Red Tape Reduction Act
(Ministry of the Attorney General), 1997
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The Bill is part of the government's initiative to reduce red tape. It amends several statutes administered by or affecting the Ministry of the Attorney General, as well as one statute administered by the Ministry of the Solicitor General. It also makes complementary amendments to several statutes administered by other ministries.
Bulk Sales Act: Section 1 of the Bill would require that the court affidavit relating to a bulk sale be filed in the court office for every county or district in which all or part of the stock that is subject to the sale is located. A similar requirement existed before the enactment of the Revised Statutes of Ontario, 1990.
Cemeteries Act (Revised): Section 2 of the Bill would make clear that the trust funds required to be established by cemetery owners are subject to the new investment powers contained in the Bill's proposed amendments to the Trustee Act (see also section 18 of the Bill).
Coroners Act: Section 3 of the Bill would repeal the provisions that establish the Coroners' Council and describe its functions.
County of Oxford Act: Section 4 of the Bill would repeal a provision made obsolete by the Bill's proposed amendments to the Trustee Act (see section 18 of the Bill).
Courts of Justice Act: Subsection 5 (1) of the Bill would authorize the making of rules of court dealing with the issuance, service, filing and storage of documents by electronic means. Subsection 5 (2) would eliminate the need to obtain the Attorney General's consent before applying for a court order to prohibit a person from initiating vexatious proceedings.
District Municipality of Muskoka Act: Section 6 of the Bill would repeal a provision made obsolete by the Bill's proposed amendments to the Trustee Act (see section 18 of the Bill).
Evidence Act: Subsection 7 (1) of the Bill would allow versions of the statutes and regulations that are put out by the Queen's Printer in office consolidations and CD-ROM discs to be accepted as authoritative. Subsections 7 (2) and (3) of the Bill would eliminate the need for a seal on documents certified by a landregistrar to be true copies of documents that are filed in his or her office.
Law Society Act: Section 8 of the Bill would make the Bill's proposed amendments to the Trustee Act applicable to the investment of funds by The Law Foundation of Ontario (see also section 18 of the Bill).
McMichael Canadian Art Collection Act: Section 9 of the Bill would make the Bill's proposed amendments to the Trustee Act applicable to the investment of money of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection (see also section 18 of the Bill).
Ministry of the Attorney General Act: Section 10 of the Bill would authorize Chief Legislative Counsel to carry out a general revision of statutes and regulations or an ongoing revision of selected statutes and regulations. The power is permissive. Provision is made for depositing revised statutes and filing revised regulations and for bringing them into force. Provision is made for public consultation on matters related to revision and for publishing revised statutes and regulations.
Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto Act: Section 11 of the Bill would repeal a provision made obsolete by the Bill's proposed amendments to the Trustee Act (see section 18 of the Bill).
Ontario Heritage Act: Section 12 of the Bill would make the Bill's proposed amendments to the Trustee Act applicable to the investment of funds of the Ontario Heritage Foundation (see also section 18 of the Bill).
Ontario Northland Transportation Commission Act: Section 13 of the Bill would eliminate the need to obtain the Attorney General's consent before bringing court proceedings against the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission.
Public Accountancy Act: Section 14 of the Bill would make the Bill's proposed amendments to the Trustee Act applicable to the investment of money of The Public Accountants Council for the Province of Ontario (see also section 18 of the Bill).
Public Guardian and Trustee Act: Section 15 of the Bill would make the Bill's proposed amendments to the Trustee Act applicable to the investment of property that is available for investment by the Public Guardian and Trustee (see also section 18 of the Bill).
Regional Municipalities Act: Section 16 of the Bill would repeal a provision made obsolete by the Bill's proposed amendments to the Trustee Act (see section 18 of the Bill).
Science North Act: Section 17 of the Bill would make the Bill's proposed amendments to the Trustee Act applicable to the investment of funds of Science North (see also section 18 of the Bill).
Trustee Act: Section 18 of the Bill would replace the detailed list of investments that a trustee is authorized to invest in with a general power to invest in any property that a prudent person might invest in, including mutual funds and including common trust funds maintained by loan and trust corporations. A trustee would be required to exercise the care, skill, diligence and judgment that a prudent person would exercise in investing trust property. The proposed amendments to the Trustee Act are based on principles approved by the Uniform Law Conference of Canada.
Bill 1221997
An Act to reduce red tape by amending
certain statutes administered by or affecting
the Ministry of the Attorney General or
the Ministry of the Solicitor General and by making
complementary amendments to other statutes
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
Bulk Sales Act
1. (1) Subsection 11 (1) of the Bulk Sales Act is amended by striking out "the office of the local registrar of the court" in the third line and substituting "the office of the court".
