Protection of Public Participation Act, 2015 Meilleur, Hon. Madeleine Attorney General — Bill 52 (41st Parliament, 1st Session)

Bill 52, 41-1

Ontario — Bills

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Bill 52, Protection of Public Participation Act, 2015

Meilleur, Hon. Madeleine Attorney General

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[41] Bill 52 Royal Assent (PDF)

Bill 52 2015

An Act to amend the

Courts of Justice Act, the Libel and Slander Act and the Statutory Powers

Procedure Act in order to protect expression on matters of public interest

Her Majesty, by and

with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of

Ontario, enacts as follows:

Courts of Justice Act

1. Subsection

6 (1) of the Courts of Justice Act is amended by

adding the following clause:

(

d) an order made under

section

137.1.

Section

19 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsection:

Same

(1.0.1) Clauses

(1) (

a) and (

b) do not apply to orders made under

section 137.1.

3. The Act is amended by adding the following sections:

Prevention of Proceedings that

Limit Freedom of Expression on Matters of Public Interest (Gag Proceedings)

Dismissal of

proceeding that limits debate

Purposes

137.1

(1) The

purposes of this

section and sections 137.2 to 137.5 are,

(

a) to encourage individuals to

express themselves on matters of public interest;

(

b) to promote broad participation

in debates on matters of public interest;

(

c) to discourage the use of

litigation as a means of unduly limiting expression on matters of public interest;

and

(

d) to reduce the risk that

participation by the public in debates on matters of public interest will be hampered

by fear of legal action.

Definition,

"expression"

(2) In

this section,

"expression" means

any communication, regardless of whether it is made verbally or non-verbally,

whether it is made publicly or privately, and whether or not it is directed at

a person or entity.

Order

to dismiss

(3) On motion by a person against whom a

proceeding is brought, a judge shall, subject to subsection (4), dismiss the proceeding

against the person if the person satisfies the judge that the proceeding arises

from an expression made by the person that relates to a matter of public interest.

dismissal

(4) A judge shall not dismiss a proceeding

under subsection (3) if the responding party satisfies the judge that,

(

a) there

are grounds to believe that,

(

i) the

proceeding has substantial merit, and

(ii) the

moving party has no valid defence in the proceeding; and

(

b) the

harm likely to be or have been suffered by the responding party as a result of

the moving party's expression is sufficiently serious that the public interest

in permitting the proceeding to continue outweighs the public interest in protecting

that expression.

further steps in proceeding

(5) Once a motion under this

section is

made, no further steps may be taken in the proceeding by any party until the motion,

including any appeal of the motion, has been finally disposed of.

amendment to pleadings

(6) Unless a judge orders otherwise, the

responding party shall not be permitted to amend his or her pleadings in the proceeding,

(

a) in

order to prevent or avoid an order under this

section dismissing the

proceeding; or

(

b) if

the proceeding is dismissed under this section, in order to continue the

proceeding.

Costs

on dismissal

(7) If a judge dismisses a proceeding under

this section, the moving party is entitled to costs on the motion and in the proceeding

on a full indemnity basis, unless the judge determines that such an award is

not appropriate in the circumstances.

Costs

if motion to dismiss denied

(8) If a judge does not dismiss a

proceeding under this section, the responding party is not entitled to costs on

the motion, unless the judge determines that such an award is appropriate in

the circumstances.

Damages

(9) If, in dismissing a proceeding under

this section, the judge finds that the responding party brought the proceeding

in bad faith or for an improper purpose, the judge may award the moving party

such damages as the judge considers appropriate.

Procedural

matters

Commencement

137.2

(1) A

motion to dismiss a proceeding under

section 137.1 shall be made in accordance

with the rules of court, subject to the rules set out in this section, and may

be made at any time after the proceeding has commenced.

Motion

to be heard within 60 days

(2) A motion under

section 137.1 shall be

heard no later than 60 days after notice of the motion is filed with the court.

Hearing

date to be obtained in advance

(3) The moving party shall obtain the

hearing date for the motion from the court before notice of the motion is

served.

Limit

on cross-examinations

(4) Subject to subsection (5),

cross-examination on any documentary evidence filed by the parties shall not exceed

a total of seven hours for all plaintiffs in the proceeding and seven hours for

all defendants.

Same,

extension of time

(5) A judge may extend the time permitted

for cross-examination on documentary evidence if it is necessary to do so in

the interests of justice.

Appeal

to be heard as soon as practicable

137.3 An

appeal of an order under

section 137.1 shall be heard as soon as practicable

after the appellant perfects the appeal.

Stay

of related tribunal proceeding

137.4

(1) If

the responding party has begun a proceeding before a tribunal, within the meaning

of the Statutory Powers Procedure Act , and the

moving party believes that the proceeding relates to the same matter of public

interest that the moving party alleges is the basis of the proceeding that is

the subject of his or her motion under

section 137.1, the moving party may file

with the tribunal a copy of the notice of the motion that was filed with the

court and, on its filing, the tribunal proceeding is deemed to have been stayed

by the tribunal.

Notice

(2) The tribunal shall give to each party

to a tribunal proceeding stayed under subsection (1),

(

a) notice

of the stay; and

(

b) a

copy of the notice of motion that was filed with the tribunal.

