Savings and Restructuring Act, 1995
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The purpose of the Bill is to achieve fiscal savings and promote economic prosperity through public sector restructuring, streamlining and efficiency and to implement other aspects of the government's economic agenda.
To carry out that purpose, the Bill amends a number of Acts and enacts three new Acts. For convenience, the amendments and new Acts are set out in separate schedules by subject matter. The commencement provisions for each of the schedules are set out at the end of the schedules. The matters being dealt with in each of the schedules are set out below.
SCHEDULE A
PUBLIC SECTOR SALARY DISCLOSURE ACT, 1995
The purpose of the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, 1995 is to assure the public disclosure of the salary and benefits paid in respect of employment in the public sector to employees who are paid a salary of $100,000 or more in a year.
The Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, 1995 applies to employers in the broader public sector and those employers in the private sector who do not carry on their activities for profit and receive significant funding from the Government. It requires employers to make available to the public without charge an annual record of the names, positions, salaries and benefits of their employees whose salaries are at least $100,000 a year.
The Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, 1995 authorizes the Government to hold back part or all of its funding to an employer who fails to make the annual record available to the public. If the failure continues beyond the end of the government's fiscal year, the employer ceases to be entitled to the funding withheld and it becomes part of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
There is regulation making authority, among other things, to add or remove employers from the application of the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, 1995 and to prescribe an amount of salary other than $100,000 for the purposes of the Act.
SCHEDULE B
AMENDMENTS TO THE CORPORATIONS TAX ACT
SECTIONS 1, 2, 3, 4 and 9. The amendments to sections 1, 2, 3 and 5 of the Corporations Tax Act and the enactment of section 74.2 implement the 1993 Ontario Budget proposal in respect of uninsured benefit arrangements, by imposing a new tax on planholders and members of benefit plans, calculated at the rate of 2 per cent of taxable contributions made to funded benefit plans, taxable benefits paid under unfunded benefit plans and net administration fees paid in respect of funded or unfunded benefit plans. The tax is collected by the administrator of the plan as agent for the Crown and remitted to the Minister as if the tax were tax payable by the administrator under Part IV of the Act. Consequential amendments are made to extend the general anti-avoidance rules and administrative provisions of the Act to the new tax and to permit the direct assessment and collection of tax from planholders and members of a benefit plan who refuse to pay tax to the administrator of the plan.
SECTION 5. The amendments to section 41 untie Ontario from the automatic application of the federal legislation implementing the 1994 federal Budget proposal to reduce or eliminate the federal small business deduction for larger private corporations. Ontario already has a surtax in section 41.1 of the Act that gradually "claws back" the amount of the Ontario small business deduction from profitable companies as taxable income increases from $200,000 to $500,000.
SECTION 6. The enactment of section 43.2 of the Act introduces a refundable mining reclamation trust tax credit for Ontario purposes to parallel the federal mining reclamation trust tax credit.
SECTION 7. The enactment of section 43.3 of the Act implements the 1994 Ontario Budget proposal to provide to qualifying small-and medium-sized Canadian-controlled private corporations having permanent establishments in Ontario an Ontario innovation tax credit in the form of a 10 per cent refundable tax credit in respect of scientific research and experimental development carried on in Ontario.
SECTION 8. The amendment to section 57.11 of the Act is a technical amendment to eliminate the unintended taxation of deposit insurance corporations under the corporate minimum tax legislation.
SECTION 10. The re-enactment of, and subsequent amendment to, subsection 76 (6) of the Act extend the application of the administrative penalty for false statements to false statements in respect of the new refundable mining reclamation trust tax credit and Ontario innovation tax credit.
SECTION 11. The amendments to section 78 of the Act permit a corporation to take the portion of its mining reclamation trust tax credit and Ontario innovation tax credit that are deemed under the Act to be tax paid by the corporation into account when calculating the amount of tax instalments it is required to pay under the Act.
SECTIONS 12 and 14. The amendments to sections 79 and 82 of the Act ensure that the portions of a corporation's mining reclamation trust tax credit and Ontario innovation tax credit that are deemed under the Act to be tax paid by the corporation are taken into account in determining the amount of interest payable by or to the corporation under the Act.
