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Bill 162, Public Accountability and Lobbyist Transparency Act, 2020

Hillier, Randy

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Acts affected

Original

Bill 162 Original (PDF)

EXPLANATORY

NOTE

Legislative Assembly

Act

Section

43 of the Legislative Assembly Act is amended to provide

that a penalty payable under that

section may be increased by an additional

amount not exceeding 200 per cent of the penalty.

Section 46 of the Act is

amended to provide that the Speaker must notify the Commissioner of the Ontario

Provincial Police or the Director of Public Prosecutions (Canada) about certain

inquiries by the Assembly.

Lobbyists Registration Act, 1998

The

Lobbyists Registration Act, 1998 is amended to

provide that, in certain circumstances, consultant and in-house lobbyists must provide

the registrar with information about their lobbying activities. The Act is also

amended to require any member of the Executive Council who has been lobbied by,

or otherwise met with, a consultant or in-house lobbyist to file a report about

the lobbying or meeting with the registrar not later than 30 days after the

lobbying or meeting took place. The Act is also amended to provide that members

of the Assembly who have reasonable and probable grounds to believe that

another member of the Assembly has contravened the Act may request that the

registrar give an opinion as to the matter. Finally, the maximum penalties set

out in

section 18 of the Act are increased and a penalty of imprisonment is

provided for.

Members’ Integrity Act, 1994

Section

30 of the Members’ Integrity Act, 1994 is amended

to provide that any individual who has reasonable and probable grounds to

believe that a member of the Assembly has contravened the Act or Ontario

parliamentary convention may request that the Integrity Commissioner give an

opinion as to the matter.

Section 31 of the Act is amended to require the

Commissioner to conduct an inquiry into matters referred to the Commissioner.

The Act is also amended to provide that the Government House Leader must ensure

that the Assembly considers and responds to reports by the Commissioner and

failure by the Government House Leader to do so is a contempt.

Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006

The

Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006 is amended to

provide that any individual may disclose wrongdoing to the Integrity

Commissioner and the Integrity Commissioner must investigate disclosures of

wrongdoing. The Integrity Commissioner is also required to make a public report

on concluding an investigation unless it is not in the public interest to do

so.

Bill 162 2019

Act to amend the Legislative Assembly Act, the Lobbyists Registration Act,

1998, the Members’ Integrity Act, 1994 and the Public Service of Ontario Act,

Her

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

Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Legislative

Assembly Act

Section 43 of the Legislative Assembly Act is

amended by striking out “and the sum of $500” at the end and substituting “and

an additional amount not exceeding 200 per cent of the amount or value of the

fee, compensation or reward the person accepted or received”.

Section 46 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsections:

Notice

to OPP

(3) Subject

to subsections (5), if the Assembly is inquiring into the commission or doing

of

an act, matter or thing described in paragraph 3, 5, 6, 8 or 9 of subsection

(1), the Speaker shall notify the Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police

of the inquiry and the Commissioner may investigate the act, matter or thing.

Report

(4) If

the Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police completes an investigation

under subsection (3), he or she shall report the findings of the investigation

to the Speaker and the Attorney General.

Notice

to Federal Prosecutions

(5) If

a member of the Executive Council or an employee of a member of the Executive

Council is the subject of an inquiry described in subsection (3), the Speaker

shall notify the Director of Public Prosecutions (Canada) of the inquiry and the

Director may investigate the act, matter or thing.

Report

(6) If

the Director of Public Prosecutions (Canada) completes an investigation under

subsection (5), he or she shall report the findings of the investigation to the

Speaker and the Attorney General, and the Attorney General shall table the

report in the Assembly.

Lobbyists

Registration Act, 1998

The definition of “consultant lobbyist” in subsection 1 (1) of the Lobbyists Registration Act, 1998 is amended by adding

“and includes a director or principal of such an individual” at the end.

Subsection 3.3 (2) of the Act is amended by adding “or registered political

party” after “office holder” wherever that expression appears.

