Towing Industry Act, 2013 Ouellette, Jerry J. — Bill 93 (40th Parliament, 2nd Session)

Bill 93, 40-2

Ontario — Bills

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Bill 93, Towing Industry Act, 2013

Ouellette, Jerry J.

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[40] Bill 93 Original (PDF)

Bill 93 2013

Act to regulate the motor vehicle towing industry in Ontario

Note:

This Act amends the Highway Traffic Act . For the legislative history of

the Act, see the Table of Consolidated Public Statutes – Detailed Legislative

History at www.e-Laws.gov.on.ca.

CONTENTS

Purpose

Definitions

Registration

Registration

of towing business required

Application

for registration

Registration

of persons

Suspension

of registration

Revocation

of registration

Appeal

of decisions

Offence

re non-registration

Complaints and

Discipline

Complaints

committee

Prohibition,

obstruction, etc.

Disciplinary

proceedings

Towing Industry

Council of Ontario

Council

established

Objects

Powers

Board

of directors

Committees

Registrar

By-laws

and fees

Annual

report

Powers

of the Minister

Confidentiality

of information

Testimony

in civil proceedings

Immunity

General

Offence,

false representation

Public

register

Continuing

disciplinary powers

Evidence

Towing Services

Retained by Crown or Municipality

Towing

services retained by Crown or municipality

Offence Re

Accepting Referral Fees

Offence,

accepting referral fee

Regulations

Regulations

Amendments,

Commencement and

Short Title

Amendments

to this Act

Highway

Traffic Act

Commencement

Short

title

______________

Her

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

Purpose

1. The purpose of this Act is to regulate the

towing industry in Ontario so that the public may have access to towing

services of high quality provided in accordance with honesty and integrity and

at a reasonable cost.

Definitions

2. In this Act,

"board"

means the board of directors of the Council; ("conseil d 'administration " )

"Council" means the Towing Industry Council of Ontario established under

section 13; ("Conseil")

"highway traffic incident management" means a systematic, province-wide,

multi-agency effort to improve the management of highway incidents, including

but not limited to crashes, disabled and abandoned vehicles, criminal seizures

of vehicles and articles, debris in the roadway, work zones, highway patrols,

adverse weather, and other events and emergencies that impact the

transportation system; ("gestion des incidents de la route")

"Minister" means the Minister of Government Services or another member

of the Executive Council to whom responsibility for the administration of this

Act is assigned under the Executive Council Act ; ("ministre")

"operator" means a person who carries on a towing business, whether in

whole or in part; ("exploitant")

"person" means an individual, an association, a partnership or a

corporation; ("personne")

"prescribed" means prescribed by the regulations; ("prescrit")

"Registrar" means the Registrar appointed under

section 18;

("registrateur")

"registration" includes a certificate or permit issued with respect to

the registration of an operator, tow truck driver or tow truck under

section 3;

("inscription")

"regulations" means the regulations made under this Act; ("règlements")

"representative of the towing industry" means an individual who is

registered under this Act or who is a shareholder or a partner in a towing

business or who, prior to the coming into force of this Act, offered towing

services to the public or was a shareholder or a partner in a towing business,

or any other individual that the Council considers to be a representative of

the towing industry; ("représentant de l'industrie du remorquage")

"towing business" means the business that consists of offering or

providing towing services to the public; ("enterprise de remorquage")

"towing services" includes storing vehicles that have been towed and

storage services in which a towing business has a financial or contractual

interest; ("services de remorquage")

"tow truck" means a motor vehicle, including a wrecker and a flatbed tow

truck, equipped with a mechanical or hydraulic device used to lift, tow, winch

or otherwise move another motor vehicle, but does not include,

(

a) a

motor vehicle owned and used exclusively by a governmental entity,

(

b) a

motor vehicle towing a race car, a motor vehicle for exhibition or an antique

motor vehicle,

(

c) a

recreational vehicle towing another vehicle,

(

d) a

motor vehicle used in combination with a tow bar, tow dolly or other mechanical

device if the vehicle is not operated in the furtherance of a commercial

enterprise, or

(

e) a

motor vehicle that is controlled or operated by a farmer and that is used for

towing a farm vehicle; ("dépanneuse")

"tow truck driver" means a person who operates a tow truck for the

purpose of providing towing services to the public. ("conducteur de d épanneuse ")

Registration

Registration

of towing business required

(1) No person shall carry on a

towing business unless the person is registered as an operator under this Act.

Registration

of tow truck required

(2) No person shall operate or permit another person to

operate a tow truck for the purpose of carrying on a towing business

unless the tow truck is registered under this Act.

Registration

of tow truck drivers required

(3) No

person shall operate a tow truck for the purpose of providing towing services

unless the person is registered under this Act.

Prohibition

(4) An operator shall not retain the services of a person

as a tow truck driver unless the person is registered as such under this Act.