SECTION 13. The amendments to subsection 80 (1) of the Act provide that the Minister, as part of the review of a corporation's annual tax return, will determine the amount of the corporation's mining reclamation trust tax credit and Ontario innovation tax credit for the year that is deemed under the Act to be paid on account of the corporation's tax. The amendment to subsection 80 (11) corrects an error contained in the Revised Statutes of Ontario, 1990.
SCHEDULE C
AMENDMENTS TO THE INCOME TAX ACT
The amendments to the Income Tax Act form part of the implementation of the 1994 Ontario Budget proposal to parallel federal legislation relating to mining reclamation trusts established to fund the future reclamation of mining properties. Income earned by a mining reclamation trust is subject to a special tax at the Ontario corporate income tax rate. A refundable tax credit in respect of the trust's tax is available to the mine operator. Because the trust is not subject to ordinary income tax, it is not eligible for either the Ontario Tax Reduction Program or the Ontario tax credits available to lower income earners.
SCHEDULE D
ONTARIO LOAN ACT, 1995
The Ontario Loan Act, 1995 authorizes the borrowing of up to $5.6 billion, in total, for the Consolidated Revenue Fund. It is expected that the public capital markets, the international loan market and the Canada Pension Plan will be the principal sources of funds. The borrowing authority expires at the end of December, 1996.
SCHEDULE E
AMENDMENTS TO THE
CAPITAL INVESTMENT PLAN ACT, 1993
AND THE HIGHWAY TRAFFIC ACT
RELATING TO TOLL HIGHWAYS
This Schedule amends the Capital Investment Plan Act, 1993 and the Highway Traffic Act to permit the use of an electronic toll system on highways designated as toll highways.
Capital Investment Plan Act, 1993
Subsection 1 (1) of the Schedule - The amendments are to reflect that the Ontario Transportation Capital Corporation may establish an electronic toll system on toll highways to determine that tolls are owed and who owes them. The electronic toll system may include toll devices that will be prescribed under the Highway Traffic Act and will be registered to the holders of vehicle permits.
Subsection 1 (2) of the Schedule - Section 43 of the Capital Investment Plan Act, 1993 is re-enacted, partly to accommodate the electronic toll system and partly to make some changes to the administration and enforcement of tolls. The Corporation is authorized to charge interest on outstanding tolls and fees. There is no longer a right to a hearing on a disputed toll; the Corporation will decide the matter on the basis of written submissions and the holder may appeal that decision to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, who has the discretion to hold a hearing or to decide the matter on the basis of written submissions. The power to issue or validate a permit for a temporary period is deleted and the Registrar will have no option but to refuse to issue or validate a permit until the tolls, fees and interest are paid.
Subsections 1 (3), (4) of the Schedule - A new section 43.1 is added to the Act, giving the Corporation the right to file a notice of lien and charge against the real and personal property of a person who owes a toll, fee or interest. The notice on personal property will be registered under the Personal Property Security Act and must be renewed every three years.
Subsection 1 (5) of the Schedule - Section 45 is expanded to permit reciprocal agreements and arrangements with governments, persons and agencies in other jurisdictions.
Subsections 1 (6), (7) of the Schedule - Regulation-making powers are amended as follows: the Corporation may make regulations governing the registration and validation of toll devices and the methods of paying tolls and fees; the Lieutenant Governor in Council may prescribe a schedule of administrative fees and fees for disputing and appealing tolls.
Highway Traffic Act
Subsections 2 (1), (2) of the Schedule - It is made an offence to obstruct number plates so as to prevent their being identified by an electronic toll system.
Subsection 2 (3) of the Schedule - A new Part, dealing with toll highways, is added to the Act. The Part contains offences for: driving a motor vehicle on a toll highway without the prescribed toll device properly affixed to the vehicle; doing or using anything to evade, obstruct or interfere with the effective operation of an electronic toll system; selling anything designed or intended to interfere with the effective operation of an electronic toll system. The Lieutenant Governor in Council is authorized to make regulations prescribing toll devices and the manner of affixing them, and exempting any vehicle or class of vehicles from the requirement to have a toll device affixed to it.
SCHEDULE F
HEALTH SERVICES RESTRUCTURING
This Schedule amends the Ministry of Health Act, the Public Hospitals Act, the Private Hospitals Act and the Independent Health Facilities Act. Some of the most important features are set out below.
