Transparency in Public Matters Act, 2009 Craitor, Kim — Bill 159 (39th Parliament, 1st Session)

Bill 159, 39-1

Ontario — Bills

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Bill 159, Transparency in Public Matters Act, 2009

Craitor, Kim

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[39] Bill 159 Original (PDF)

Bill 159 2009

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 designated in

Part I of

Schedule 1 to this Act or that are

prescribed as designated by the regulations made under this Act.

2. Public

bodies that belong to a type that is designated in

Part II of

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

entire membership of the body or a specified number of members, such as a

committee or other designated division of the body, is entitled to attend the

meeting.

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

(1) A

designated public body shall give reasonable notice to the public of every one

of its meetings by providing the information described in subsection (2) in

accordance with

section 6.

Contents

of notice

(2) A notice provided under subsection (1) shall set out,

(

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 8, that members of the

public are able to exercise, without difficulty, their right to attend the

meeting under subsection 7 (1).

New

agenda items

(1) A

designated public body shall not propose the addition of a new item to an

agenda mentioned in clause 4 (2) (

b) unless,

(

a) the

proposed new agenda item relates to a matter which, in the opinion of the chair

of the public body, requires the immediate attention of the public body, and

the public body has provided notice of the proposed new agenda item in

accordance with

section 6; or

(

b) the

proposed new agenda item relates to an emergency situation that poses a

significant threat of danger to life, health, property or the environment.

Two-thirds

majority vote required to amend agenda

(2) For a proposed new agenda item described in clause (1)

(

a) to be added to the agenda for a meeting, two-thirds of the members of the

designated public body who are present and entitled to vote must vote at the

beginning of the meeting to add the proposed new item to the agenda.

Majority

vote required to amend agenda

(3) For a proposed new agenda item described in clause (1)

(

b) to be added to the agenda for a meeting, a majority of the members of the

designated public body who are present and entitled to vote must vote at the

beginning of the meeting to add the proposed new item to the agenda.

Publication

6. For

the purposes of subsection 4 (1) and clause 5 (1) (a), the designated public

body shall ensure that best efforts are made to give notice,

(

a) by

posting the notice in a publicly accessible location that is appropriate in the

circumstances;

(

b) by

publishing the notice on the public body's website; and

(

c) by

publishing the notice in a newspaper having general circulation in an

appropriate location.

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;

(

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

affecting the designated public body will be discussed or instructions will be

given to or opinions received from solicitors for the designated public body;

(

g) matters

prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council under clause 26 (

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

8. 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 7 (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 ensure that best

efforts are made, at the same time as the minutes are made available to the

members of the designated public body and whether the minutes have been adopted

or not,

(

a) to

post the minutes in a publicly accessible location that is appropriate in the

circumstances; and

(

b) to

publish the notice on the public body's website.

Minutes

when public excluded

(4) If a designated public body excludes the public from a

meeting under subsection 7 (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 7 (2), but shall not remove any more details than are 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 7 (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

public notice of new agenda items shall be given;

(

c) how

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

(

d) 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 ss. 9, 10

11. 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 9 and with the rules made under

section 10.

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 after 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 12 (1), the Commissioner shall,

(

a) inform

the relevant designated public body of the nature of the complaint; and

(

b) give

the designated public body an opportunity to respond to the complaint.

Same

(2) On receiving a complaint made under subsection 12 (1),

the Commissioner may,

(

a) require

the complainant and designated public body to attempt to reach a settlement

within a time period specified by the Commissioner; and

(

b) 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

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

(

a) or (

b) 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 16, unless all parties expressly consent.

Commissioner's

review

(1) If the Commissioner does not take any action

under clause 13 (2) (

a) or (

b) or has done so but no settlement is reached

within the specified time period, the Commissioner may review the complaint if

he or she is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to do so.

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 provided a

response that, in the Commissioner's opinion, resolves all of the

Commissioner's concerns with respect to the complaint;

(

b) undue

prejudice to any person would likely result from the review because of 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 c

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 159, 39-1
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p39 s1 bill 159 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	fe490894f71126694f0725752ca5ea5c69943199

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