Infrastructure for Jobs and Prosperity Act, 2014 Murray, Hon. Glen R. Minister of Infrastructure — Bill 141 (40th Parliament, 2nd Session)

Bill 141, 40-2

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Bill 141, Infrastructure for Jobs and Prosperity Act, 2014

Murray, Hon. Glen R. Minister of Infrastructure

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[40] Bill 141 Original (PDF)

Bill 141 2013

Act to enact the Infrastructure for Jobs and Prosperity Act, 2013

Her

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

Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

CONTENTS

Purpose and

Interpretation

Purpose

Definitions

Infrastructure

Planning Principles

Principles

Long-Term

Infrastructure Plans

Long-term

infrastructure plans

Publication

Other

Infrastructure-Related Requirements

Criteria

for prioritizing foundational infrastructure projects

Requirements

respecting architects, others

Requirements

respecting apprentices

Other

Matters

cause of action

Existing

obligations continue

Regulations

Regulations

Commencement

and

Short Title

Commencement

Short

title

______________

Purpose and

Interpretation

Purpose

1. The purpose of this Act is to establish

mechanisms to encourage principled, evidence-based and strategic long-term

infrastructure planning that supports job creation and training opportunities,

economic growth and protection of the environment, and to incorporate design

excellence into infrastructure planning.

Definitions

2. In this Act,

"broader

public sector entity" means,

(

a) a

municipality as defined in subsection 1 (1) of the Municipal

Act, 2001 ,

(

b) a

local board, as defined in subsection 1 (1) of the Municipal

Act, 2001 ,

(

c) a

board, as defined in subsection 1 (1) of the Education Act ,

(

d) any

post-secondary educational institution in Ontario that receives regular

operating funding from the Government,

(

e) a

hospital within the meaning of the Public Hospitals Act ,

(

f) a

board of health, as defined in subsection 1 (1) of the Health

Protection and Promotion Act , and

(

g) any

other persons or entities prescribed for the purposes of this definition;

("entité du secteur parapublic")

"construction" includes reconstruction, improvement,

extension, alteration, replacement and repairs; ("construction")

"Government" means,

(

a) the

Government of Ontario and the Crown in right of Ontario,

(

b) a

ministry of the Government of Ontario,

(

c) a

Crown agency, other than a college of applied arts and technology established

under the Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology

Act, 2002 , and

(

d) any

board, commission, authority or unincorporated body of the Crown; ("gouvernement")

"infrastructure" means the physical structures and

associated facilities that form the foundation of development, and by or

through which a public service is provided to Ontarians, such as highways,

bridges, bicycle paths, drinking water systems, hospitals, courthouses and

schools, as well as any other thing by or through which a public service is

provided to Ontarians that may be prescribed, but does not include,

(

a) infrastructure

relating to the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity,

including generation facilities, transmission systems, distribution systems,

and structures, equipment and other things connected to the IESO-controlled

grid, as these terms are defined in subsection 2 (1) of the Electricity Act, 1998 ,

(

b) any

other thing wholly or partly owned or leased by Hydro One Inc., Ontario Power

Generation Inc., or a subsidiary of either of them, and

(

c) any

prescribed physical structures or facilities; ("infrastructure")

"infrastructure asset" means all or part of any single

physical structure, facility, or other thing that falls within the definition

of "infrastructure" in this section; ("bien d'infrastructure")

"Minister" means the Minister of Infrastructure or such

other member of the Executive Council to whom responsibility for the

administration of this Act may be assigned or transferred under the Executive Council Act ; ("ministre")

"prescribed" means prescribed by the regulations;

("prescrit")

"regulations" means the regulations made under this Act.

("règlements")

Infrastructure Planning Principles

Principles

3. The Government, and every broader public

sector entity, shall consider the following principles when making decisions

respecting infrastructure:

1. Infrastructure

planning and investment should take a long-term view, and decision-makers

should take into account the needs of Ontarians by being mindful of, among

other things, demographic and economic trends in Ontario.

2. Infrastructure

planning and investment should take into account any applicable budgets or

fiscal plans, such as fiscal plans released under the Fiscal

Transparency and Accountability Act, 2004 and budgets adopted under

Part

VII of the Municipal Act, 2001 or

Part VII of the City of Toronto Act, 2006 .

3. Infrastructure

priorities should be clearly identified in order to better inform investment

decisions respecting infrastructure.

4. Infrastructure

planning and investment should ensure the continued provision of core public

services, such as health care and education.

5. Infrastructure

planning and investment should promote economic competitiveness, productivity,

job creation and training opportunities.

6. Infrastructure

planning and investment should foster innovation by creating opportunities to

make use of innovative technologies, services and practices, particularly where

doing so would utilize technology, techniques and practices developed in

Ontario.

7. Infrastructure

planning and investment should be evidence based and transparent, and, subject

to any restrictions or prohibitions under

an Act or otherwise by law on the

collection, use or disclosure of information,

i. investment

decisions respecting infrastructure should be made on the basis of information

that is either publicly available or is made available to the public, and

ii. information

with implications for infrastructure planning should be shared between the

Government and broader public sector entities, and should factor into investment

decisions respecting infrastructure.

