Towing Industry Act, 2008 Zimmer, David — Bill 87 (39th Parliament, 1st Session)

Bill 87, 39-1

Ontario — Bills

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Bill 87, Towing Industry Act, 2008

Zimmer, David

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[39] Bill 87 Original (PDF)

Bill 87 2008

An Act to

regulate the motor vehicle towing industry in Ontario

Her

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

Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Purpose

1. The

purpose of this Act is to regulate the towing industry in Ontario so that the

public may have access to towing services of high quality provided in

accordance with honesty and integrity and at a reasonable cost.

Interpretation

2. In

this Act,

"board"

means the board of directors of the Council; ("conseil d 'administration " )

"Council" means the Towing Industry Council of Ontario established under

section 12; ("Conseil")

"highway traffic incident management" means a systematic, province-wide,

multi-agency effort to improve the management of highway incidents, including

but not limited to crashes, disabled and abandoned vehicles, criminal seizures

of vehicles and articles, debris in the roadway, work zones, highway patrols,

adverse weather, and other events and emergencies that impact the transportation

system; ("gestion des incidents de la route")

"Minister" means the Minister of Government and Consumer Services or

another member of the Executive Council to whom responsibility for the

administration of this Act is assigned; ("ministre")

"operator" means a person who carries on a towing business, whether in

whole or in part; ("exploitant")

"person" means an individual, an association, a partnership or a

corporation; ("personne")

"prescribed" means prescribed by the regulations; ("prescrit")

"Registrar" means the Registrar appointed under

section 17;

("registrateur")

"registration" includes a certificate or permit issued with respect to

the registration of an operator, tow truck driver or tow truck under

section 3;

("inscription")

"regulations" means the regulations made under this Act; ("règlements")

"representative of the towing industry" means an individual who is

registered under this Act or who is a shareholder or a partner in a towing

business or who, prior to the coming into force of this Act, offered towing services

to the public or was a shareholder or a partner in a towing business, or any

other individual that the Council considers to be a representative of the towing

industry; ("représentant de l'industrie du remorquage")

"towing business" means the business that consists of offering or

providing towing services to the public; ("enterprise de remorquage")

"tow truck" means a motor vehicle, including a wrecker and a flatbed tow

truck, equipped with a mechanical or hydraulic device used to lift, tow, winch

or otherwise move another motor vehicle, but does not include,

(

a) a

motor vehicle owned and used exclusively by a governmental entity,

(

b) a

motor vehicle towing a race car, a motor vehicle for exhibition or an antique

motor vehicle,

(

c) a

recreational vehicle towing another vehicle,

(

d) a

motor vehicle used in combination with a tow bar, tow dolly or other mechanical

device if the vehicle is not operated in the furtherance of a commercial

enterprise, or

(

e) a

motor vehicle that is controlled or operated by a farmer and that is used for

towing a farm vehicle; ("dépanneuse")

"tow truck driver" means a person who operates a tow truck for the

purpose of providing towing services to the public; ("conducteur de d épanneuse ")

"towing services" includes storing vehicles that have been towed and

storage services in which a towing business has a financial or contractual

interest. ("services de remorquage")

Registration of towing business required

(1) No

person shall carry on a towing business unless the person is registered as an

operator under this Act.

Registration of tow truck required

(2) No person shall operate or permit another person to

operate a tow truck for the purpose of carrying on a towing business unless the

tow truck is registered under this Act.

Registration of tow truck drivers required

(3) No

person shall operate a tow truck for the purpose of providing towing services

unless the person is registered under this Act.

Prohibition

(4) An operator shall not retain the services of a person

as a tow truck driver unless the person is registered as such under this Act.

Clarification of requirement for registration

(5) A person who owns or operates a fleet of motor

vehicles for the purpose of carrying on a business is not required to register

as an operator under subsection (1) if the person's business does not include

the provision of towing services to the public, but only with respect to the

motor vehicles in the fleet.

Same

(6) The person described in subsection (5) shall ensure

that a tow truck driver retained for the purpose of towing motor vehicles in a

fleet and any tow truck operated by the driver are registered under this

section.

Application for registration

(1) A

person who wishes to be registered as an operator or a tow truck driver, or to

register a tow truck, under

section 3 shall apply to the Registrar in

accordance with the prescribed procedures.

Eligibility

(2) A person is eligible to be registered as an operator or

a tow truck driver if the person meets the prescribed requirements.

Same

(3) A tow truck may be registered if it meets the prescribed

requirements.

Registration of persons

(1) The

Registrar shall register a person if the person has made an application in

accordance with the prescribed procedures and is eligible for registration.

Registration of tow truck

(2) The Registrar shall register a tow truck if the

applicant for the registration has made an application in accordance with the

prescribed procedures and the tow truck is eligible for registration.

