Executive Council Amendment Act, 2003 Baird, John R. — Bill 37 (38th Parliament, 1st Session)

Bill 37, 38-1

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Bill 37, Executive Council Amendment Act, 2003

Baird, John R.

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[38] Bill 37 Original (PDF)

Bill 37 2003

An Act to amend the

Executive Council Act

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

1. The Executive Council Act is amended by adding the following section:

Ministers must answer questions

(1) Every minister of the Crown is required to answer in good faith a question that is put to him or her by a member of the Assembly during the period set aside for Oral Questions or in writing.

Includes question referred to minister

(2) For greater certainty, but without limiting the generality of subsection (1), a question for the purposes of this

section includes a question that is referred to a minister by another minister under the Standing Orders of the

Assembly.

Member may request review of answer

(3) A member who put a question to a minister and believes that the minister did not answer the question in good faith may, promptly after receiving the answer, request the Speaker to review the answer and determine whether, in the

Speaker's opinion, the minister has fulfilled his or her obligations under subsection (1).

Member's responsibilities

(4) Every member must exercise his or her right to make a request under subsection (3) in a fair and reasonable manner.

Speaker may disallow requests

(5) If, in the Speaker's opinion, a member has not fulfilled his or her responsibilities under subsection (4), the Speaker may disallow the request and prohibit the member from making any requests under this

section for the remainder

of the Legislature.

Speaker to make determination

(6) The Speaker shall make a determination for every request made by a member that has not been disallowed.

Determination to be communicated

(7) The Speaker shall advise the member who made the request, the other members of the Assembly, the minister involved and the public, in such manner as he or she considers appropriate, of a determination made under subsection

(6).

Penalty

(8) Every minister who the Speaker determines did not answer a question in good faith is assessed $500.

Same

(9) Every Minister who is assessed an amount under subsection (8) shall promptly pay that amount into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Conflict

(10) In the event of a conflict between this Act and the Standing Orders of the Assembly, this Act prevails.

Commencement

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

Short title

3. The

short title of this Act is the Executive Council Amendment Act, 2003 .

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill amends the Executive Council Act to require ministers of the Crown to answer, in good faith, questions put to them by members of the Assembly. A member who believes that a minister did not

answer a question in good faith posed by him or her has the right to request the Speaker to determine whether the answer was given in good faith. The right to make such requests must be exercised in a fair and reasonable manner.

Every minister is penalized $500 for every question that the Speaker determines was not answered by him or her in good faith.

Date Bill stage Activity Committee

December 18, 2003

First Reading

Carried

Debates and Progress

First Reading

December

18, 2003

Second Reading

Committee

Third Reading

Royal Assent :

Coming into force :Royal Assent.

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

Executive Council Act

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Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 37, 38-1
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p38 s1 bill 37 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	9e7e16f13493a5332d0b8e06c04941decfe01926

Source file is stored in the law ingest library (html).