p42 s1 bill 245 b245rep e.pdf

Ontario — Bills

1ST SESSION, 42ND LEGISLATURE, ONTARIO 70 ELIZABETH II, 2021 Bill 245

An Act to amend and repeal various statutes, to revoke various regulations and to enact the Ontario Land Tribunal Act, 2021 The Hon. D. Downey Attorney General Government Bill 1st Reading February 16, 2021 2nd Reading March 2, 2021 3rd Reading Royal Assent (Reprinted as amended by the Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly and as reported to the Legislative Assembly March 22, 2021) (The provisions in this Bill will be renumbered after 3rd Reading)

This reprint of the Bill is marked to indicate the changes that were made in Committee. The changes are indicated by underlines for new text and a strikethrough for deleted text. ______________ EXPLANATORY NOTE

SCHEDULE 1 BARRISTERS ACT

Section 1 of the Barristers Act, which provides that a current or former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada or Solicitor General of Canada is entitled to be called to the bar and practise law in Ontario, is amended to add reference to a current or former Attorney General for Ontario and to remove the reference to the Solicitor General of Canada.

SCHEDULE 2 CHILDREN’S LAW REFORM ACT The

Schedule amends subsection 51 (1.1) of the Children’s Law Reform Act to remove the default maximum of $10,000 for the total of the amount of money payable and the value of personal property deliverable under subsection 51 (1) of the Act (payment of debt due to child if no guardian). Any applicable maximum total would be set out by regulations made under the Act. In addition, subsection 51 (2) of the Act is re-enacted to provide that money payable under a judgment or order of a court, or on an intestacy, is subject to subsection 51 (1) of the Act; currently money payable under a judgment or order of a court is expressly excluded from the application of that subsection.

SCHEDULE 3 COURTS OF JUSTICE ACT The

Schedule amends the Courts of Justice Act and makes consequential and related amendments to other Acts. The major elements are set out below. The

Schedule changes the title of a case management master to that of an associate judge. The

Schedule amends the Act with respect to the composition and functions of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee. The lawyer members of the Committee will now be appointed by the Attorney General from among lists provided by the Law Society of Ontario, the Ontario Bar Association and the Federation of Ontario Law Associations. Certain records and other information collected, prepared, maintained or used by the Committee are to be kept in confidence. The amendment to

section 42 of the Act requires the Attorney General to keep information in relation to the appointment or consideration of an individual as a provincial judge confidential. The Committee is required to include statistics about the sex, gender, race and other characteristics of all candidates who volunteer that information in its annual report. The functions of the Committee are amended. Currently, the Committee advertises judicial vacancies and recommends at least two candidates for the vacancy.

The amendments will require the Committee to advertise a vacancy and provide the Attorney General with a ranked list of at least six recommended candidates, with brief supporting reasons. The Attorney General can only recommend one of these recommended candidates to the Lieutenant Governor in Council to fill the judicial vacancy. If the Committee provided a recommendation for a similar judicial vacancy within the previous 12 months, the Committee shall not advertise the new judicial vacancy and shall instead prepare its recommendation from among the candidates for the previous vacancy.

The Attorney General retains the power to reject the Committee’s recommendations and require a fresh list to be prepared. The new list must consist of six or more candidates whom the Committee recommends from among the remaining candidates for the judicial vacancy. The Attorney General may recommend criteria to be included in the criteria the Committee establishes for the advertising, review and evaluation process. The

Schedule re-enacts

section 112 of the Act to enable the Children’s Lawyer to make investigations and prepare reports for the court on certain matters specified by the court or to meet with the child and prepare reports for the court on their views and preferences in proceedings under the Divorce Act (Canada) or the Children’s Law Reform Act. The

Schedule re-enacts

section 126 of the Act, which deals with the use of French in court proceedings. The right to file documents in French is extended to all courts throughout Ontario, instead of being limited to some courts and some areas of Ontario. The right to request a translation of a court decision in a bilingual proceeding will no longer depend on what language the party speaks. Consequential and related amendments are made to several other Acts. Subsection 2 (3) of the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006 is amended to make express reference to appointed officials who are not public servants.

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SCHEDULE 4 CROWN ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATES ACT The

Schedule amends

section 2.1 of the Crown Administration of Estates Act to require municipal police disclosure of information related to an estate to the Public Guardian and Trustee on request.

Section 2.2 of the Act, which provides for

section 2.1 of the Act to override other Acts and regulations in the event of a conflict, is re-enacted in order to add express reference to the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act as

an Act that may be overridden.

SCHEDULE 5 EXPROPRIATIONS ACT The

Schedule amends the Expropriations Act to add a new

section 8.1, which permits the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations to establish, for any or all proposed expropriations, a process for owners to provide comments respecting a proposed expropriation to the approving authority, and for the approving authority to consider those comments and make a determination respecting the proposed expropriation. This process would apply instead of the hearing process provided for under

section 7 of the Act. Complementary amendments are made to other provisions of the Act, as well as to other Acts, to reflect the alternative process. The

Schedule also amends

section 33 of the Act to provide for annual rates of interest specified in that

section to be determined by regulations made under the Act.

