Gas Price Watchdog Act, 2003 Gravelle, Michael — Bill 33 (37th Parliament, 4th Session)

Bill 33, 37-4

Ontario — Bills

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Bill 33, Gas Price Watchdog Act, 2003

Gravelle, Michael

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[37] Bill 33 Original (PDF)

Bill 33 2003

An Act respecting

the price of motor vehicle fuel

and the appointment of a

Gas Price Watchdog

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

Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Definitions

1. In this Act,

"consumer" means a person who acquires motor vehicle fuel for his or her

own use and not for the purpose of selling, exchanging or otherwise disposing

thereof and does not include a person who purchases motor vehicle fuel for

use in a business under a written contract containing bulk purchasing

provisions with volume discounts; ("consommateur")

"Gas Price Watchdog" means the person appointed to hold office under

section 3; ("agent de surveillance des prix du carburant")

"manufacturer" means any person who manufactures, refines or makes motor

vehicle fuel or any component thereof; ("fabricant")

"Minister" means the Minister of Consumer and Business Services;

("ministre")

"motor vehicle" means any vehicle legally entitled to be driven on public

roads, highways and streets and which operates by means of motor vehicle

fuel; ("véhicule automobile")

"motor vehicle fuel" means a liquid product, whether or not distilled or

recovered from petroleum, which by itself or in mixture with other products,

by combustion, develops the power required for operating internal combustion

engines, and includes gasoline, diesel fuels, propane and ethanol fuels;

("carburant pour véhicules automobiles")

"prescribed" means prescribed by regulation; ("prescrit")

"regulation" means a regulation made under this Act;

("règlement")

"retailer" means a person who keeps for sale or sells motor vehicle fuel

to a consumer and includes a person who is also a wholesaler;

("détaillant")

"retailer margin" means the difference between the price at which a

retailer buys a motor vehicle fuel from a wholesaler and the price at which

the retailer sells the motor vehicle fuel to a consumer; ("marge brute du

détaillant")

"retail outlet" includes every location at which a retailer sells motor

vehicle fuel, whether on a permanent or temporary basis; ("point de

vente")

"wholesaler" means a person who keeps for sale or sells motor vehicle fuel

to a retailer, and includes a person who is also a retailer.

("grossiste")

Purpose

2. The purpose of this Act is,

(

a) to ensure that retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers be accountable

to the public with respect to the pricing of motor vehicle fuel;

(

b) to ensure reasonable and competitive prices of motor vehicle fuel

within Ontario; and

(

c) to protect employees of retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers from

retaliation for having disclosed any pricing practices of the retailer,

wholesaler or manufacturer that contravene this Act.

Gas Price Watchdog

(1) An office is hereby

surveillance des prix du carburant in French.

Appointment

(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may appoint a person to

hold the office of Gas Price Watchdog.

Qualification, term of appointment

(3) The qualifications, term of appointment and replacement of

the Gas Price Watchdog shall be as set out in the regulations.

Duties

(4) The duties of the Gas Price Watchdog are,

(

a) to monitor and report to the Minister on pricing practices with

respect to motor vehicle fuel in the Province;

(

b) to conduct inquiries under

section 4;

(

c) to receive, consider and determine the validity of complaints about

reprisals made under

section 7; and

(

d) to carry out such other duties as may be prescribed.

Inquiry by Gas Price Watchdog

(1) Upon order of the Minister,

the Gas Price Watchdog shall conduct an inquiry into pricing practices in the

Province with respect to motor vehicle fuel.

Scope of inquiry

(2) The scope of the inquiry shall be specified by the Minister

and may be limited to one or more retailer, wholesaler or manufacturer.

Public hearings

(3) The Gas Price Watchdog may hold public hearings in the

course of an inquiry under this section.

Petitions

(4) The Minister shall order the Gas Price Watchdog to conduct

an inquiry under subsection (1) if the Minister receives a petition

requesting an inquiry into a matter relating to the price of motor vehicle

fuel and the petition is signed by at least 50,000 residents of Ontario.

Report

(5) The Gas Price Watchdog shall prepare a report of the

results of its inquiry for the Minister who shall table the report in the

Assembly.

Prohibition, collusion to set prices

(1) No person shall conspire,

agree or collude to increase or decrease the price of motor vehicle fuel.

Prohibition, collusion to set retailer margin

(2) No person shall conspire, agree or collude to increase or

decrease the retailer margin with respect to motor vehicle fuel.

Evidence of collusion

(3) Evidence of two or more retailers, wholesalers or

manufacturers increasing or decreasing the price of motor vehicle fuel or the

retailer margin with respect to motor vehicle fuel simultaneously or in close

succession shall not, absent any corroborating evidence of actual

communication or agreement between the parties, constitute sufficient

evidence of conspiracy, agreement or collusion for the purposes of a

conviction under subsection (1) or (2).

Prohibition, reprisals

6. No retailer, wholesaler or manufacturer of

motor vehicle fuel shall dismiss, discipline, penalize or in any way coerce

or intimidate an employee because the employee has, acting in good faith,

done any of the following:

1. Complied with or sought the enforcement of this Act or the

regulations.

