Public Sector Accountability Act, 2001 Flaherty, Hon. Jim Minister of Finance — Bill 46 (37th Parliament, 3rd Session)

Bill 46, 37-3

Ontario — Bills

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Bill 46, Public Sector Accountability Act, 2001

Flaherty, Hon. Jim Minister of Finance

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[37] Bill 46 Original (PDF)

Bill 46 2001

An Act respecting

the accountability of

public sector organizations

CONTENTS

Interpretation

Purposes

Public Sector Organizations

Public sector organizations

Exclusions

The Planning Process

Duty to prepare business plan

Duty to plan for balanced budget

Reporting on Results

Duty to prepare annual report

Public inspection

Publication or disclosure of annual reports

Monitoring Performance

Effect of failure to achieve objectives

Effect of a deficit

General

Enforcement

Prohibition, obstruction

Accounting principles and standards

Personal information

Effect of authorized disclosure of information

Delegation by Minister of Finance

Protection from liability

Conflicts

Regulations

Commencement

Short title

______________

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

Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Interpretation

Purposes

1. The following are the purposes of this

Act:

1. To initiate best practices in public sector organizations by measuring

their performance against their established goals and by reporting publicly

on the progress made.

2. To improve program effectiveness and accountability to the public by

promoting a stronger focus on the results and the quality of service of

public sector organizations.

3. To improve the delivery of service by requiring that each public sector

organization prepares a plan to meet identified objectives and to provide

information about the results and quality of service that are achieved.

4. To improve decision-making in public sector organizations by ensuring

that relevant information is made available to the public about the

organization's objectives and about the effectiveness and efficiency of its

activities.

5. To improve the fiscal responsibility of public sector organizations by

requiring them to prepare a balanced budget each year.

Public Sector Organizations

Public sector organizations

2. The following persons and entities are the

public sector organizations to which this Act applies:

1. Every agency of the Crown in right of Ontario and every authority,

board, commission, corporation, office or organization of persons a majority

of whose directors, members or officers are appointed or chosen by or under

the authority of the Lieutenant Governor in Council or a member of the

Executive Council.

2. The corporation of every municipality in Ontario.

3. Every local board as defined in the Municipal Affairs Act and

every authority, board, commission, corporation, office or organization of

persons some or all of whose members, directors or officers are appointed or

chosen by or under the authority of the council of the corporation of a

municipality in Ontario.

4. Every board as defined in the Education Act .

5. Every university in Ontario and every college of applied arts and

technology and post-secondary institution in Ontario whether or not

affiliated with a university, the enrolments of which are counted for the

purposes of calculating annual operating grants entitlements.

6. Every hospital referred to in the list of hospitals and their grades

and classifications that is maintained under the Public Hospitals

Act , every private hospital operated under the authority of a licence

issued under the Private Hospitals Act and every hospital

established or approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council as a community

psychiatric hospital under the Community Psychiatric Hospitals

Act .

7. Every corporation with share capital, at least 90 per cent of the

issued shares of which are beneficially held by, or for, one or more public

sector organizations described in paragraphs 1 to 6, and every wholly-owned

subsidiary of such a corporation.

8. Every corporation without share capital, the majority of whose members,

directors or officers are members of, or are appointed or chosen by or under

the authority of, one or more public sector organizations described in

paragraphs 1 to 6, and every wholly-owned subsidiary of such a

corporation.

9. Every board of health under the Health Protection and Promotion

Act and every board of health under

an Act of the Assembly that

establishes or continues a regional municipality.

10. Such other persons and entities as may be prescribed.

Exclusions

(1) This Act does not apply to

the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, the Assembly and the offices of

persons appointed on the address of the Assembly.

Same

(2) This Act does not apply to such persons and entities as may

be prescribed by regulation, despite

section 2.

The Planning Process

Duty to prepare business plan

(1) Every public sector

organization shall prepare a business plan every year.

Contents

(2) A business plan must contain the following information with

respect to the fiscal year for which it is prepared:

1. A description of the governance structure and management structure of

the organization.

2. A comprehensive statement of purpose, addressing the major functions

and operations of the organization.

3. A description of the major activities of the organization for the

year.

4. A statement of the goals and objectives to be achieved with respect to

each major activity of the organization during the year.

5. A description of the actions the organization will take during the year

to achieve those goals and objectives.

6. A description of the human, financial, technological and other

resources that the organization will need during the year to achieve those

goals and objectives.