PART I
AMENDMENTS TO THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH ACT
This Part of Schedule F repeals section 8 of the Ministry of Health Act, which establishes the Ontario Council of Health, and replaces it with a provision establishing the Health Services Restructuring Commission. The Commission is established as a corporation without share capital and is given authority to carry out any duties assigned to it under the Ministry of Health Act or any other Act.
PART II
AMENDMENTS TO THE PUBLIC HOSPITALS ACT
The Minister is given the broad power to fund hospitals in the public interest. The present requirement, in sections 5 and 6 of the Public Hospitals Act, that the Minister fund hospitals in accordance with regulations, is removed. The Minister is given the power to reduce, suspend, withhold or terminate funding to a hospital if the Minister considers it in the public interest to do so.
These amendments permit the Minister to direct hospitals to cease to operate, to provide specified services, to cease to provide specified services, to increase or decrease the extent or volumeof specified services, to take all necessary steps required for hospital amalgamations or to make any other direction if, in each of the cases, the Minister considers it in the public interest to do so. The regulations may authorize any person, group of persons or body to issue directions in the place of the Minister, subject to any prescribed conditions.
These amendments extend the Lieutenant Governor in Council's authority for appointing investigators to provide for the appointment of investigators to investigate and report on matters relating to a hospital where it is in the public interest to do so.
The current provisions regarding hospital supervisors are repealed and replaced with new provisions. Under the new provisions, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may appoint a hospital supervisor where it is in the public interest to do so. Unless the appointment provides otherwise, a hospital supervisor has the exclusive right to exercise all the powers of the board and, where the hospital is owned or operated by a corporation, of the corporation, its officers and the members of the corporation.
These amendments clarify matters that may be considered when the Minister or the Lieutenant Governor in Council makes a decision in the public interest.
Where a board decides that a hospital will cease to operate or the Minister directs a hospital to cease to operate, the board may refuse applications for appointment and reappointment to the medical staff, revoke existing appointments and cancel or substantially alter the privileges of any physician on the medical staff. In these circumstances, the procedures and appeal provisions in subsections 37 (3) to (7) and sections 38 to 43 of the Public Hospitals Act do not apply.
The board may also refuse applications for appointment and reappointment, revoke existing appointments and cancel or substantially alter privileges under prescribed conditions, and the regulations may set out which of the procedures in subsections 37 (3) to (7) and sections 38 to 43, if any, will apply and prescribe procedures to be followed where they do not apply.
These amendments provide that the regulations may require hospital foundations and hospital subsidiaries to provide financial reports and returns to the Minister and prescribe the accounting principles and rules to be followed in making those financial reports and returns.
These amendments also provide that the regulations may also require hospitals to prepare and submit physician human resource plans to the Ministry for approval, to amend those plans asrequired by the Ministry and to appoint physicians to the medical staff only in accordance with those plans.
PART III
AMENDMENTS TO THE PRIVATE HOSPITALS ACT
This Part of Schedule F authorizes the Minister of Health to revoke the licence of a private hospital if the Minister is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to do so.
It also authorizes the Minister of Health to reduce or terminate any private hospital funding if the Minister is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to do so.
PART IV
AMENDMENTS TO THE INDEPENDENT HEALTH FACILITIES ACT
This Part of Schedule F amends the Independent Health Facilities Act to provide flexibility to the regulatory scheme set out in the Act. It would allow new types of health facilities to be brought under the Act either by way of ministerial designation or by way of regulations made under the Act or under the Health Insurance Act. A health facility affected by such a designation or regulation would be able to apply for a licence to operate an independent health facility under the Act without complying with the usual request for proposal process set out in section 5 of the Act.
A designation or regulation may result in expanding the Independent Health Facilities Act to regulate a service that is currently being provided in places operated by persons licensed under the Act. In such cases, this Part would allow the licensee to apply to amend the licence so as to allow the person to continue providing the service.
These amendments give the Minister discretion to specify persons who may send in proposals for a licence to establish and operate an independent health facility, instead of being required to request proposals from the public in general, as is currently required in section 5 of the Independent Health Facilities Act. It would also allow a request for proposals to be made in respect of the establishment and operation of more than one independent health facility.
These amendments would allow independent health facilities to relocate subject to the Director's approval.