Duration

(3) A stay of a tribunal proceeding under

subsection (1) remains in effect until the motion, including any appeal of the

motion, has been finally disposed of, subject to subsection (4).

Stay

may be lifted

(4) A judge may, on motion, order that the

stay is lifted at an earlier time if, in his or her opinion,

(

a) the

stay is causing or would likely cause undue hardship to a party to the tribunal

proceeding; or

(

b) the

proceeding that is the subject of the motion under

section 137.1 and the

tribunal proceeding that was stayed under subsection (1) are not sufficiently

related to warrant the stay.

Same

(5) A motion under subsection (4) shall be

brought before a judge of the Superior Court of Justice or, if the decision

made on the motion under

section 137.1 is under appeal, a judge of the Court of

Appeal .

Statutory Powers Procedure Act

(6) This

section applies despite anything

to the contrary in the Statutory Powers Procedure Act .

Application

137.5 Sections

137.1 to 137.4 apply in respect of proceedings commenced on or after the day

the Protection of Public Participation Act, 2015

received first reading.

Libel and Slander Act

4. The

Libel and Slander Act is amended by adding the

following section:

Communications on Public Interest Matters

Application

of qualified privilege

25. Any

qualified privilege that applies in respect of an oral or written communication

on a matter of public interest between two or more persons who have a direct

interest in the matter applies regardless of whether the communication is witnessed

or reported on by media representatives or other persons.

Statutory Powers Procedure Act

5. Subsections

17.1 (7), (8) and (9) of the Statutory Powers Procedure

Act are repealed and the following substituted:

Submissions

must be in writing

(7) Despite sections 5.1, 5.2 and 5.2.1,

submissions for a costs order, whether under subsection (1) or under an

authority referred to in subsection (6), shall be made by way of written or

electronic documents, unless a party satisfies the tribunal that to do so is

likely to cause the party significant prejudice.

Commencement and

Short Title

Commencement

6. This

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

Short

title

7. The

short title of this Act is the Protection of Public

Participation Act, 2015 .

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This

Explanatory Note was written as a reader's aid to Bill 52 and does not form

part of the law. Bill 52 has been enacted as

Chapter 23 of the Statutes of

Ontario, 2015 .

The Bill amends the Courts of Justice Act to add sections 137.1 to 137.5,

which create a process for getting a proceeding against a person dismissed if

it is shown that the proceeding arises from an expression made by the person

that relates to a matter of public interest (section 3 of the Bill). Subsection

137.1 (1) sets out the purposes of the new sections.

Under subsection

137.1 (3), a person against whom a proceeding is brought may bring a motion to

get the proceeding dismissed on the basis that the proceeding arises from an

expression made by the person that relates to a matter of public interest

(subsection 137.1 (2) defines "expression" for the purposes of

section 137.1).

If the judge hearing the motion is satisfied of this, he or she must dismiss

the proceeding unless the party who brought the proceeding satisfies the judge

that the proceeding should not be dismissed because the conditions in subsection

137.1 (4) are met. These conditions include that there are grounds to believe

that the proceeding has substantial merit and that the person against whom the

proceeding was brought has no valid defence in the proceeding. Once a motion

under

section 137.1 is brought, no further steps may be taken in the proceeding

until the motion is finally disposed of (subsection 137.1 (5)).

Section 137.1

also sets out restrictions on amending pleadings in the proceeding (subsection

137.1 (6)) and sets out rules for awards of costs and damages on the motion to

dismiss (subsections 137.1 (7), (8) and (9)).

Section 137.2 deals

with various procedural aspects of the motion to dismiss under

section 137.1.

These include that the motion may be brought at any time after the proceeding

to which it relates has commenced (subsection 137.2 (1)); that the motion must

be heard within 60 days (subsection 137.2 (2)); and that cross-examination on

documentary evidence is limited to seven hours per side, unless a judge orders

otherwise (subsections 137.2 (4) and (5)).

An appeal of a motion

under

section 137.1 must be heard as soon as practicable (section 137.3).

Sections 1 and 2 of the Bill amend sections 6 and 19 of the Act to provide that

appeals of motions made under

section 137.1 shall be heard by the Court of

Appeal.

Section 137.4 creates

a process by which a person who brought a motion under

section 137.1 can have a

tribunal proceeding automatically stayed if he or she believes that the

tribunal proceeding is related to the same matter of public interest that he or

she alleges is the basis of the proceeding that is the subject of his or her

motion under

section 137.1. The stay remains in effect until the motion under

section 137.1 is finally disposed of (subsection 137.4 (3)); however, a judge

may, on motion, order that it be lifted earlier if one of the conditions in

subsection 137.4 (4) is met.

Section 137.5

specifies that sections 137.1 to 137.4 apply to proceedings commenced on or

after the day the Bill received first reading.

The Bill also amends

the Libel and Slander Act to add

section 25, which

states that any qualified privilege that applies in respect of an oral or

written communication on a matter of public interest between two or more

persons who have a direct interest in the matter applies regardless of whether

the com

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 52, 41-1
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p41 s1 bill 52 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	327d256bb16e953fb75d1555725400f4c9d92a90

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