7. A description of how the organization will monitor its performance

during the year and how it will monitor the resources that it uses to achieve

its goals and objectives. If it is not possible to monitor them using

objective, quantitative measurements, the plan must explain the reasons and

describe how the organization intends to assess its performance.

8. A description of any significant factors outside the control of the

organization that are likely to affect the achievement of its goals and

objectives.

9. A description of the actions that the organization will take to

establish the reasonableness of the business plan and to review the

organization's success in achieving its goals and objectives.

10. A description of the methods that the organization will use to set

future goals and objectives and the organization's timetable for doing

so.

11. A description of the measures that the organization will take to

improve its services and its efficiency and the measures it will take to

identify alternate methods of delivering its services, including the delivery

of those services by the private sector.

12. Its budget for the year.

Consultation

(3) When preparing a business plan, the organization shall

consider the views of persons and entities outside the organization who may

have an interest in its activities.

Approval

(4) The business plan must be approved by the governing body of

the organization.

Impact of change in status

(5) If a person or entity is a public sector organization to

which this Act applies for only part of its fiscal year, the organization is

not required to prepare a business plan under this

section for that year.

Transition

(6) Despite subsection (5), every public sector organization to

which this Act applies on the day

section 2 comes into force is required to

prepare a business plan for its first fiscal year that begins after March 31,

Duty to plan for balanced budget

(1) Every public sector

organization shall plan for a balanced budget every year.

Exception

(2) An organization is not required by this Act to plan for a

balanced budget for a particular fiscal year if it is not required by this

Act to prepare a business plan for that year.

Definition

(3) In this section,

"balanced budget" means, with respect to a public sector organization, a

budget in which the organization's anticipated expenditures for a fiscal year

do not exceed its anticipated revenues for the year.

Reporting on Results

Duty to prepare annual report

(1) Every public sector

organization shall prepare an annual report, and shall do so within six

months after the end of the applicable fiscal year.

Exception

(2) An organization is not required by this Act to prepare an

annual report for a particular fiscal year if it was not required by this Act

to prepare a business plan for that year.

Contents

(3) The annual report must include the following information

and documents:

1. The business plan for the year.

2. A description of the extent to which the organization achieved its

goals and objectives for the year, as set out in the business plan.

3. If any of those goals or objectives were not achieved, a description of

the reasons that they were not achieved and of the steps that the

organization plans to take to achieve them.

4. If the organization considers that any of those goals or objectives

cannot be achieved, a description of the reasons that they cannot be achieved

and of the steps that the organization plans to take as a result.

5. A statement indicating whether the books and records of the

organization for the year are complete and accurate.

6. A statement indicating whether the systems and practices of the

organization during the year can reasonably be relied upon to have ensured

that the organization protected its assets, spent money only as authorized

and managed its resources efficiently.

7. The financial statements of the organization for the year.

8. The business plan for the following year.

Audit requirement

(4) The financial statements must be audited by one or more

persons licensed as auditors under the Public Accountancy Act .

Approval

(5) The annual report must be approved by the governing body of

the organization.

Public inspection

(1) Every public sector

organization shall make available to the public each annual report it

prepares under this Act, and shall do so within six months after the end of

the fiscal year to which it relates.

Sale to the public

(2) The organization shall give a copy of its annual report to

every person who asks for one and may charge the fee, if any, prescribed by

regulation.

Delivery to ministries

(3) The organization shall give a copy of its annual report for

a fiscal year to the Ministry of Finance and to every other ministry of the

Crown from which the organization receives funding, directly or indirectly,

during the year, and shall do so within six months after the end of the

fiscal year.

Publication or disclosure of annual reports

8. Any person may publish the information

contained in an annual report prepared under this Act and any ministry of the

Crown may disclose such information.

Monitoring Performance

Effect of failure to achieve objectives

(1) This

section applies if, in

the opinion of the Minister of Finance, a public sector organization

repeatedly fails to achieve the objectives set out in its business plans or

fails to achieve one or more significant objectives in a business plan for a

particular year.

Review by the organization

(2) The Minister of Finance may require the organization to

review its financial management, business practices and operating practices

if, in his or her opinion, such a review is in the public interest having

regard to the purposes of this Act, and to report the results of the review

to the Minister.

Review by the Minister

(3) The Minister of Finance may review the organization's

financial management, business practices and operating practices if, in his

or her opinion, such a review is in the public

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 46, 37-3
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p37 s3 bill 46 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	5e34b3175fb0aea7c452c7b7e70c5711dc66e582

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