(2) Section 11 of the Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 1993, chapter 27, Schedule and 1994, chapter 27, section 41, is further amended by adding the following subsection:
Where filing required
(2) The documents mentioned in subsection (1) shall be filed in the offices of the court for every county or district in which all or part of the stock in bulk is located.
(3) Subsection 12 (3) of the Act is amended by striking out "the date of the filing of the documents mentioned in section 11" in the second and third lines and substituting "the buyer complies with section 11".
(4) Section 19 of the Act is amended by striking out "before the documents are filed under section 11 or within six months after the date on which the documents were filed under section 11" in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth lines" and substituting "before the buyer complies with section 11 or within six months after the buyer complies with section 11".
Cemeteries Act (Revised)
2. Section 37 of the Cemeteries Act (Revised) is amended by adding the following subsection:
Same
(2) Section 26 of the Trustee Act does not apply to subsection (1).
Coroners Act
3. Sections 6 and 7 of the Coroners Act are repealed.
County of Oxford Act
4. Subsection 88 (4) of the County of Oxford Act is repealed.
Courts of Justice Act
5. (1) Subsection 66 (2) of the Courts of Justice Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 1994, chapter 12, section 21, is further amended by adding the following clause:
(w.1) the issuance, service, filing and storage of documents by electronic means, including methods of completing and signing documents for those purposes.
(2) Subsection 140 (2) of the Courts of Justice Act is repealed.
District Municipality of Muskoka Act
6. Subsection 87 (4) of the District Municipality of Muskoka Act is repealed.
Evidence Act
7. (1) The Evidence Act is amended by adding the following section:
Authoritative versions
26.1 (1) The text of a statute or regulation that appears in an office consolidation that purports to be printed by the Queen's Printer for Ontario shall be received in evidence, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, as that of the statute or regulation without further proof.
Same
(2) Statutes or regulations produced by the Queen's Printer for Ontario on CD-ROM disc or in such other electronic form as is authorized by the Ministry of the Attorney General Act, as they are displayed on a monitor or on a print-out from the disc or the other form, shall be received in evidence, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, as statutes and regulations of Ontario.
Limitations
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) apply only as of the day indicated on the consolidation, disc or other electronic form by the Queen's Printer as the day to which the consolidation, disc or other electronic form is current.
Same
(4) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to a consolidation, disc or other electronic form that has a disclaimer to the effect that it is prepared for the purposes of convenience only and is not intended as authoritative text.
(2) Subsection 53 (2) of the Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 1993, chapter 27, Schedule, is repealed and the following substituted:
Registered instrument as evidence
(2) A copy of an instrument or memorial, certified to be a true copy by the land registrar in whose office the instrument or memorial is deposited, filed, kept or registered, is proof of the original, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, except in the cases provided for in subsection (3).
(3) Subsection 53 (3) of the Act is amended by striking out "under his or her hand and seal of office" in the thirteenth and fourteenth lines.
Law Society Act
8. (1) Clause 56 (1) (a) of the Law Society Act is repealed and the following substituted:
(a) to invest the funds of the Foundation.
(2) Clause 56 (1) (d) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 1994, chapter 27, section 49, is repealed and the following substituted:
(d) to invest the funds that it holds on joint account under section 57.1.
(3) Section 56 of the Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 1994, chapter 27, section 49, is amended by adding the following subsection:
Investment
(1.1) Sections 27 to 29 of the Trustee Act apply, with necessary modifications, to the investment of funds under clauses (1)(a) and (d).
(4) Paragraph 10 of section 63 of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 1994, chapter 27, section 49, is repealed.
McMichael Canadian Art Collection Act
9. Subsection 9 (2) of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Investment
(2) Sections 27 to 29 of the Trustee Act apply, with necessary modifications, to the investment of money of the Corporation.
Ministry of the Attorney General Act
10. (1) Section 1 of the Ministry of the Attorney General Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Definitions
1. (1) In this Act,
"Ministry" means the Ministry of the Attorney General; ("ministère")
"regulations" means regulations filed under the Regulations Act. ("règlements")
Interpretation
(2) In this Act, "statute" and "regulation" includes a provision of a statute or regulation.
(2) The Act is amended by adding the following sections:
Revision
5.1 (1) The Chief Legislative Counsel for the Province of Ontario may prepare,
(a) a revision of any or all of the statutes of Ontario or of any part of a statute; and
(b) a revision of any or all of the regulations of Ontario or of any part of a regulation.
Powers
(2) In revising statutes or regulations, the Chief Legislative Counsel may,
(a) omit provisions that are obsolete, are spent or have no legal effect;
(b) change the numbering or arrangement of provisions;
(c) make changes in language and punctuation to achieve greater uniformity;
(d) make any changes that are necessary to clarify what is considered to be, in the case of a statute, the intention of the Legislature, or, in the case of a regulation, the intention of the authority that made the regulation, and to reconcile apparently inconsistent provisions;
(e) correct clerical, grammatical or typographical errors;
(f) make amendments to other statutes or regulations to reconcile them with a revised statute or regulation as if the amendments were consequential amendments to the revised statute or regulation;
(g) combine or separate statutes; and
(h) combine or separate regulations.
