence and on conviction is liable to imprisonment for up to 12

months.

Regulations

(1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make

regulations,

(a)governing the qualifications of the Gas Price Watchdog, his or her

remuneration, term of appointment and re

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 27, 36-3
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p36 s3 bill 27 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	03493f0150601a40b1445ba5b2ad5222b329a53b

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