Modernizing Ontario's Municipal Legislation Act, 2017 — Bill 68 (41st Parliament, 2nd Session)

Bill 68, 41-2

Ontario — Bills

2ND SESSION, 41ST LEGISLATURE, ONTARIO 66 ELIZABETH II, 2017 Bill 68

An Act to amend various Acts in relation to municipalities The Hon. B. Mauro Minister of Municipal Affairs Government Bill 1st Reading November 16, 2016 2nd Reading March 23, 2017 3rd Reading Royal Assent (Reprinted as amended by the Standing Committee on Social Policy and as reported to the Legislative Assembly May 3, 2017) (The provisions in this Bill will be renumbered after 3rd Reading)

This reprint of the Bill is marked to indicate the changes that were made in Committee. The changes are indicated by underlines for new text and a strikethrough for deleted text. ______________ EXPLANATORY NOTE The Bill amends the Municipal Act, 2001 , the City of Toronto Act, 2006 , the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act and several other Acts. For convenience, the amendments are set out in separate Schedules.

SCHEDULE 1 AMENDMENTS TO THE MUNICIPAL ACT, 2001 Amendments to the Municipal Act, 2001 and the City of Toronto Act, 2006 Many amendments to the Municipal Act, 2001 are also made to parallel provisions of the City of Toronto Act, 2006. Here are highlights of some of those amendments: Amendments are made to subsection s 10 (2) and 11 (2) of the Act c oncerning the making of by -laws respecting climate change. (see subsection 8 (2) of the City of Toronto Act, 2006) A new

section 23.6 of the Act is added concerning the establishment o f community councils by municipalities. (see new

section 24.1 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006) Subsection 44 (10) of the Act currently governs the service of notice of a claim for the recovery of damages relating to the default by a municipality to keep in repair a highway or bridge for which the municipality has jurisdiction. The subsection is amended to require the notice to include the date, time and location of the injury complained of. (see subsection 42 (6) of the City of Toronto Act, 2006) A new sec tion 97.1 of the Act provides permissive authority for by-laws respecting the protection or conservation of the environment that require buildings to be constructed in accordance with prescribed provisions of the Building Code. (see new

section 108.1 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006) Subsection 99 (1) of the Act , which currently governs the application of by -laws respecting certain advertising devices, is repealed and re-enacted to provide that the subsection, as it previously read, continues to apply to by -laws passed before its re-enactment. (see subsection 110 (1) of the City of Toronto Act, 2006)

Section 147 of the Act, which currently governs the provision of energy conservatio n programs by municipalities, is re - enacted to provide that municipalities may provide for or participate in long -term energy planning for energy use in the municipality. (see new

section 105.3 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006) Currently, subsection 216 (3 ) of the Act prevents a municipality from dissolving or changing an appeal body established to hear appeals for certain local land use planning matters. Amendments are made to remove the restriction concerning the changing of such appeal bodies. (see

section 145 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006) Various amendments are made concerning Integrity Commissioners. Subsection 223.3 (1) of the Act is amended to expand the list of responsibilities of a Commissioner. New subsections 223.3 (6) and (7) require municipalities to indemnify Integrity Commissioners or any persons acting under the i nstructions of that officer for costs reasonably incurred in connection with the defence of certain proceedings . A new

section 223.4.1 sets out rules that apply if a Commissioner conducts an inquiry, either on application or on his or her own initiative, on application from an elector, as defined in the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, or a person demonstrably acting in the public interest, concerning an alleged contravention of

section 5, 5.1 or 5.2 of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act . Other related amendments are made to sections 223.3, 223.4 and 223.5. Certain rules apply with respect to inquiries and other matters during regular elections. (see sections 159, 160 and 161 and new

section 160.1 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006) The definition of “meeting” in subsection 238 (1) of the Act, which applies to sections 238 to 239.2, is re -enacted to mean any regular, special or other meetings of council, or of certain local boards or committees, where a quorum is present and where members discuss or otherwise deal with matters in a way that materially advances the business or decision making of the relevant body.

A new subsection 238 (3.2) of the Act provides that a procedure by-law shall not provide that a member of council, of a local boa rd or of a committee of either them, can participate electronically in a meeting which is closed to the public. (see subsections 189 (1) and (4.1) of the City of Toronto Act, 2006) A new subsection 239.2 (12) of the Act requires a municipality or a local board to pass a resolution stating how it intends t o address a report from a person referred to in clause 239.1 (

a) or (

b) reporting his or her opinion that a mee ting or part of a meeting that was the subject of an investigation by that person appears to have been closed to the public contrary to

section 239 or to a procedure by-law under subsection 238 (2). (see subsection 190.2 (11.1) of the City of Toronto Act, 2006)

Section 259 of the Act currently sets out circumstances where a council member’s office becomes vacant. A new subsection 259 (1.1) is added to provide that an office is not vacated due to absences related to pregnancy or the birth or adoption of the member’s child. (see new subsection 204 (2) of the City of Toronto Act, 2006)

ii Amendments are made to subsection 270 (1) of the Act to require a municipality to adopt and maintain policies with respect to the relationship between members of council and the officers and employees of the municipali ty, with respect to the protection and enhancement of the tree canopy and natural vegetation in the municipality and with respect to pregnancy and parental leaves of council members. (see subsection 212 (1) of the City of Toronto Act, 2006)