Clarification

of requirement for registration

(5) A person who owns or operates a fleet of motor

vehicles for the purpose of carrying on a business is not required to register

as an operator under subsection (1) if the person's business does not include

the provision of towing services to the public, but only with respect to the

motor vehicles in the fleet.

Same

(6) The person described in subsection (5) shall ensure

that a tow truck driver retained for the purpose of towing motor vehicles in a

fleet and any tow truck operated by the driver are registered under this

section.

Application

for registration

(1) A person who wishes to be

registered as an operator or a tow truck driver, or to register a tow truck,

under

section 3 shall apply to the Registrar in accordance with the prescribed

procedures.

Eligibility

(2) A person is eligible to be registered as an operator

or a tow truck driver if the person meets the prescribed requirements.

Same

(3) A tow truck may be registered if it meets the

prescribed requirements.

Registration

of persons

(1) The Registrar shall register a

person if the person has made an application in accordance with the prescribed

procedures and is eligible for registration.

Registration

of tow truck

(2) The Registrar shall register a tow truck if the applicant

for the registration has made an application in accordance with the prescribed

procedures and the tow truck is eligible for registration.

Referral

of application

(3) The

Registrar shall refer an application for registration to the registration committee,

(

a) if

the Registrar considers on reasonable grounds that the person may not be

eligible to be registered; or

(

b) despite

subsection (1), if the Registrar considers on reasonable grounds that terms,

conditions or limitations should be imposed on the registration.

Effect

of referral

(4) The

registration committee shall determine whether the person or tow truck may be

registered and whether the application for registration has been made in

accordance with the prescribed procedures and may impose such terms, conditions

or limitations on the registration as the committee considers appropriate.

Variation

of terms, conditions or limitations

(5) The registration committee may vary or remove any of

the terms, conditions or limitations on a registration in such circumstances as

may be prescribed.

Application

for variation

(6) A person who wants to have any of the terms,

conditions or limitations on a registration varied or removed shall apply in

accordance with the prescribed procedures.

Suspension

of registration

(1) The Registrar may suspend a

person's registration on any of the grounds set out in the regulations.

Same,

tow truck

(2) The Registrar may suspend the registration of a tow

truck on any of the grounds set out in the regulations.

Application

for reinstatement

(3) A person whose registration is suspended may apply to

have it reinstated and shall do so in accordance with the prescribed

procedures.

Same

(4) The Registrar shall decide an application for the

reinstatement of a suspended registration in accordance with the prescribed

criteria.

Revocation

of registration

7. The board may revoke the registration of an

operator or a tow truck driver,

(

a) if

the operator or driver is found guilty of an offence that, if committed in

Ontario, would be an offence under the laws of Canada or of Ontario and that

renders the person unsuitable to be registered;

(

b) if

the operator or driver fails to comply with this Act, the code of ethics or any

other regulation made under this Act; or

(

c) in

such other circumstances as may be prescribed.

Appeal

of decisions

(1) An applicant for a

registration or a registered person, as the case may be, and the Council may

appeal a decision of the registration committee with respect to the applicant

or person to the board.

Same,

Divisional Court

(2) The applicant or registered person, as the case may

be, and the Council may appeal a decision of the board under subsection (1) to

the Divisional Court.

Appeal

of revocation

(3) A person whose registration has been revoked under

section 7 may appeal the decision to the Divisional Court.

Offence

re non-registration

9. Every person who contravenes or fails to

comply with

section 3 is guilty of an offence.

Complaints

and Discipline

Complaints

committee

(1) The

complaints committee may consider and investigate the conduct of a registered

person for any purpose related to towing, either pursuant to a complaint or on

its own initiative, and for that purpose may appoint a person to investigate the

circumstances of the complaint or other matter.

Powers

of investigator

(2) An

investigator has the following powers and duties for the purpose of an

investigation under this Act:

1. Upon

request, the investigator shall produce evidence of his or her appointment.

2. The

investigator may examine a document, record or other thing that he or she

believes to be relevant to the investigation.

3. The

investigator may demand that a document, record or other thing be produced for

inspection if he or she believes it to be relevant to the investigation.

4. The

investigator may remove a document, record or other thing for review and

copying if he or she believes it to be relevant to the investigation. The

investigator shall return it within a reasonable time.

5. In

order to produce a record in readable form, the investigator may use data

storage, information processing or retrieval devices or systems that are

normally used in carrying on business in the place in which he or she is

conducting the investigation.

6. The

investigator may question any person about matters that the investigator

believes to be relevant to the investigation.

Powers

of entry

(3) An

investigator may enter lands or business premises, other than a private

dwelling, without the consent of the owner or occupier and without a warrant if

the entry is for the purpose of an investi

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 93, 40-2
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p40 s2 bill 93 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	a4e0f09fd6f7ea77b7e9d11881a1cbaf69677f66

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