Transparency in Public Matters Act, 2005 Di Cocco, Caroline — Bill 123 (38th Parliament, 2nd Session)

Bill 123, 38-2

Ontario — Bills

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Bill 123, Transparency in Public Matters Act, 2005

Di Cocco, Caroline

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As Amended by Standing Committee

[38] Bill 123 As Amended by Standing Committee (PDF)

Bill 123 2005

An Act to require

that meetings of provincial and

municipal boards, commissions

and other public bodies

be open to the public

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

Purpose and Application

Purpose

1. The purpose of this Act is to ensure that the meetings of designated public bodies at which deliberation or decision-making occurs are open to the public and that the minutes of those meetings are made available

to the public.

Application

(1) This Act applies to the following designated public bodies:

1. Public bodies that are prescribed as designated by the regulations made under this Act.

2. Public bodies that belong to a type that is designated in

Schedule 1 to this Act or to a type that is prescribed as designated by the regulations made under this Act.

Exception

(2) If a designated public body referred to in subsection (1) performs an adjudicative function, this Act does not apply to meetings of that body that are held with respect to that function.

Open Meetings and Minutes

What constitutes a meeting

(1) A meeting of a designated public body occurs for the purposes of this Act if the following conditions apply:

1. The meeting is one which the members of the body are entitled to attend, such as a meeting of the entire membership of the body or a meeting of a committee or other division of the body.

2. The purpose of the meeting is to deliberate on or do any thing within the jurisdiction or terms of reference of the body, committee or other division.

3. The number of members in attendance constitutes a quorum or, in the absence of a quorum requirement in the rules or terms of reference of the body, committee or other division, a majority.

Same

(2) A meeting includes an electronic or telephone meeting to which the conditions described in subsection (1) apply.

Notice of meetings

4. A designated public body shall give reasonable notice to the public of each of its meetings by posting in a publicly accessible location or by publishing on its website, or both, or by publishing in any print or

electronic medium of mass communication,

(

a) the date, time and location of the meeting;

(

b) a clear, comprehensive agenda of the items to be discussed at the meeting; and

(

c) if the meeting is an electronic or telephone meeting, information on how the public body will ensure, in accordance with

section 6, that members of the public are able to exercise, without difficulty, their right to attend the meeting under

subsection 5 (1).

Prohibition on new agenda items

4.1

(1) Once a designated public body has given notice to the public of a meeting under

section 4, it shall not add a new item to the agenda for that meeting unless the item,

(

a) relates to a matter requiring immediate attention, and the body has provided notice to the public of the change to the agenda by posting the amended agenda in a publicly accessible location or publishing the amended agenda on its website or

in any other print or electronic medium of mass communication; or

(

b) relates to a situation or an impending situation caused by the forces of nature, an accident, an intentional act or otherwise that constitutes a significant danger to life, health, property or the environment.

Two-thirds majority vote required to amend agenda

(2) A two-thirds majority of the members of the body must agree to add a new item to the agenda under clause (1) (a).

Majority vote required to amend agenda

(3) A majority of the members of the body present and entitled to vote shall vote in favour of adding a new item to the agenda under clause (1) (b).

Meetings to be open

(1) A designated public body shall ensure that its meetings are open to the public.

Exceptions

(2) Despite subsection (1), a designated public body may exclude the public from any part of a meeting if,

(

a) financial, personal or other matters may be disclosed of such a nature that the desirability of avoiding public disclosure of them in the interest of any person affected or in the public interest outweighs the desirability of adhering to

the principle that meetings be open to the public;

(a.2) matters of public security will be discussed;

(a.3) the security of the members or property of the designated public body will be discussed;

(a.4) personal health information, as defined in

section 4 of the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 , will be discussed;

(

b) a person involved in a civil or criminal proceeding may be prejudiced;

(

c) the safety of a person may be jeopardized;

(

d) personnel matters involving an identifiable individual, including an employee of the designated public body, will be discussed;

(

e) negotiations or anticipated negotiations between the designated public body and a person, bargaining agent or party to a proceeding or an anticipated proceeding relating to labour relations or a person's employment by the designated public

body will be discussed;

(

f) litigation or contemplated litigation affecting the designated public body will be discussed, or any legal advice provided to the designated public body will be discussed, or any other matter subject to solicitor-client privilege will be

discussed;

(

g) matters prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council under clause 24 (

b) will be discussed; or

(

h) the designated public body will deliberate whether to exclude the public from a meeting, and the deliberation will consider whether one or more of clauses (

a) through (

g) are applicable to the meeting or part of the meeting.