These amendments would give the Minister power to eliminate services from the list of services a person is licensed to provide based on criteria specified in subsection 19 (2) of the Independent Health Facilities Act. The Director would be given power to amend the conditions and limitations of a licence. Alicensee has a right to appeal the Director's decision to amend the limitations of a licence if the effect of the amendment would be to eliminate services from the list of services the person is licensed to provide.
These amendments would require the Minister to pay prescribed amounts for services provided in independent health facilities and would give the Minister the discretion to pay any other costs of the facility. The Minister is given power to recover any amounts paid under the Independent Health Facilities Act that, for prescribed reasons, should not have been paid.
These amendments would give the Minister power to collect, use and disclose personal information for specified purposes and to enter into agreements for the exchange of personal information for specified purposes. The Director would be allowed to require licensees to provide information for specified purposes.
These amendments would expand the provisions of the Independent Health Facilities Act with respect to immunity of the Crown and would prevent persons from claiming compensation against the Crown, the Minister or the Director for damages resulting from specified actions of the Minister or Director carried out under the Act.
These amendments give the Lieutenant Governor in Council power to make regulations to ensure that the regulation of affiliations between physicians and independent health facilities is consistent with the rules regarding affiliations between physicians and health facilities under the Health Insurance Act.
SCHEDULE G
AMENDMENTS TO THE ONTARIO DRUG BENEFIT ACT,
THE PRESCRIPTION DRUG COST REGULATION ACT
AND THE REGULATED HEALTH PROFESSIONS ACT, 1991
This Schedule amends the Ontario Drug Benefit Act, the Prescription Drug Cost Regulation Act and the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991. Some of the most important features are:
Ontario Drug Benefit Act
1. Changes are made to provide for eligible persons to bear some of the costs of receiving drug benefits under the Act. Co-payments, to be paid by eligible persons, can be prescribed by the regulations. The Minister will no longer pay for a more expensive brand where there is a less expensive interchangeable alternative available.
2. The Act will no longer require the maximum dispensing fee to be negotiated with the Ontario Pharmacists Association. The fee will be prescribed by the regulations.
3. Where prescribed conditions are breached, the Minister will be able to order that an operator of a pharmacy or a dispensing physician be suspended from receiving payment from the Minister under the Act.
4. The scheme for determining the price the Minister pays for a drug product is changed. The concept of "best available price" is eliminated. Instead, the price will be as agreed to by the manufacturer. The ability of the Minister to refuse to change the price, and to take price into account in determining whether a drug product is listed as a benefit, is clarified and strengthened.
5. The restrictions on the mark up that the Minister pays on the drug price are removed. The Act currently requires that the mark up be between 10 and 20 per cent.
6. Authority is added to make regulations prescribing clinical criteria that must be met before the Minister will be required to pay for a drug product or class of drug products.
7. Further changes are made supporting the changes outlined above, including the clarification and expansion of the power to make regulations and to collect, use and disclose personal information.
8. A number of errors in the French version of the Act are corrected.
Prescription Drug Cost Regulation Act
1. The name of the Act is changed to the Drug Interchangeability and Dispensing Fee Act.
2. The amount that can be charged for a drug, other than the dispensing fee, will no longer be regulated.
3. A number of errors in the French version of the Act are corrected.
Transitional provisions
Transitional provisions are added to ensure the authority of the Ministry's existing policies relating to the prices of drug products and to eliminate any liability that may have arisen from the application of those policies.
SCHEDULE H
AMENDMENTS TO THE HEALTH INSURANCE ACT
AND THE HEALTH CARE ACCESSIBILITY ACT
The Health Insurance Act is amended in order to achieve a number of goals. Principal among them are the following:
1. The definition of insured services is changed to permit conditions and limitations to be imposed by regulation on services provided by physicians.
2. The level of fees payable by OHIP to physicians, to other types of health practitioners and to health facilities may be varied depending on factors set out in the Act and regulations. These factors include the geographic area and the setting in which the insured service is provided. Those who receive payments under the Plan may be required to make contributions in relation to past payments received.
3. The authority of the General Manager to make decisions concerning the payment of claims for insured services is increased. The General Manager may refuse payment, reduce the amount of a payment or require the reimbursement of OHIP if payment has already been made. Related changes are made to the role and responsibilities of the Medical Review Committee and practitioner review committees.