General revision
(3) In a general revision, the Chief Legislative Counsel may,
(a) omit statutes or regulations that are spent, are repealed or revoked or have no legal effect;
(b) affix such appendices and schedules as the Chief Legislative Counsel considers appropriate showing what is or is not repealed or revoked and what is replaced; and
(c) include, in a general revision of statutes, a supplement containing those statutes that, although enacted, have not been brought into force, and indicate how they are to come into force.
Revised text - statute
(4) A statute revision shall contain the text of the revised statute or statutes and provisions repealing what is replaced, and may contain provisions making necessary complementary amendments to other statutes and providing for any transitional issues that may arise.
Revised text - regulation
(5) A regulation revision shall contain the text of the revised regulation or regulations and provisions revoking what is replaced, and may contain provisions making necessary complementary amendments to other regulations and providing for any transitional issues that may arise.
Deposit of revised statutes
5.2 (1) When the Chief Legislative Counsel reports to the Lieutenant Governor in Council that a statute revision is complete, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may cause a copy of the statute revision to be deposited in the office of the Clerk of the Assembly as the official copy of the revision.
Filing of revised regulations
(2) When the Chief Legislative Counsel reports to the Lieutenant Governor in Council that a regulations revision is complete, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may cause a copy ofthe regulations revision to be filed as a regulation under the Regulations Act.
Signatures
(3) Each copy that is deposited must be signed by the Chief Legislative Counsel.
Non-application of R.S.O. 1990, c.R.21
(4) Sections 2 and 3 of the Regulations Act do not apply to a regulations revision.
When revision comes into force
5.3 (1) A deposited statute revision comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
Same
(2) A filed regulation revision comes into force on the day that it is published in The Ontario Gazette unless a later day is specified in the revision.
Effect of revision
5.4 (1) When a revision comes into force, it does so for all purposes, as if,
(a) in the case of a statute revision, the revision were enacted by an Act; and
(b) in the case of a regulations revision, each part of the revision were made by the appropriate regulation-making authority.
Approvals, conditions deemed satisfied
(2) If the power to make a regulation or the coming into force of a regulation is subject to an approval or to any other condition, the approval or other condition shall be deemed to have been satisfied when the revision containing the regulation is filed under the Regulations Act.
Publication
5.5 (1) The Queen's Printer shall ensure that the statute revision, the revised statutes, the regulation revision and the revised regulations are published and made available, for a fee, to the public in a printed form.
Same
(2) Publication of a statute revision in the annual volume of the Statutes of Ontario constitutes compliance with subsection (1) in respect of a statute revision and publication of a regulation revision in The Ontario Gazette constitutes compliance with subsection (1) in respect of a regulation revision.
Same
(3) The Queen's Printer may print revised statutes or revised regulations contained in any statute revision or regulation revision and, in publishing them, may omit complementary amendments and schedules.
Evidence
(4) The text that purports to be printed by the Queen's Printer as a statute revision, a revised statute, a regulation revision or revised regulation shall be received in evidence as the statute revision, revised statute, regulation revision or revised regulation, as the case may be, without further proof.
Legal effect of revision
5.6 A revision does not operate as new law but has effect and shall be interpreted as a consolidation of the law contained in the statutes or regulations replaced by the revision.
References
5.7 After a revised statute or regulation comes into force, a reference in a statute, regulation or other document to a statute or regulation that is replaced shall be deemed to be a reference to the corresponding revised statute or regulation.
Regulations
5.8 The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,
(a) establishing a system for citing revised statutes and revised regulations and, in respect of a general revision, for referring to unrepealed or unrevoked and unconsolidated statutes or regulations; and
(b) specifying and authorizing the use of electronic forms other than CD-ROM discs for the purpose of section 26.1 of the Evidence Act.
Consultation
5.9 (1) The Chief Legislative Counsel and the Queen's Printer shall establish a committee to advise them on matters related to the revision of statutes and regulations and the publication of revised statutes and regulations.
Representation
(2) The advisory committee shall include representatives from each of the following:
1. The general public.
2. The legal profession.
3. Legal researchers.
4. The judiciary.
5. The government.
Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto Act
11. Subsection 248 (5) of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto Act is repealed.
Ontario Heritage Act
12. Clause 10 (1) (i) of the Ontario Heritage Act is repealed and the following substituted:
(i) invest its funds, and sections 27 to 29 of the Trustee Act apply, with necessary modifications, to the investment of those funds.
