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Bill 242, Safer Municipalities Act, 2024

Calandra, Hon. Paul Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing

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Bill 242 Original (PDF)

EXPLANATORY

NOTE

SCHEDULE 1

RESTRICTING PUBLIC CONSUMPTION OF ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES ACT, 2024

The

Schedule enacts the Restricting Public Consumption of

Illegal Substances Act, 2024 .

Subject

to specified exemptions, the Act prohibits the consumption of an illegal

substance in a public place.

The

Act provides that a “public place” is a place to which the general public is

invited or permitted. It includes any structure, such as a tent, used as a

dwelling in a public place, if its use as a dwelling in the public place is not

permitted by law.

police officer or prescribed provincial offences officer may issue directions

to a person if the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person is

consuming an illegal substance in a public place. The person may be directed to

cease consuming the illegal substance in the public place. The person may be

directed to leave the public place. Finally, the person may be directed to provide

their full name, date of birth and address. The officer may also seize, remove

and destroy substances they reasonably believe to be illegal substances. Seized

substances may be submitted for analysis by designated analysts.

is an offence to fail to comply with a direction. An officer may arrest,

without warrant, a person who the officer believes on reasonable grounds is guilty

of an offence. A person convicted of an offence is liable to a fine of not more

than $10,000 or to imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.

The

Lieutenant Governor in Council is given authority to make regulations

respecting various matters under the Act.

SCHEDULE 2

TRESPASS TO PROPERTY ACT

Section

2 of the Trespass to Property Act establishes a

trespass offence, and sets out a penalty on conviction of a fine of not more

than $10,000. The

Schedule amends

section 2 by adding two aggravating factors

that must be considered in the court’s determination of a penalty under that

section:

1. The

defendant was given notice to leave the premises and was on the premises in

contravention of

section 2 after the applicable period of time, regardless of

whether the defendant left the premises in the interval.

2. At

the time of sentencing, the court finds that the defendant is likely to

trespass at any time in the future.

addition, a small number of corrections and updates are made to the French

version of the Act.

Bill 242 2024

An Act to enact the Restricting Public

Consumption of Illegal Substances Act, 2024 and to amend the Trespass to

Property Act respecting sentencing

CONTENTS

Contents

of this Act

Commencement

Short

title

Schedule

Restricting

Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act, 2024

Schedule

Trespass

to Property Act

His

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

Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Contents

of this Act

1 This

Act consists of this section, sections 2 and 3 and the Schedules to this Act.

Commencement

(1) Except

as otherwise provided in this section, this Act comes into force on the day it

receives Royal Assent.

(2) The

Schedules to this Act come into force as provided in each Schedule.

(3) If

a

Schedule to this Act provides that any provisions are to come into force on a

day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor, a proclamation may

apply to one or more of those provisions, and proclamations may be issued at

different times with respect to any of those provisions.

Short

title

3 The

short title of this Act is the Safer

Municipalities Act, 2024 .

SCHEDULE 1

RESTRICTING PUBLIC CONSUMPTION OF ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES ACT, 2024

CONTENTS

Definitions

Prohibition,

consumption of illegal substance in public place

Direction

given by officer

Direction

to identify

Arrest

without warrant

Seizure,

destruction of substance

Officer

may submit substance to analyst

Designation

of analysts

Penalty

Regulations

Commencement

Short

title

Definitions

1 In this Act,

“dwelling”

includes a temporary structure, such as a tent, that is used as a dwelling; (“habitation”)

“emergency

services” means medical, law enforcement or fire department emergency services;

(“services d’urgence”)

“illegal

substance” means any substance in respect of which possession is prohibited

under subsection 4 (1) of the Controlled Drugs and

Substances Act (Canada); (“substance illégale”)

“Minister”

means the Solicitor General or any other member of the Executive Council to

whom responsibility for the administration of this Act is assigned or

transferred under the Executive Council Act ;

(“ministre”)

“officer”

means a police officer or a prescribed provincial offences officer; (“agent”)