4. Requirements are set out for physicians to become "eligible physicians" under the Act. These requirements include requiring specialists to be affiliated with a prescribed type of facility. Only eligible physicians can be paid by OHIP for insured services provided to insured persons by physicians. Other physicians cannot be paid and cannot bill insured persons directly for providing insured services.
The Minister may restrict the number of physicians who can become eligible physicians. The Minister may determine areas of the province that are oversupplied with physicians. A moratorium may be imposed on physicians becoming eligible physicians in an area, in the circumstances set out in the Act.
5. An expanded list of persons is required to submit a greater variety of information to the General Manager for the purposes of administering the Act and managing the health care system and the delivery of health care services in Ontario.
6. A new class of inspectors may be appointed, working under the direction of the General Manager. The powers of inspectors are expanded and clarified. A general review process is established for insured services provided byphysicians and practitioners.
Amendments are also made to the Health Care Accessibility Act. Certain inspectors appointed under the Health Insurance Act may exercise the same powers under this Act. Other changes related to the amendments to the Health Insurance Act are made.
SCHEDULE I
PHYSICIAN SERVICES DELIVERY MANAGEMENT ACT, 1995
Section 1 of the Physician Services Delivery Management Act, 1995 allows the Lieutenant Governor in Council to suspend (by making an order designating them) obligations and rights under certain agreements listed in subsection (2). Any decision made in a proceeding relating to a dispute about a suspended right or obligation shall have no force or effect.
Section 2 repeals section 1 of the Expenditure Control Plan Statute Law Amendment Act, 1993.
SCHEDULE J
AMENDMENTS TO THE PAY EQUITY ACT
This Schedule amends the Pay Equity Act to discontinue use of the proxy method of comparison for determining whether pay equity exists at an employer's workplace. This change comes into force on January 1, 1997.
Until then, the minimum standard is changed for pay equity adjustments to compensation to be made by employers who use the proxy method of comparison. During the period from January 1, 1994 to December 31, 1996, these employers will be required to make pay equity adjustments of a minimum of 3 per cent of the total of their 1993 Ontario payroll or such lesser amount as is required to achieve pay equity. The minimum amount payable under the current Act for each twelve-month period is one per cent of the employer's Ontario payroll for the preceding 12 months or such lesser amount as is required to achieve pay equity.
SCHEDULE K
AMENDMENTS TO THE
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND PROTECTION OF
PRIVACY ACT AND THE MUNICIPAL FREEDOM OF
INFORMATION AND PROTECTION OF PRIVACY ACT
This Schedule amends the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act respectively. The main amendments are as follows:
1. A person shall pay the fee prescribed by the regulations upon making a request for access to a record or personalinformation or for making an appeal to the Commissioner. A head cannot waive these fees.
2. A head of an institution who receives a request for access to a record or personal information may refuse the request without any further obligation if the head is of the opinion on reasonable grounds that the request is frivolous or vexatious. The head is required to give a notice to the person making the request that sets out the reason for the refusal.
3. If a request for access covers more than one record, the description that is required to appear in the notice of the head's decision may consist of a summary of the categories of the records requested if it provides sufficient detail to identify them.
4. The Commissioner may dismiss an appeal without any further obligation if the notice of appeal does not present a reasonable basis for concluding that the record or the personal information to which the notice relates exists.
5. A person who requests access to a record is required to pay the fees prescribed by the regulations for any costs incurred in responding to the request.
SCHEDULE L
AMENDMENTS TO THE
PUBLIC SERVICE PENSION ACT AND THE
ONTARIO PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYEES' UNION PENSION ACT, 1994
This Schedule amends the Public Service Pension Act, which governs the Public Service Pension Plan, and the Ontario Public Service Employees' Union Pension Act, 1994, which governs the OPSEU Plan.
The consent of the Lieutenant Governor in Council will be required before either pension plan can be wound up, in whole or in part, by any person or group of persons. The Superintendent of Pensions will not be permitted to wind up either plan, in whole or in part.
This Schedule is made retroactive to January 1, 1993, the date on which the OPSEU Plan came into existence.