Referral of application

(3) The

Registrar shall refer an application for registration to the registration

committee,

(

a) if

the Registrar considers on reasonable grounds that the person may not be

eligible to be registered; or

(

b) despite

subsection (1), if the Registrar considers on reasonable grounds that terms,

conditions or limitations should be imposed on the registration.

Effect of referral

(4) The registration committee shall determine whether the

person or tow truck may be registered and whether the application for

registration has been made in accordance with the prescribed procedures and may

impose such terms, conditions or limitations on the registration as the

committee considers appropriate.

Variation of terms, conditions or limitations

(5) The registration committee may vary or remove any of

the terms, conditions or limitations on a registration in such circumstances as

may be prescribed.

Application for variation

(6) A person who wants to have any of the terms, conditions

or limitations on a registration varied or removed shall apply in accordance

with the prescribed procedures.

Suspension of

registration

(1) The

Registrar may suspend a person's registration on any of the grounds set out in

the regulations.

Same, tow truck

(2) The Registrar may suspend the registration of a tow

truck on any of the grounds set out in the regulations.

Application for reinstatement

(3) A person whose registration is suspended may apply to

have it reinstated and shall do so in accordance with the prescribed

procedures.

Same

(4) The Registrar shall decide an application for the

reinstatement of a suspended registration in accordance with the prescribed

criteria.

Revocation of registration

7. The

board may revoke the registration of an operator or a tow truck driver,

(

a) if

the operator or driver is found guilty of an offence that, if committed in

Ontario, would be an offence under the laws of Canada or of Ontario and that renders

the person unsuitable to registered;

(

b) if

the operator or driver fails to comply with this Act, the code of ethics or any

other regulation made under this Act; or

(

c) in

such other circumstances as may be prescribed.

Appeal of decisions

(1) An

applicant for a registration or a registered person, as the case may be, and

the Council may appeal a decision of the registration committee with respect to

the applicant or person to the board.

Same, Divisional Court

(2) The applicant or registered person, as the case may

be, and the Council may appeal a decision of the board under subsection (1) to

the Divisional Court.

Appeal of revocation

(3) A person whose registration has been revoked under

section 7 may appeal the decision to the Divisional Court.

Complaints

and Discipline

Complaints committee

(1) The

complaints committee may consider and investigate the conduct of a registered

person for any purpose related to towing, either pursuant to a complaint or on

its own initiative, and for that purpose may appoint a person to investigate

the circumstances of the complaint or other matter.

Powers of investigator

(2) An

investigator has the following powers and duties for the purpose of an

investigation under this Act:

1. Upon

request, the investigator shall produce evidence of his or her appointment.

2. The

investigator may examine a document, record or other thing that he or she

believes to be relevant to the investigation.

3. The

investigator may demand that a document, record or other thing be produced for

inspection if he or she believes it to be relevant to the investigation.

4. The

investigator may remove a document, record or other thing for review and

copying if he or she believes it to be relevant to the investigation. The

investigator shall return it within a reasonable time.

5. In

order to produce a record in readable form, the investigator may use data

storage, information processing or retrieval devices or systems that are

normally used in carrying on business in the place in which he or she is

conducting the investigation.

6. The

investigator may question any person about matters that the investigator

believes to be relevant to the investigation.

Powers of entry

(3) An

investigator may enter lands or business premises, other than a private

dwelling, without the consent of the owner or occupier and without a warrant if

the entry is for the purpose of an investigation under this section, or with a

warrant issued under subsection (5).

Entry to dwelling

(4) An

investigator shall not enter a private dwelling unless the investigator has

obtained,

(

a) the

consent of the owner of the dwelling and, if the occupier of the dwelling is

not the owner, the consent of the occupier; or

(

b) the

authority of a warrant issued under subsection (5).

Warrant

(5) A justice of the peace may issue a warrant authorizing

the person named in the warrant to do anything permitted under subsection

(2).

Requirements for warrant to issue

(6) A warrant may be issued under subsection (5) if the

justice of the peace is satisfied on information under oath that,

(

a) an investigator has

been prevented from doing anything permitted under subsection (2) or there are

reasonable grounds to believe that the investigator may be prevented from

doing any of those things or that evidence relevant to the investigation may be

destroyed; or

(

b) it

is necessary that a private dwelling be entered for the purposes of conducting

the investigation or there is in the private dwelling a document or thing that

there are reasonable grounds to believe is relevant to the investigation.

Same

(7) Subject to subsection (8), the power to enter lands or

business premises may be exercised at any reasonable time.

Notice

(8) In the absence of a warrant under subsection (5), the

power to enter lands or business premises shall not be exercised unless

reasonable notice of the entry has been given to the owner of the property and,

if the occu

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 87, 39-1
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p39 s1 bill 87 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	2ddca559909243b0480195fdebc566883db0afbe

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