Section 343 of the Act governs the content and delivery of tax bills. A new subsection 343 (6.1) permits tax bills to be sent electronically, if the taxpayer chooses to receive the bill in that manner. (see new subsection 308 (6.1) of the City of Toronto Act, 2006) New

section 357.1 of the Act authorizes a treasurer of a local municipality, in certain circumstances, to cancel, reduce or refund all or part of a payment in lieu of taxes. (see new

section 324 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006) Amendments are made to sections 371 to 388.2 of the Act, and new sections are added, to reduce the time that property taxes have to be in arrears before a municipality can start a tax sale and to make other changes to the process. Expedited timeline s are provided for the sale of corporate property that has escheated or forfeited to the Crown. Various amendments relate to the coming into force of the Forfeited Corporate Property Act, 2015. (see sections 343 to 364.2 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006) A new

section 434.1 of the Act includes permissive authority for municipalities to impose admini strative penalties for failure to comply with a municipal by -law. A new

section 434.2 provides that such administrative penalties constitute a debt to the municipality. (see new sections 374.1 and 374.2 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006) A new

section 434.3 of the Act permits a municipality to pass a by-law respecting the limitation period for an offence relating to a matter described in

section 223.9 or 223.10. (see new

section 374.3 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006) A new

section 474.11 of the Act deems land that is vested in or becomes property of the Crown in certain circumstances to be rateable property for the purposes of the Act. Transition rules are included. (see new

section 432.1 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006) Amendments to the Municipal Act, 2001 only Here are highlights of some of the amendments made to the Municipal Act, 2001 only: Amendments are made to sections 218, 219 and 221 of the Act, and new sections 219.1, 219.2 and 219.3 are added, concerning how regional municipalities are able to ch ange the composition of their councils. The amendments also require a regional municipality to review, for each of its lower -tier municipalities, the number of its members that represent the lower - tier municipality.

Provisions are also included to permit t he Minister to alter the composition of regional councils in certain circumstances. Amendments are made to

section 223. 2 of the Act to require municipalities to establish codes of conduct for members of council and of local boards. A new

section 223.3.1 A new subsection 223.3 (1.1) of the Act requires municipalities that have not appointed an Integrity Commissioner to make arrangements for all of the responsibilities listed in subsection 223.3 (1) to be provided by a Commissioner of another municipality. A new

section 223.3.2 A new subsection 223.3 (1.2) of the Act requires municipalities that have appointed an Integrity Commissioner but have not assigned functions with respect to one or more of the responsibilities set out in subsection 223.3 (1), to make arrangements for those responsibilities to be provided by a Commissioner of another municipality. A new

section 268 of the Act permits a local municipality to appoint an alternate member when a person who is a member of both the local council and upper-tier council is unable to attend a meeting of the upper-tier council. A new

section 418.1 of the Act permits a municipality that meets certain requirements to invest money that it does not immediately require in any security, in accordance with th e

section an d the regulations. A municipality that invests money under the

section must exercise the care, skill diligence an d judgment that a prudent investor would exercise in making such an investment. Consequential amendments are also made to sections 279, 286, 410, 418, 420 and 421.

SCHEDULE 2 AMENDMENTS TO THE CITY OF TORONTO ACT, 2006 In addition to the amendments made to the City of Toronto Act, 2006 described earlier for

Schedule 1, other amendments of a technical or editorial nature are made to the Act. Other amendments are made to s ection 115 of the Act, which currently permits the City to constitute and appoint one appeal body for local land use planning matters. The amendments authorize the Minister, by order, to dissolve the appeal body and also set out special rules that apply if such an order is made (see similar amendments to

section 8.1 of the Planning Act in

Schedule 4).

SCHEDULE 3 AMENDMENTS TO THE MUNICIPAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST ACT The

Schedule amends the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. Here are some highlights: A new

section 1.1 of the Act sets out the principles endorsed by the Province of Ontario in relation to the duties of members of councils and of local boards under the Act.

iii Currently,

section 5 of the Act sets out rules that apply if a member has a pecuniary interest in a matter and is present at a meeting where the matte r is subject to consideration. A new subsection 5 (2.1) sets out special rules that apply where the matter under consideration is whether to impose a penalty on the member under subsection 223.4 (5) or (6) of the Municipal Act, 2001 or under subsection 160 (5) or (6) of the City of Toronto Act, 2006. A new

section 5.1 of the Act requires a member to file a written statement after the member discloses a pecun iary interest under

section 5. A new

section 5.2 of the Act prohibits a member from influencing certain decisions or recommendations where the member has a pecuniary interest in the matter being considered. New

section 6.1 of the Act requi res municipalities and local boards to establish and maintain registries that keep copies of s

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 68, 41-2
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p41 s2 bill 68 bill text 41 2 en b068rep e.pdf
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	e300cb7c8d19fd57cf87a04b68abe96b645a2390

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Modernizing Ontario&#039;s Municipal Legislation Act, 2017 — Bill 68 (41st Parliament, 2nd Session)

Modernizing Ontario's Municipal Legislation Act, 2017 — Bill 68 (41st Parliament, 2nd Session)