Truth in Government Act, 2010 MacLeod, Lisa — Bill 39 (39th Parliament, 2nd Session)

Bill 39, 39-2

Ontario — Bills

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Bill 39, Truth in Government Act, 2010

MacLeod, Lisa

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[39] Bill 39 Original (PDF)

Bill 39 2010

An Act to provide for the disclosure

of financial information in the public sector

Note:

This Act amends the Freedom

of Information and Protection of Privacy Act . For the legislative

history of the Act, see the Table of Consolidated Public Statutes – Detailed

Legislative History at www.e-Laws.gov.on.ca.

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,

"public

entity" means an entity described in any one of clauses (a), (

c) to (

i) and (

k) to (

n) of the definition of "public sector" in subsection 2 (1) of the Public Sector Salary Disclosure

Act, 1996 ; ("entit é publique ")

"quarter year" means the period in each year from January 1 to March 31,

from April 1 to June 30, from July 1 to September 30 or from October 1 to

December 31. ("trimestre")

Disclosure

of contracts

(1) If

a public entity has entered into a contract with any person or body for goods

or services, other than for services provided by employees, for a total

consideration of at least $10,000 and the contract has not been fully performed

by the date that this Act receives Royal Assent, the entity shall maintain a

website on the Internet and post on the website the information listed in subsection

(3) with respect to each such contract within 30 days after the date that this

Act receives Royal Assent.

Same,

future contracts

(2) A public entity that, in a quarter year, enters into a

contract with any person or body for goods or services, other than for services

provided by employees, for a total consideration of at least $10,000 shall

maintain a website on the Internet and post on the website the information

listed in subsection (3) with respect to each such contract within 30 days

after the end of the quarter year.

Contract

information

(3) The information mentioned in subsection (1) or

(2) with respect to a contract shall be,

(

a) the

name of the person or body with whom the public entity has entered into the

contract;

(

b) a

unique identifying number for the contract;

(

c) the

total consideration of the contract;

(

d) the

date that the contract was entered into;

(

e) a

brief description of the goods that the contract requires be delivered or the

services that the contract requires be performed;

(

f) a

list of the dates by which the contract requires goods to be delivered or

services to be performed; and

(

g) the

date by which the contract requires all goods to be delivered or all services

to be fully performed.

Information

about performance

(4) Within 30 days after the end of the quarter year in

which there falls the date by which a contract to which subsection (1) or

(2) applies requires all goods to be delivered or all services to be fully

performed, the public entity that entered into the contract shall update the

posting on its website that it was required to make under that applicable

subsection by,

(

a) indicating

with a Yes or No answer whether the goods that the contract required be delivered

or the services that the contract required to be performed were done on time

and on budget; and

(

b) if

the answer under clause (

a) is No, providing a full explanation of the reasons

for which the answer is No.

Disclosure

of grants

(1) If

a public entity that has entered into an arrangement to make a grant of at

least $10,000 to any person or body and the grant has not been fully paid by

the date that this Act receives Royal Assent, the entity shall maintain a

website on the Internet and post on the website the information listed in

subsection (3) with respect to the grant within 30 days of the date that this

Act receives Royal Assent.

Same,

future grants

(2) A public entity that enters into an arrangement to

make a grant of at least $10,000 to any person or body shall maintain a website

on the Internet and post on the website the information listed in subsection

(3) with respect to the grant within 30 days after the end of the quarter year

in which there falls the date on which any payment is made under the grant.

Grant

or payment information

(3) The information mentioned in subsection (1) or (2) for

a grant or a payment under the grant shall be, if not previously provided under

the applicable subsection,

(

a) the name of the person or body to whom the

public entity is required to make the grant;

(

b) the name of the person or body to whom the payment

under the grant is made;

(

c) a unique identifying number for the grant or

payment;

(

d) the total amount payable under the grant or payment;

(

e) the date that the arrangement to make the

grant was entered into;

(

f) a brief description of the project that the

grant is intended to support;

(

g) a list of the dates on which payments are

payable under the grant; and

(

h) the date on which the final payment is

payable under the grant.

Value of grant

(4) Within 30 days

after the end of the quarter year in which there falls the date on which the

final payment is payable under a grant to which subsection (1) or (2) applies,

the public entity that entered into the arrangement to make the grant shall

update the posting on its website that it was required to make under that

applicable subsection by providing,

(

a) a brief description of the project that the

grant was intended to support; and

(

b) a statement whether the entity considers that

the grant has achieved value for the money paid under the grant and a full

explanation of the reasons justifying the statement.

Travel and hospitality expenses

4. A public

entity that incurs expenses for travel and hospitality in a quarter year in the

course of carrying on its activities shall maintain a website on the Internet

and post on the website the following information within 30 days after the end

of the quarter year:

1. The total of all such

expenses.