Ontario Northland Transportation Commission Act
13. Section 43 of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission Act is repealed.
Public Accountancy Act
14. Subsection 27 (3) of the Public Accountancy Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Investment of money
(3) The Council may invest any money standing to the credit of the fund, and sections 27 to 29 of the Trustee Act apply, with necessary modifications, to the investment of the money.
Public Guardian and Trustee Act
15. Section 13 of the Public Guardian and Trustee Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 1992, chapter 32, section 25, is repealed and the following substituted:
Investment of property
13. Except as provided by this Act and the Substitute Decisions Act, 1992, sections 27 to 29 of the Trustee Act apply, with necessary modifications, to the investment of any property that is available for investment by the Public Guardian and Trustee.
Regional Municipalities Act
16. Subsection 111 (4) of the Regional Municipalities Act is repealed.
Science North Act
17. (1) Subsection 9 (3) of the Science North Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Investment of funds
(3) Money in the general fund of the Centre that is not immediately required for the Centre's purposes, and the proceeds of all property that comes to the Centre, subject to any trust affecting them, may be invested by the Board, and sections 27 to 29 of the Trustee Act apply, with necessary modifications, to those investments.
(2) Subsection 10 (3) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Investment of funds
(3) Money in the special fund of the Centre that is not immediately required for the purposes set out in clause 3 (e) may be invested by the Board, and sections 27 to 29 of the Trustee Act apply, with necessary modifications, to those investments.
Trustee Act
18. (1) Sections 26 to 34 of the Trustee Act are repealed and the following substituted:
Other Acts
26. If a provision of another Act or the regulations under another Act authorizes money or other property to be invested in property in which a trustee is authorized to invest and the provision came into force before section 18 of the Red Tape Reduction Act (Ministry of the Attorney General), 1997, the provision shall be deemed to authorize investment in the property in which a trustee could invest immediately before the coming into force of section 18 of the Red Tape Reduction Act (Ministry of the Attorney General), 1997.
Standard of care
27. (1) In investing trust property, a trustee must exercise the care, skill, diligence and judgment that a prudent investor would exercise in making investments.
Authorized investments
(2) A trustee may invest trust property in any form of property in which a prudent investor might invest.
Mutual funds
(3) Any rule of law that prohibits a trustee from delegating powers or duties does not prevent the trustee from investing in mutual funds.
Common trust funds
(4) If trust property is held by co-trustees and one of the co-trustees is a trust corporation as defined in the Loan and Trust Corporations Act, any rule of law that prohibits a trustee from delegating powers or duties does not prevent the co-trustees from investing in a common trust fund, as defined in that Act, that is maintained by the trust corporation.
Criteria
(5) A trustee must consider the following criteria in planning the investment of trust property, in addition to any others that are relevant to the circumstances:
1. General economic conditions.
2. The possible effect of inflation or deflation.
3. The expected tax consequences of investment decisions or strategies.
4. The role that each investment or course of action plays within the overall trust portfolio.
5. The expected total return from income and the appreciation of capital.
6. Needs for liquidity, regularity of income and preservation or appreciation of capital.
7. An asset's special relationship or special value, if any, to the purposes of the trust or to one or more of the beneficiaries.
Diversification
(6) A trustee must diversify the investment of trust property to an extent that is appropriate to,
(a) the requirements of the trust; and
(b) general economic and investment market conditions.
Investment advice
(7) A trustee may obtain advice in relation to the investment of trust property.
Reliance on advice
(8) It is not a breach of trust for a trustee to rely on advice obtained under subsection (7) if a prudent investor would rely on the advice under comparable circumstances.
Terms of trust
(9) This section does not authorize or require a trustee toinvest in a manner that is inconsistent with the terms of the trust.
Protection from liability
28. A trustee is not liable for a loss to the trust arising from the investment of trust property if the conduct of the trustee that led to the loss conformed to a plan or strategy for the investment of the trust property, comprising reasonable assessments of risk and return, that a prudent investor could adopt under comparable circumstances.
Assessment of damages
29. If a trustee is liable for a loss to the trust arising from the investment of trust property, a court assessing the damages payable by the trustee may take into account the overall performance of the investments.
Application
30. Sections 27 to 29 apply, after section 18 of the Red Tape Reduction Act (Ministry of the Attorney General), 1997 comes into force, to trusts created before or after section 18 of the Red Tape Reduction Act (Ministry of the Attorney General), 1997 comes into force.
(2) Section 35 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsection:
Application
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to liability for a loss to the trust arising from the investment of trust property.
(3) Subsection 36 (7) of the Act is amended by striking out "securities" in the second and third lines and substituting "property".
Commencement and Short Title
Commencement
19. (1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Same
(2) Sections 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 come into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
Short title
20. The short title of this Act is the Red Tape Reduction Act (Ministry of the Attorney General), 1997.