“prescribed”

means prescribed by the regulations; (“prescrit”)

“provincial

offences officer” means a person mentioned in any of clauses (

b) to (

f) of the

definition of “provincial offences officer” in subsection 1 (1) of the Provincial Offences Act ; (“agent des infractions

provinciales”)

“public

place” means, subject to the regulations, if any, a place to which the general

public is invited or permitted and includes any structure used as a dwelling in

a public place if its use as a dwelling in the public place is not permitted by

law; (“lieu public”)

“regulations”

means the regulations made under this Act; (“règlements”)

“supervised

consumption site” means a site in respect of which the federal Minister of

Health has granted an exemption to allow activities at the site in relation to

a controlled substance or precursor that is obtained in a manner not authorized

under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (Canada),

(

a) under

section 56.1 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act

(Canada), in circumstances where the federal Minister of Health is of the

opinion that the exemption is necessary for a medical purpose, or

(

b) under

subsection 56 (1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances

Act (Canada), in circumstances where the federal Minister of Health is

of the opinion that the exemption is necessary for a scientific purpose or is

otherwise in the public interest. (“ site de consommation supervisée ”)

Prohibition,

consumption of illegal substance in public place

(1) Subject to subsections (2) and

(3), no person shall consume an illegal substance in a public place.

Exemptions

(2) Subsection

(1) does not apply if any of the following circumstances apply:

1. The

illegal substance is used within a supervised consumption site.

2. The

person is permitted to possess the illegal substance in the public place

pursuant to authority granted under

an Act of Ontario or Canada.

3. A

prescribed exemption applies.

Same,

person seeking emergency services

(3) No

person who seeks emergency services shall be charged with or convicted of an

offence under this Act if the evidence in support of that offence was obtained

or discovered as a result of that person having sought emergency services or

having remained at the scene.

Same,

person at scene

(4) The

exemption under subsection (2) also applies to any person who has remained at

the scene to,

(

a) assist

anyone experiencing an emergency or providing emergency services; or

(

b) receive

emergency services.

Direction

given by officer

(1) If an officer has

reasonable grounds to believe that a person is consuming an illegal substance

in a public place in contravention of subsection 2 (1), the officer may do one

or both of the following:

1. Direct the

person to c ease

consuming the illegal substance in the public place.

2. Direct

the person to leave,

i. the

public place, or

ii. a

part of the public place, such as a structure being used as a dwelling where

its use as a dwelling in the public place is not permitted by law.

Compliance

(2) A

person who is the subject of a direction under subsection (1) shall promptly

comply with the direction.

Offence

(3) A

person who fails to comply with subsection (2) is guilty of an offence.

Direction

to identify

(1) If an officer has

reasonable grounds to believe that a person is guilty of an offence under

subsection 3 (3), the officer may, for the purpose of commencing a proceeding

under

Part I or III of the Provincial Offences Act ,

direct the person to provide their full name, date of birth and address.

Compliance

(2) A

person who is the subject of a direction under subsection (1) shall promptly

comply with the direction.

Offence

(3) A

person who fails to comply with subsection (2) is guilty of an offence.

Arrest

without warrant

5 An officer may arrest, without warrant,

a person who the officer believes on reasonable grounds is guilty of an offence

under this Act.

Seizure,

destruction of substance

(1) If an officer believes on

reasonable grounds that a person is guilty of an offence under this Act, the

officer may do one or both of the following:

1. Immediately

seize and remove any substances found in plain view and proximate to the

person, and any packages containing those substances, if the officer has

reasonable grounds to believe the substances are illegal substances.

2. Destroy

any seized substances mentioned in paragraph 1.

Same

(2) For

greater certainty, subsection (1) applies regardless of the amount of

substances found.

Officer

may submit substance to analyst

(1) An officer may submit to

an analyst for examination or analysis any substance or sample of the substance

seized by the officer under this Act.

Certificate

of analysis, examination

(2) An

analyst may issue a certificate of analysis or examination stating that the

analyst has analyzed or examined a substance and stating the results of the

analysis or examination.