Section 4 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsection:

Same,

record of activities and certain communications

(7.1) If

a consultant lobbyist advises the registrar that he or she has completed an

undertaking in respect of which he or she has filed a return or that the

undertaking has been terminated, as required by subsection (7), the consultant

lobbyist shall submit the following to the registrar at that time:

1. A

list of the dates and times the consultant lobbyist lobbied on behalf of the

client.

2. Any

electronic communications made or received by the consultant lobbyist in the

course of lobbying on behalf of the client.

Paragraph 11 of subsection 5 (3) of the Act is amended by striking out “and” at

the end of subparagraph i and by adding the following subparagraphs:

iii. a

list of the dates and times any in-house lobbyist employed by the person or

partnership lobbied on behalf of the person or partnership during the period

for which the return is filed, and

iv. any

electronic communications made or received by the in-house lobbyist in the

course of lobbying on behalf of the person or partnership during the period for

which the return is filed.

Paragraph 9 of subsection 6 (3) of the Act is amended by striking out “and” at

the end of subparagraph i and by adding the following subparagraphs:

iii. a

list of the dates and times any in-house lobbyist employed by the organization lobbied

on behalf of the organization during the period for which the return is filed,

and

iv. any

electronic communications made or received by the in-house lobbyist in the

course of lobbying on behalf of the organization during the period for which

the return is filed.

The Act is amended by adding the following section:

Reporting

Requirements — Members of the Executive Council

Duty

to report lobbying

6.1

(1) Any

member of the Executive Council who has been lobbied by, or otherwise met with,

a consultant lobbyist referred to in

section 4 or an in-house lobbyist referred

to in

section 5 or 6 shall file a report with the registrar not later than 30

days after the lobbying or meeting took place.

Contents

of report

(2) The

member shall set out in the report the following information:

1. The

name of each lobbyist who lobbied or met with the member.

2. The

dates and times the member was lobbied or met with a lobbyist.

3. The

subject matters in respect of which the member was lobbied or met with a

lobbyist.

4. Any

other prescribed information.

Information

requested by registrar

(3) A

member of the Executive Council shall provide the registrar with any

information that the registrar may request to clarify any information that the

member has provided to the registrar under this

section not later than 30 days

after the registrar makes the request.

Subsection 11 (1) of the Act is amended by adding “public” after “maintain a”.

The Act is amended by adding the following section:

Matter

referred by member

17.12.1

(1) A member

of the Assembly who has reasonable and probable grounds to believe that another

member of the Assembly has contravened this Act may request that the registrar

give an opinion as to the matter and sections 17.1 to 17.12 apply with

necessary modifications.

Request

(2) The

request shall be in writing and shall set out the grounds for the belief and

the contravention alleged.

Tabling

(3) The

member making the request shall promptly give a copy of it to the Speaker, who

shall cause the request to be laid before the Assembly if it is in session or,

if not, within 10 days after the beginning of the next session.

Matter

referred by Executive Council

(4) The

Executive Council may request that the registrar give an opinion as to whether

a member of the Executive Council has contravened this Act and sections 17.1 to

17.12 apply with necessary modifications.

Inquiry

by Assembly

(5) The

Assembly and its committees shall not conduct an inquiry into a matter that has

been referred to the registrar under subsection (1) or (4).

(1) Subsection 18 (1) of the Act is amended by adding “(7.1)” after

“(5)”.

(2) Section

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

Reports

by members of the Executive Council

(3.1) Every

individual who fails to comply with subsection 6.1 (1), (2) or (3) is guilty of

an offence.

(3) Subsections

18 (8) and (9) of the Act are repealed and the following substituted:

Penalty

(8) Upon

conviction of an offence under this section, an individual is liable,

(

a) for

a first offence, to a fine of not more than $50,000 or to imprisonment for a

term not exceeding six months, or to both; and

(

b) for

each subsequent offence, to a fine of not more than $200,000 or to imprisonment

for a term not exceeding two years, or to both.