SCHEDULE 6 ONTARIO LAND TRIBUNAL ACT, 2021 The

Schedule enacts the Ontario Land Tribunal Act, 2021. The new Act amalgamates the board of negotiation continued under the Expropriations Act, the Conservation Review Board, the Environmental Review Tribunal, the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal and the Mining and Lands Tribunal, and continues them as the Ontario Land Tribunal. The Act provides for the composition of the Ontario Land Tribunal, sets out its jurisdiction and powers and specifies the practices and procedures that apply with respect to proceedings before it.

The Consolidated Hearings Act is repealed, and consolidated hearings provided for under the new Act (section 21). Regulation-making authority is given to the Attorney General to provide for transitional matters. The Act makes numerous complementary repeals, revocations and amendments: 1. The Acts and provisions that establish the bodies that are amalgamated and continued as the Ontario Land Tribunal are repealed. Regulations made under those Acts and provisions are revoked. 2.

The City of Toronto Act, 2006 and the Municipal Act, 2001 are amended to incorporate the substance of the provisions of the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal Act, 2017 respecting the jurisdiction of the Ontario Land Tribunal over municipal matters and public utilities. 3. The Ontario Northland Transportation Commission Act is amended to incorporate the substance of the provisions of the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal Act, 2017 respecting the jurisdiction of the Ontario Land Tribunal over railways. 4.

The Expropriations Act is amended to eliminate the appointment of the chief inquiry officer and other inquiry officers, and to provide for hearings under

section 7 of that Act to proceed before the Ontario Land Tribunal. 5. Various Acts are amended to replace references to an amalgamated body with references to the Ontario Land Tribunal. 6. Various Acts are amended to replace outdated references to the Ontario Municipal Board with references to the Ontario Land Tribunal.

SCHEDULE 7 PUBLIC ACCOUNTING ACT, 2004 The

Schedule amends the Public Accounting Act, 2004 to dissolve The Public Accountants Council for the Province of Ontario, which currently governs public accounting under the Act, and to transfer the governance of public accounting in Ontario to the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (CPA Ontario). In governing public accounting, CPA Ontario must adhere to public accounting standards that it establishes for itself, subject to the approval of the Attorney General, under

section 19 of the Act. The amendments expressly provide that licensed public accountants must be members of CPA Ontario, and provide authority for CPA Ontario to regulate public accounting and govern its members as public accountants largely through by-laws and other instruments made by its council under the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario Act, 2017. That Act is amended to reflect CPA Ontario’s governance role under the Public Accounting Act, 2004.

SCHEDULE 8 SUBSTITUTE DECISIONS ACT, 1992 The

Schedule amends the Substitute Decisions Act, 1992 to provide for the remote witnessing of powers of attorney through the means of audio-visual communication technology for powers of attorney entered into on or after April 7, 2020.

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Schedule also amends sections 83 and 90 of the Act, respecting the Public Guardian and Trustee’s entitlement to have access to records relating to a person who is alleged to be incapable in the context of an investigation required under the Act, in order to provide for access to records in the custody or control of an entity or class of entities prescribed by the regulations made under the Act.

SCHEDULE 9 SUCCESSION LAW REFORM ACT The

Schedule makes various amendments to the Succession Law Reform Act, including the following: 1. The Act is amended to provide for the remote witnessing of wills through the means of audio-visual communication technology for wills made on and after April 7, 2020.

Section 16 of the Act, which provides that a will is revoked by the marriage of the testator except in specified circumstances, is repealed.

Section 17 of the Act provides that if the marriage of the testator and the testator’s spouse is terminated or declared a nullity, the testator’s will shall be construed as if the former spouse had predeceased the testator. The

section is amended to add other specified instances of spousal separation between married spouses that would have the same result, but as of the testator’s death. 4. A new

section 21.1 is added to give the Superior Court of Justice authority to, on application, make an order validating a document or writing that was not properly executed or made under the Act, if the Court is satisfied that the document or writing sets out the testamentary intentions of a deceased or an intention of a deceased to revoke, alter or revive a will of the deceased. 5. A new

section 43.1 is added to provide that the spousal entitlements under

Part II of the Act if a person dies intestate in respect of any or all property do not apply if the person and the spouse are separated, as determined under the section, at the time of the person’s death. A complementary amendment is made to

section 6 of the Family Law Act.

SCHEDULE 10 AMENDMENTS RESPECTING APPEALS TO A MINISTER The

Schedule amends the Environmental Protection Act, the Mining Act, the Nutrient Management Act, 2002, the Ontario Water Resources Act, the Pesticides Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002 and the Toxics Re

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	p42 s1 bill 245 b245rep e.pdf
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p42 s1 bill 245 b245rep e.pdf
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	83299c693515c16323ca5cd14df70692ad5b4d96

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