Motion stating reasons

(3) A designated public body shall not exclude the public from a meeting before a vote is held on a motion to exclude the public, which motion must clearly state the nature of the matter to be considered at the closed meeting and the

general reasons why the public is being excluded.

Taking of vote

(4) The meeting shall not be closed to the public during the taking of the vote on the motion under subsection (3).

Role of body re electronic meetings

6. If a designated public body holds an electronic or telephone meeting, the body shall ensure that members of the public are able to exercise, without difficulty, their right to attend the meeting under subsection 5

(1).

Minutes

(1) A designated public body shall keep minutes of its meetings in accordance with this section.

Minutes - requirements

(2) The minutes of meetings shall,

(

a) be clear and neutral; and

(

b) contain sufficient detail to adequately inform the public of the main subject-matters considered, any deliberations engaged in and any decisions made.

Minutes to be made available

(3) A designated public body shall, where the minutes of its meetings are adopted, post the minutes in a publicly accessible location or shall publish them on its website at the same time as the adopted minutes are made available to

the members of the designated public body.

Minutes when public excluded

(4) If a designated public body excludes the public from a meeting in accordance with subsection 5 (2), before making the minutes available to the public under subsection (1), the designated body may remove details that would reveal

any information that was the basis for excluding the public under subsection 5 (2), but shall not remove any more details than are reasonably necessary.

Decisions made when public excluded

(5) If a designated public body makes a decision at a meeting or part of a meeting from which the public is excluded, the minutes shall clearly record the decision and provide as much detail as is reasonably possible without

disclosing any information that was the basis for excluding the public under subsection 5 (2).

Other Duties of Designated

Public Bodies

Rules

(1) By the end of its third meeting after the day this Act comes into force, a designated public body, having regard to the purpose set out in

section 1, shall make rules respecting,

(

a) how public notice of its meetings shall be given;

(

b) how the minutes of its meetings shall be made available to the public; and

(

c) how rules made under this subsection and amendments made under subsection (2) shall be made available to the public.

Amendment or revision of rules

(2) A designated public body may amend the rules made under subsection (1) at any time.

Compliance with rules

9. By the end of its third meeting after this Act comes into force, a designated public body shall appoint a member of the body to be responsible for overseeing compliance by the body with

section 7 and with the

rules made under

section 8.

Complaints and Reviews

Complaint to the Commissioner

(1) A person who has reasonable grounds to believe that a designated public body has contravened or is about to contravene a provision of this Act may make a written complaint to the Information and

Privacy Commissioner appointed under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act .

Time for complaint

(2) A complaint made under subsection (1) shall be made within one year of the day on which the matter giving rise to the complaint first came to the attention of the complainant or should reasonably have come to his or her

attention.

Response of Commissioner

(1) On receiving a complaint made under subsection 10 (1), the Commissioner may inform the relevant designated public body of the nature of the complaint and may,

(

a) give the designated public body an opportunity to respond to the complaint;

(

b) require the complainant and designated public body to attempt to reach a settlement within a time period specified by the Commissioner; or

(

c) authorize a mediator to review the complaint and to try to effect a settlement, within a time period that the Commissioner specifies, between the complainant and the designated public body.

Dealings without prejudice

(2) If the Commissioner takes an action under clause (1) (

b) or (

c) but no settlement is reached within the specified time period, none of the information disclosed in the process of attempting to settle the complaint shall be used

or disclosed outside the attempted settlement, including in a review of a complaint under this

section or in an inspection under

section 14, unless all parties expressly consent.

Commissioner's review

(1) If the Commissioner does not take an action under clause 11 (1) (

b) or (

c) or has done so but no settlement is reached within the specified time period, the Commissioner may review the complaint if

satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to do so.

No review

(2) The Commissioner may decide not to review a complaint if, in the Commissioner's opinion,

(

a) the designated public body about which the complaint is made has responded adequately to the complaint;

(

b) the length of time that has elapsed between the date that the matter that is the basis of the complaint arose and the date the complaint was made is such that a review under this

section would likely result in undue prejudice to any person,

even if the complaint was made within the time permitted under subsection 10 (2);

(

c) the complaint is frivolous, vexatious or made in bad faith; or

(

d) there is any other proper reason to do so.

Notice

(3) On deciding not to review a complaint, the Commissioner shall give notice to the complainant and the relevant designated public body and shall specify the reasons for the decision.

Commissioner's self-initiated review

(4) If the Commissioner has reasonable grounds to believe that a designated public body has contravened or is about to contravene a provision of this Act, the Commissioner may, on his or her own initiative, co

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 123, 38-2
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p38 s2 bill 123 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	bb05d219754083faee0a1ec00c2266494e62c761

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