Limitation

(9) No

proceeding in respect of an offence under this

section shall be commenced more

than 10 years after the day when the subject-matter of the proceeding arose.

Members’

Integrity Act, 1994

(1) Subsection 30 (1) of the Members’ Integrity

Act, 1994 is repealed and the following substituted:

Matter

referred to Commissioner

(1) An

individual who has reasonable and probable grounds to believe that a member of

the Assembly has contravened this Act or Ontario parliamentary convention may

request that the Commissioner give an opinion as to the matter.

(2) Subsection

30 (3) of the Act is amended by adding “If the request is made by a member” at

the beginning.

(1) Subsection 31 (1) of the Act is amended by striking out “may”

and substituting “shall”.

(2) Subsection

31 (2) of the Act is amended by adding “or an individual” at the end of the

portion before clause (a).

(3) Clause

31 (3) (

b) of the Act is amended by striking out “member” and substituting

“individual”.

(4) Subsections

31 (4.6), (4.7) and (4.8) of the Act are repealed.

(1) Subsection 34 (2) of the Act is amended by adding “sessional”

after “30”.

(2) Section

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

Duty

of Government House Leader

(2.1) The

Government House Leader shall ensure that the Assembly fulfils its duty under

subsection (2) and failure by the Government House Leader to do so is a

contempt.

Public

Service of Ontario Act, 2006

Section 116 of the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006

is amended by adding the following subsection:

Same

(2) An

individual may disclose wrongdoing to the Integrity Commissioner if the

individual has reason to believe that there has been wrongdoing.

Subsection 118 (3) of the Act is amended by adding the following paragraph:

6. The

Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police.

Subsection 122 (1) of the Act is amended by striking out the portion before

clause (

a) and substituting the following:

Investigation

by Integrity Commissioner

(1) Subject

to subsection (2), the Integrity Commissioner shall initiate an investigation

of a disclosure of wrongdoing if,

. . . .

Section 126 of the Act is amended by striking out “public servant or former

public servant” wherever it appears and substituting in each case “individual”.

Section 129 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Report

on conclusion of investigation

concluding an investigation of a disclosure under this Part, the Integrity

Commissioner shall make a public report, unless the Integrity Commissioner is

of the opinion that it is not in the public interest to do so.

Subsection 130 (3) of the Act is repealed.

Subsection 131 (2) of the Act is amended by striking out “subsection 129 (1) or

(2)” in the portion before clause (

a) and substituting “section 129”.

(1) Clause 132 (1) (

a) of the Act is repealed.

(2) Subsection

132 (3) of the Act is amended by striking out “clause (1) (

a) or (b)” and

substituting “clause (b)”.

Commencement

and

Short Title

Commencement

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

Short

title

The

short title of this Act is the Public Accountability

and Lobbyist Transparency Act, 2019 .

Date Bill stage Event Outcome Committee

March 3, 2020

Second Reading

Ordered referred to Standing Committee pursuant to the Order of the House

Standing Committee on Justice Policy

March 3, 2020

Second Reading

Discharge the Order of referral to Committee of the Whole House

February 20, 2020

Second Reading

Ordered referred to Committee of the Whole House

February 20, 2020

Second Reading

Vote

Carried

February 20, 2020

Second Reading

Debated

December 9, 2019

First Reading

Vote

Carried

Debates and Progress

First Reading

December 9, 2019

Committee

Second Reading

February 20, 2020

Mr. Randy Hillier, Hon. Paul Calandra, Mr. Percy Hatfield, Mr. Mike Schreiner, Ms. Peggy Sattler

February 20, 2020

Declared carried. Referred to the Committee of the Whole House.

March 3, 2020

Order of referral to the Commitee of the Whole House discharged. Referred to the Standing Committee on Justice Policy pursuant to the order of the House.

Committee

Standing Committee on Justice Policy

Third Reading

Royal Assent

Acts affected - Bill 162

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

Legislative Assembly Act

Lobbyists Registration Act, 1998

Members' Integrity Act, 1994

Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

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