2. Given information to an appropriate authority for the purposes of an

investigation or inquiry related to the enforcement of this Act or the

regulations.

3. Given evidence in a proceeding under this Act.

4. Done a prescribed act.

Complaints about reprisals

(1) Any person may file a

written complaint with the Gas Price Watchdog alleging that an employer has

contravened

section 6.

Inquiry by Gas Price Watchdog

(2) The Gas Price Watchdog shall inquire into any complaint

received under subsection (1).

Order of Gas Price Watchdog

(3) If the Gas Price Watchdog, after inquiring into the

complaint, is satisfied that the employer has contravened

section 6, the Gas

Price Watchdog shall make one or more of the following orders:

1. An order directing the employer to cease doing the act or acts

complained of.

2. An order directing the employer to rectify the act or acts complained

of.

3. An order directing the employer to reinstate in employment or hire the

employee, with or without compensation, or to compensate, instead of hiring

or reinstatement, for loss of earnings or other employment benefits in an

amount determined by the Gas Price Watchdog.

Failure to comply

(4) If an employer fails to comply with a term of an order made

under subsection (3) within 14 days of the date the order was made, the

employee may file a copy of the order with the Superior Court of Justice and

the order may be enforced as though it were an order of the court.

Civil remedy

(5) This

section shall not be interpreted so as to limit any

other right an employee may have under this Act, any other Act or at law to

seek a remedy with respect to adverse employment action.

Inspectors

(1) The Minister may appoint

inspectors for the purpose of ensuring compliance with this Act.

Inspection

(2) For the purpose of determining whether this Act is being

complied with, an inspector may, without a warrant, enter and inspect places

owned or operated by a retailer, wholesaler or manufacturer.

Restricted appointment

(3) The Minister may, in an appointment, restrict the

inspector's powers of entry and inspection to specified places or types of

places.

Time of entry

(4) The power to enter and inspect a place without a warrant

may be exercised only during daylight hours or, in the case of a place of

business, during the place's regular business hours.

Dwellings

(5) The power to enter and inspect a place without a warrant

shall not be exercised to enter and inspect a part of the place that is used

as a dwelling unless reasonable notice has been given to the occupier of the

dwelling.

Use of force

(6) An inspector is not entitled to use force to enter and

inspect a place.

Identification

(7) An inspector conducting an inspection shall produce, on

request, evidence of his or her appointment.

Powers of inspectors

(8) An inspector conducting an inspection may,

(

a) examine a record or other thing that is relevant to the

inspection;

(

b) demand the production for inspection of a document or other thing that

is relevant to the inspection;

(

c) remove for review and copying a record or other thing that is relevant

to the inspection;

(

d) in order to produce a record in readable form, use data storage,

information processing or retrieval devices or systems that are normally used

in carrying on business in the place; and

(

e) question a person on matters relevant to the inspection.

Written demand

(9) A demand that a record or other thing be produced for

inspection must be in writing and must include a statement of the nature of

the record or thing required.

Obligation to produce and assist

(10) If an inspector demands that a record or other thing be

produced for inspection, the person who has custody of the record or thing

shall produce it and, in the case of a record, shall on request provide any

assistance that is reasonably necessary to interpret the record or to produce

it in a readable form.

Removal of things

(11) A record or other thing that has been removed for review

and copying,

(

a) shall be made available to the person from whom it was removed, for

review and copying, on request and at a time and place that are convenient

for the person and for the inspector; and

(

b) shall be returned to the person within a reasonable time.

Copy admissible in evidence

(12) A copy of a record that purports to be certified by an

inspector as being a true copy of the original is admissible in evidence to

the same extent as the original, and has the same evidentiary value.

Obstruction

(13) No person shall hinder, obstruct or interfere with an

inspector conducting an inspection, refuse to answer questions on matters

relevant to the inspection or provide the inspector with information, on

matters relevant to the inspection, that the person knows to be false or

misleading.

Offences

(1) Any person who contravenes

subsection 5 (1) or (2),

section 6 or subsection 8 (13) is guilty of an

offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of up to,

(a) $20,000, if the person is an individual; or

(b) $250,000, if the person is a corporation.

Additional penalties

(2) A court may prohibit a retailer, wholesaler or manufacturer

convicted of an offence referred to in subsection (1) from selling motor

vehicle fuel for a period of up to three months.

Directors and officers

(1) A director or officer of a

corporation that engages in the sale of motor vehicle fuel has a duty to take

reasonable care to prevent the corporation from contravening subsection 5 (1)

or (2),

section 6 or subsection 8 (13).

Offence

(2) A director or officer who is subject to a duty under

subsection (1) and fails to carry it out is, on conviction, liable to a fine

of up to $75,000.

Failure to pay fines

11. A person who is convicted of an offence

under

section 9 or under subsection 10 (2) and who fails to pay the imposed

fine is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to imprisonment for

up to 12 months.

Regulations

(1) The Lieutenant Governor in

Council may make regulations,

(

a) governing the qualifications of the Gas Price Watchdog, his or her

rem

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 33, 37-4
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p37 s4 bill 33 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	bdb30c4659b11622fb1211f8e1848344c2ee6bd3

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