SCHEDULE M
AMENDMENTS TO THE MUNICIPAL ACT AND
VARIOUS OTHER STATUTES RELATED TO
MUNICIPALITIES, CONSERVATION AUTHORITIES AND TRANSPORTATION
PART I
MUNICIPAL ACT
Amendments are made to the Municipal Act respecting the following subject matters:
1. The Minister is given the power to make regulations restructuring municipalities. Upon receiving a proposal from a municipality or prescribed local body in unorganized territory, the Minister shall make regulations implementing the proposal if the proposal meets the requirements set out in the section. A restructuring may include: annexing part of a municipality to another municipality; annexing land that does not form part of a municipality to a municipality; amalgamating municipalities; separating a local municipality from a county or joining a local municipality to a county for municipal purposes; dissolving all or part of a municipality and incorporating the inhabitants of a locality as a municipality.
2. Municipalities will be required to provide the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing with information which, in the opinion of the Minister, relate to the efficiency and effectiveness of the operations of the municipality. The municipality must publish all or part of that information as designated by the Minister and must review or audit all or part of it or make it available to be reviewed or audited as designated by the Minister.
3. Greater flexibility is given to municipalities to determine which municipal level (local municipality or upper-tier municipality) will provide those services and facilities that are prescribed in the regulations. Upper-tier municipalities may assume the power to provide services and facilities that are currently being provided by local municipalities. Similarly, local municipalities may assume the power to provide services and facilities that are currently being provided by an upper-tier municipality. The conditions for assuming those powers are set out in subsections 209.2 (2) and 209.4 (2) of the Act. (Section 6 of this Schedule)
4. Municipalities are given the power to dissolve or make changes to local boards. They may only pass a by-law to dissolve or make changes to a local board in accordance with regulations made by the Minister.
5. Municipalities and local boards are given broad powers to impose fees or charges for any services or activities provided by them. The Minister has power to make regulations limiting or imposing conditions on the imposition of fees or charges.
6. In section 223 of the Act there is a requirement that the assent of the electors be obtained before a by-law is passed placing the control of sewage works under a commission established under the Public Utilities Act. This requirement may now be waived by the municipality by by-law.
7. A new Part is added to the Act (Part XVII.1) giving municipalities general licensing powers. A local municipality may by by-law provide for the licensing and regulation of any business carried on in the municipality. The broad powers given to municipalities respecting licensing are set out in subsection 257.2 (2) of the Act (section 22 of this Schedule). Many of the other more specific provisions of the Act dealing with licensing are repealed. The Minister may make regulations exempting any business or class of business from a licensing by-law or imposing conditions or limitations on the powers of the municipality to make by-laws.
PART II
OTHER STATUTES RELATING TO MUNICIPALITIES
Municipal Franchises Act
A municipal corporation is given the power to pass by-laws eliminating the requirement to obtain the assent of the electors before exercising any power under the Municipal Franchises Act or any other Act.
Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto Act
The licensing provisions are amended to reflect changes to the licensing provisions set out in the Municipal Act. The Licensing Commission is given the same powers that local municipalities have under the new Part XVII.1 of the Municipal Act in respect to licensing and regulating those matters over which it has the power to license.
Ontario Unconditional Grants Act
The title of the Ontario Unconditional Grants Act is changed to "Ontario Municipal Support Grants Act". The Minister is authorized to make grants and loans and provide other financial assistance to municipalities and local boards. The Lieutenant Governor in Council, if of the opinion that a matter is of provincial significance, may make regulations establishingstandards for the activities of municipalities. If a municipality fails to meet these standards, any grant, loan or other financial assistance that would otherwise be provided to that municipality may be reduced.
Public Utilities Act
The requirement to obtain the assent of the electors before exercising a power under the Act may by by-law be waived by the municipal corporation.
Other Acts in this Part
Amendments are made to the Regional Municipalities Act and four regional Acts (Haldimand-Norfolk, Sudbury, Waterloo and York) relating to licensing powers to reflect the changes made to the Municipal Act.
PART III
CONSERVATION AUTHORITIES ACT
Part III amends the Conservation Authorities Act. The amendments provide a mechanism for voluntary dissolution of a conservation authority, remove the Lieutenant Governor in Council's power to appoint members to conservation authorities and give the Minister of Natural Resources power to require flood control operations to be carried out by conservation authorities or municipalities. The amendments also remove requirements for provincial approval of conservation authority projects and land dispositions if the project or land does not involve provincial funding. Other amendments revise the system for levying conservation authority administrative costs and maintenance costs against municipalities by authorizing regulations governing the levies, by providing for appeals and, after a date to be named by proclamation, by restricting the levies to maintenance costs relating to flood control.