8. Where

provincial or municipal plans or strategies have been established in Ontario,

under

an Act or otherwise, but do not bind or apply to the Government or the

broader public sector entity, as the case may be, the Government or broader

public sector entity should nevertheless be mindful of those plans and

strategies and make investment decisions respecting infrastructure that support

them, to the extent that they are relevant. Examples of plans and strategies to

which this paragraph may apply include,

i. policy

statements issued under

section 3 of the Planning Act ,

and provincial plans as defined by that Act,

ii. municipal

water sustainability plans submitted under the Water

Opportunities Act, 2010 ,

iii. the

Lake Simcoe Protection Plan established under the Lake

Simcoe Protection Act, 2008 , and

iv. transportation

plans adopted under the Metrolinx Act, 2006 .

9. Infrastructure

planning and investment should minimize the impact of infrastructure on the

environment and respect and help maintain ecological and biological diversity,

and infrastructure should be designed to be resilient to the effects of climate

change.

10. Any

other principles that may be prescribed for the Government or the broader

public sector entity, as the case may be.

Long-Term Infrastructure Plans

Long-term

infrastructure plans

(1) The Minister shall, in

accordance with the timing requirements set out in subsection (2),

(

a) develop

long-term infrastructure plans containing the information set out in subsection

(3); and

(

b) table

the long-term infrastructure plans in the Assembly or, if the Assembly is not

sitting, deposit them with the Clerk of the Assembly.

Timing

requirements

(2) Long-term infrastructure plans shall be

developed and tabled or deposited in accordance with the following timing

requirements:

1. The

first long-term infrastructure plan shall be developed and tabled or deposited

no later than three years after the day this

section comes into force.

2. Thereafter,

each subsequent long-term infrastructure plan shall be developed and tabled or

deposited no later than five years after the day the previous plan was tabled

or deposited.

Contents

(3) Each long-term infrastructure plan

shall include the following information:

1. A

description of the state, as of the date or during the period specified in the

plan, of the infrastructure wholly or partly owned by the Government,

including,

i. an

inventory of the infrastructure,

ii. a

valuation of the infrastructure,

iii. the

age of infrastructure assets, and

iv. the

condition of infrastructure assets.

2. A

description of the Government's anticipated infrastructure requirements, including

improvements to existing infrastructure assets and the acquisition of new

infrastructure assets, for at least the 10 years following the development of

the plan.

3. A

strategy to meet the infrastructure requirements identified under paragraph 2.

4. Any

other information that the Minister determines should be included in the plan.

Application

of principles

(4) For greater certainty, the Minister

shall consider the principles set out in

section 3 in developing strategies for

the purposes of paragraph 3 of subsection (3).

Publication

(1) The Minister shall publish

each long-term infrastructure plan tabled or deposited under

section 4 on a

Government of Ontario website.

Archive

(2) The Minister shall maintain an archive

of the long-term infrastructure plans tabled or deposited under

section 4.

Other Infrastructure-Related Requirements

Criteria

for prioritizing foundational infrastructure projects

(1) When evaluating and

prioritizing proposed projects for the construction of an infrastructure asset,

the Government shall consider,

(

a) whether

the infrastructure asset is planned for in, or is contemplated by, any

provincial or municipal plan or strategy to which paragraph 8 of

section 3 may

apply, regardless of whether it binds or applies to the Government, or by a

long-term infrastructure plan published under subsection 5 (1);

(

b) all

related capital costs and operating costs that are reasonably expected to arise

over the expected useful life of the infrastructure asset; and

(

c) whether

the construction of the infrastructure asset would reasonably be expected to,

(

i) be

a long-term return on investment,

(ii) stimulate

productivity and economic competitiveness,

(iii) maximize

tax assessment values and tax base growth,

(iv) support

any other public policy goals of the Government of Ontario or of any affected

municipalities in Ontario, and

(

v) provide

a foundation for further infrastructure projects.

Additional

criteria

(2) The Minister may, subject to the

approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, develop and issue additional

criteria required to be considered under subsection (1).

Consultation

required before issuing criteria

(3) Before issuing criteria under

subsection (2), the Minister shall consult, in the manner that the Minister

considers appropriate, with any persons or bodies that the Minister considers

appropriate given the content of the proposed criteria, including any potentially

affected ministries, Crown agencies or broader public sector entities.

Publication

(4) The Minister shall publish any criteria

issued under subsection (2) on a Government of Ontario website.

Transition

(5) This

section does not apply with

respect to any infrastructure projects that receive approval to proceed to

construction before the day this

section comes into force.

Requirements

respecting architects, others

(1) The Government shall require

the following persons to be involved in the preparation of a design for the

construct

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 141, 40-2
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p40 s2 bill 141 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	eb51a88ca7e0aace1a62c7cf54bcd46d9cf78fa2

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