2. A breakdown of each expense

that forms part of the total described in paragraph 1 showing,

i. the name of the

individual who incurred the expense on behalf of the entity,

ii. the total amount of

the expense,

iii. the date of

incurring the expense,

iv. a description of the

expense and the purpose of it, and

v. if the expense is for

travel, an itemized breakdown of the expense showing,

A. the mode of

travel involved,

B. the amount

spent on accommodation,

C. the amount

spent on meals, the number of meals involved and a breakdown of the meals among

breakfasts, lunches and dinners, and

D. a description of all other components of the

expense.

Position

reclassifications

5. A

public entity that, in a quarter year, reclassifies any position of any of its

employees or persons whose services it retains shall maintain a website on the

Internet and post on the website the following information within 30 days after

the end of the quarter year:

1. The

title of the position, both before and after the reclassification.

2. The

date of the reclassification.

3. The

pay and benefits scale that applied to the position, both before and after the

reclassification.

4. A

statement of the reasons justifying the reclassification.

Failure

to disclose information

(1) If

a public entity fails to comply with any of sections 2 to 5, the Management

Board of Cabinet may require a ministry of the Crown to withhold part or all of

any amount authorized by appropriation of the Legislature or by Act to be paid

by the ministry to that entity to fund any activity or program of that entity.

Payment

of amount withheld

(2) Subject to subsection (3), an amount withheld under

subsection (1) shall be paid to the public entity from whom it is withheld only

when the entity complies with the applicable one of sections 2 to 5.

Failure

continuing past fiscal year end

(3) A public entity ceases to be entitled to payment of

any amount withheld under subsection (1) if the failure to comply with the

applicable one of sections 2 to 5 continues to March 31 next following the date

on which the direction to withhold was given, and in that case, the amount

withheld is part of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Disclosure

not breach of any Act or agreement

7. The

disclosure of information in accordance with this Act, or in the reasonable belief

that the disclosure is required by this Act, shall not be deemed by any court

or person,

(

a) to

contravene any Act or regulation enacted or made before or after the coming

into force of this Act; or

(

b) to

be in breach of or contrary to any agreement that purports to restrict or

prohibit that disclosure regardless of whether the agreement is made before or

after the coming into force of this Act.

This

Act prevails

(1) The

provisions of this Act prevail over any other Act or regulation unless another

Act specifically refers to those provisions and provides otherwise.

Same,

contracts

(2) This Act prevails over any agreement that provides

otherwise.

Regulations

(1) The

Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,

(

a) defining

any term in this Act that is not defined in this Act;

(

b) specifying

how a public entity that is required to post any thing or information on its website

under this Act is required to present the posting;

(

c) respecting

any matter necessary or advisable to carry out effectively the purposes of this

Act.

Scope

of regulations

(2) A regulation may be of general application or specific

to any person, thing or class of persons or things in its application.

Freedom

of Information and Protection of Privacy Act

(1) The

definition of "institution" in subsection 2 (1) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act

is amended by striking out "and" at the end of clause (a.1) and by adding the

following clause:

(a.2) any

agency, board, commission, corporation or other body that comes within the

meaning of "public entity" as defined in the Truth in Government Act, 2010 , and

(2) Subsection 60 (1) of the Act is amended by adding the

following clause:

(i.1) designating

a head for any institution for the purposes of clause (

b) of the definition of

"head" in subsection 2 (1);

Commencement

and

Short Title

Commencement

11. This

Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short

title

12. The

short title of this Act is Truth

in Government Act, 2010 .

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The

Bill applies to certain specified entities in the public sector. It requires

those entities to make disclosure of the following information on a quarterly

basis: contracts that it enters into for goods or services, other than for

services provided by employees, for a total value of $10,000 or more, grants

that it agrees to make of $10,000 or more, expenses for travel and hospitality

incurred in the course of carrying on its activities and reclassification of

any position of any of its employees or persons whose services it retains. A

public sector entity is required to make the disclosure on a website that it

maintains on the Internet.

The

Bill also amends the Freedom

of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to make the public

sector entities to which the Bill applies institutions within the meaning of

that Act.

Date Bill stage Activity Committee

May 6, 2010

Second Reading

Lost on recorded division

May 6, 2010

Second Reading

Debate

April 20, 2010

First Reading

Carried

Debates and Progress

First Reading

April 20, 2010

Committee

Second Reading

May 6, 2010

Ms. Lisa MacLeod, Mr. Rosario Marchese, Hon. Harinder S. Takhar, Mr. John O'Toole, Mr. Bob Delaney, Mr. John Yakabuski

May 6, 2010

Lost on recorded division.

Committee

Third Reading

Royal Assent

Acts affected - Bill 39

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 39, 39-2
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p39 s2 bill 39 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	14215373e5b7a0dcd09e3932474849dcb6a7727e

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