Same

(3) A

certificate mentioned in subsection (2) is proof of the facts certified in it.

Designation

of analysts

8 For the purpose of the

enforcement of this Act, the Minister may designate individuals or classes of

individuals as analysts.

Penalty

9 A person convicted of

an offence under this Act is liable to a fine of not more than $10,000 or to

imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.

Regulations

(1) The

Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,

(

a) prescribing

anything that is referred to in this Act as prescribed or as otherwise dealt

with in the regulations;

(

b) with

respect to the definition of “public place” in

section 1,

(

i) prescribing

locations or classes of locations that are not public places, and

(ii) clarifying

that specified locations or classes of locations are public places;

(

c) governing

the giving of directions under subsection 3 (1) or 4 (1) or seizures under subsection

6 (1), including,

(

i) specifying

conditions that must be met before a direction may be given or a seizure may be

made, and

(ii) specifying

a period of time after an officer first has reasonable grounds to believe a

person is guilty of an offence under this Act, after which a direction may not

be given or a seizure may not be made in relation to the offence;

(

d) prescribing

circumstances in which an officer who reasonably believes a person is guilty of

an offence under this Act is authorized to take the person into custody for the

purpose of escorting them to a place described in subsection (2) in lieu of

commencing a proceeding under

Part I or III the Provincial

Offences Act in respect of the offence;

(

e) governing

the powers and duties of an officer who escorts a person to a prescribed

location pursuant to a regulation made under clause (d);

(

f) respecting

any matter that, in the opinion of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, is

necessary or advisable to implement this Act effectively.

Same,

cl. (1) (d)

(2) For

the purposes of a regulation mentioned in clause (1) (d), the place must

provide one or more of the following services:

1. Health

services.

2. Community

services.

3. Social

services.

4. Shelter

services.

5. Housing

services.

6. Mental

health services.

7. Addiction

services.

8. Services

similar to those described in paragraphs 1 to 7.

Commencement

11 The Act set out in this

Schedule

comes into force on the day the Safer Municipalities Act,

2024 receives Royal Assent.

Short

title

12 The

short title of the Act set out in

this

Schedule is the Restricting Public Consumption of

Illegal Substances Act, 2024 .

SCHEDULE 2

TRESPASS TO PROPERTY ACT

The French version of clause (

a) of the definition of “occupier” in subsection

1 (1) of the Trespass to Property Act is amended by

striking out “possession physique” and substituting “possession matérielle”.

Section 2 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsections:

Aggravating

factors

(3) Each

of the following circumstances shall be considered an aggravating factor for

the purposes of determining a penalty under subsection (1):

1. An

occupier of the premises or a person authorized by an occupier of the premises gave

notice that directed the defendant to leave the premises, and the defendant was

on the premises in contravention of subsection (1) more than 24 hours after the

notice was given or, if the occupier or person specified a longer period when

giving the notice, after that period.

2. At

the time of sentencing, the court finds that the defendant is likely to

contravene subsection (1) at any time in the future.

Same

(4) Paragraph

1 of subsection (3) applies with respect to a defendant who is on the premises

after the applicable period even if the defendant left the premises at any time

after the notice was given.

The French version of subsection 9 (3) of the Act is repealed and the following

substituted:

Arrestation

réputée faite

(3) L’agent

de police qui se voit confier la garde d’une personne aux termes du paragraphe

(2) est réputé avoir procédé à l’arrestation de la personne pour l’application

des dispositions de la

Loi sur les infractions

provinciales concernant sa mise en liberté ou le maintien de sa

détention et de son cautionnement.

Commencement

4 This

Schedule comes into force on the day the Safer Municipalities Act, 2024 receives Royal Assent.

Date Bill stage Event Outcome Committee

December 12, 2024

First Reading

Ordered for Second Reading

December 12, 2024

First Reading

Vote

Carried

First Reading

December 12, 2024

Carried

Ordered for Second Reading