Protection of Vulnerable Seniors in the Community Act, 2015 Wong, Soo — Bill 148 (41st Parliament, 1st Session)

Bill 148, 41-1

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Bill 148, Protection of Vulnerable Seniors in the Community Act, 2015

Wong, Soo

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[41] Bill 148 Original (PDF)

Bill 148 2015

Act to amend the Substitute Decisions Act, 1992 and the Regulated Health

Professions Act, 1991

Her

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

Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Substitute Decisions Act, 1992

1. Subsection

1 (1) of the Substitute Decisions Act, 1992 is

amended by adding the following

definitions:

"regulated health professional" means a health

practitioner whose profession is regulated under the Regulated

Health Professions Act, 1991 ; ("membre d'une profession de la santé

réglementée")

"senior" means a person who is 65 years of age or older;

("personne âgée")

2. Subsection

27 (3.1) of the Act is amended by striking out "If, as a result of the investigation"

at the beginning and substituting "If, as a result of an investigation under

subsection (2) or subsection 84.1 (4)".

3. Subsection

62 (3.1) of the Act is amended by striking out "If, as a result of the

investigation" at the beginning and substituting "If, as a result of an

investigation under subsection (2) or subsection 84.1 (4)".

4. The

Act is amended by adding the following section:

Duty

of regulated health professional

84.1

(1) A

regulated health professional who has reasonable grounds to suspect that a

senior is being abused or neglected shall, as soon as possible, report the

suspicion to the Public Guardian and Trustee, a police officer or a prescribed

person.

Exception

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if the

senior is a resident of a long-term care home as defined in the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007 or of a retirement home as defined in the Retirement

Homes Act, 2010 .

Duty

of police officer or prescribed person

(3) A police officer or prescribed person

who receives a report made under subsection (1) shall, as soon as possible,

provide the report to the Public Guardian and Trustee.

Investigation

(4) The Public Guardian and Trustee shall

investigate any report made or provided under subsection (1) or (3) to

determine whether an application to the court under subsection 27 (3.1) or subsection

62 (3.1) is required.

Extent

of investigation

(5) In conducting an investigation under

subsection (4), the Public Guardian and Trustee is not required to take any

steps that, in his or her opinion, are unnecessary for the purpose of

determining whether the application to the court is required.

Definitions

(6) In subsection (1),

"abused",

in relation to a senior, means physical, sexual, emotional, verbal, financial

or systemic abuse of that senior, as defined in the regulations in each case;

("mauvais traitements")

"neglected", in relation to a senior, means that a person

has failed to provide care, assistance, guidance or attention to the senior

which causes or is reasonably likely to cause serious physical or psychological

harm to the senior, or substantial damage to or substantial loss of a

significant part of the senior's property, within a short period of time,

unless the failure to provide care, assistance, guidance or attention is medically

advisable. ("négligence")

5. The

Act is amended by adding the following section:

Reporting

requirements

Confidentiality

and privilege

88.1

(1) Subsections

84.1 (1) and (3) apply even if they require a person to disclose information

that is confidential or privileged, and no proceeding shall be commenced

against the person for the disclosure. However, this subsection does not

require a person to disclose information that is subject to solicitor-client

privilege.

Protection

from liability

(2) No proceeding shall be commenced

against a regulated health professional for

an act done in good faith in the

execution or intended execution of his or her duty under subsection 84.1 (1).

Reprisal

(3) No employer or person acting on behalf

of an employer shall intimidate, dismiss or otherwise penalize a regulated

health professional or threaten to do so because he or she has, in good faith,

(

a) sought

advice about making a report required by subsection 84.1 (1);

(

b) made

a report required by subsection 84.1 (1); or

(

c) co-operated

in an investigation under this Act.

Suppressing

reports, etc.

(4) No person shall,

(

a) coerce

a regulated health professional not to make a report required by subsection 84.1

(1);

(

b) intimidate

a regulated health professional because he or she made or proposed to make a

report required by subsection 84.1 (1); or

(

c) authorize,

permit or concur in a contravention of subsection 84.1 (1).

Section

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

Offence:

reprisal, suppressing reports, etc.

(6.1) A person who contravenes subsection

88.1 (3) or (4) is guilty of an offence and liable, on conviction, to a fine of

not more than $25,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years,

or to both.

7. Subsection

90 (1) of the Act is amended by adding the following clauses:

(

h) prescribing

a person for the purposes of subsections 84.1 (1) and (3);

(

i) defining

physical, sexual, emotional, verbal, financial or systemic abuse for the

purposes of the definition of "abused" in subsection 84.1 (6).

Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991

8. Subsection

51 (1) of

Schedule 2 to the Regulated Health Professions

Act, 1991 is amended by adding the following clause:

(b.0.2) the

member has failed to make a report required by subsection 84.1 (1) of the Substitute Decisions Act, 1992 ;

Commencement

9. This

Act comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant

Governor.

Short

title

10. The

short title of this Act is the Protection of Vulnerable Seniors

in the Community Act, 2015 .

EXPLANATORY

NOTE

The

Bill amends the Substitute Decisions Act, 1992 and

the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 .

The

Substitute Decisions Act, 1992 is amended to

require regulated health professionals to report any reasonable suspicion that

a senior is being abused or neglected. The Public Guardian and Trustee is

required to investigate the report to determine whether an application for a

temporary guardian is required.

This

requirement applies even if the information that is required to be disclosed is

confidential or privileged, unless the information is subject to

solicitor-client privilege. No proceeding may be commenced against a regulated

health professional for making a report in good faith. The intimidation, dismissal

or penalization of regulated health professionals who make a report is

prohibited. Coercion or intimidation of a regulated health professional who

makes a report is also prohibited. In addition, authorizing, permitting or

concurring in a contravention of the requirement to make a report is

prohibited.

The

Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 is amended

to make it

an act of professional misconduct for a regulated health

professional to fail to report a reasonable suspicion that a senior is being

abused or neglected as required by the Substitute

Decisions Act, 1992 .

Date Bill stage Activity Committee

December 10, 2015

Ordered referred to Standing Committee

Standing Committee on Social Policy

December 10, 2015

Second Reading

Carried

December 10, 2015

Second Reading

Debate

November 24, 2015

First Reading

Carried

Debates and Progress

First Reading

November 24, 2015

Committee

Second Reading

December 10, 2015

Ms. Soo Wong, Mr. Randy Pettapiece, Mr. Bill Walker, Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong, Mrs. Lisa Gretzky, Mr. John Fraser, Mrs. Cristina Martins, Mr. Shafiq Qaadri

December 10, 2015

Declared carried. Referred to the Standing Committee on Social Policy.

Committee

Standing Committee on Social Policy

Third Reading

Royal Assent

Acts affected - Bill 148

Most Ontario public acts are available electronically; to view copies of the Acts to be amended by this bill visit e-laws

Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991

Substitute Decisions Act, 1992

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

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Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 148, 41-1
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p41 s1 bill 148 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	87cc77de8cdcd20a902d1d3d8ce9c8ea7b89fe88

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