PART IV
TRANSPORTATION STATUTES
The amendments in this Part to the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act are: to remove many of the constraints currently placed on municipalities with regard to the management of roads under their jurisdiction and to municipalities' relationships with each other; to replace the current rigid road subsidy provisions with flexible funding agreements between the province and municipalities; to permit the province to subsidize the costs of public transportation and rapid transit up to a maximum amount, rather than the current fixed amount.
The amendment to the Local Roads Boards Act is to allow for credits to local roads boards up to a maximum amount, rather thanthe current fixed amount, of money paid by them into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
SCHEDULE N
AMENDMENTS TO CERTAIN ACTS ADMINISTERED BY THE
MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES
This Schedule amends several provisions of the Forest Fires Prevention Act, the Lakes and Rivers Improvement Act and the Public Lands Act that now require permits for certain activities. The Schedule would require permits for these activities only in circumstances prescribed by regulation.
The Schedule provides for amounts received by the Crown under the Game and Fish Act to be held in a separate account in the Consolidated Revenue Fund. A payment could be made from the account for a purpose set out in the Schedule.
SCHEDULE O
AMENDMENTS TO THE MINING ACT
The purpose of this Schedule is two-fold:
1. To revise Part VII of the Mining Act dealing with the requirements relating to closure plans for the rehabilitation of mining sites.
2. To make a number of changes to the Mining Act in order to clarify and simplify its operation and administration.
Sections 26, 27 and 28 of this Schedule: The Part VII Changes
1. Any proponent who is not subject to a closure plan for site rehabilitation but undertakes rehabilitation work in accordance with the general duty to progressively rehabilitate a site must report on such activities to the Director of Mine Rehabilitation within 60 days of completing the work (new subsection 139.1 (2) of the Act).
2. Proposed sections 140 and 141 of the Act: Unless they are already subject to a closure plan, proponents of advanced exploration and mine production projects that are new or that are about to start up again are required to notify the Director and to file with the Director's office closure plans certified as prescribed in the regulations to be made under the Act. If a closure plan sufficiently addresses requirements for closure plans, the proponent receives an acknowledgment of receipt and, if all other conditions have been met, the project may proceed. If not, the plan is returned for refiling. The system of filing certified closure plans is intended to replace the present system whereby proponents require the Director's acceptance of theirdetailed closure plan before commencing or recommencing a project. Under proposed section 142 of the Act, a proponent has the option of obtaining the Director's approval of a closure plan but the costs related to having the plan examined for approval are the proponent's responsibility. Furthermore, it is possible for a proponent to move from the approval system to the certification and filing system, and vice versa, if certain conditions are met.
3. New sections 143 and 144 of the Act. The Director may at any time require a proponent whose closure plan has been filed to file amendments to it and may require as well that a proponent make changes to the filed plan or subsequently filed amendments. Proponents are required to notify the Director of material changes relating to the project that could reasonably be expected to have an effect on the adequacy of the closure plan or its control. If the Director requires changes to a closure plan, the proponent has the option of appealing any or all of the required changes or, at the proponent's expense, having them referred to an independent third party for a binding decision.
4. Under revised section 145 of the Act, the forms of financial assurance that may be acceptable as part of a filed closure plan are specifically stated to include a mining reclamation trust, a pledge of assets, a sinking fund, royalties per tonne, or compliance with a corporate financial test to be set out in the regulations. Cash provided as financial assurance is to be placed in a special purpose account dedicated to the project out of which the cost of any rehabilitation work required to be undertaken by the Crown may be paid. Confidentiality is to be maintained with respect to the form of a proponent's financial assurance and the financial and commercial information provided for the purpose of establishing the assurance.
5. Under proposed subsection 147 (1) of the Act, the Director may order any proponent of lands upon which a mine hazard exists to file a closure plan for rehabilitation of the hazard. There is an exemption for a holder of an unpatented mining claim who has neither created a hazard since staking the claim nor materially disturbed or affected a hazard created by others.
6. Proposed section 148 of the Act provides the Minister with powers to deal with emergencies where adverse effects to public health and safety and to the environment are being caused or are likely to be caused by mine hazards on mining lands.
7. Under new section 149.1 of the Act, a proponent would be able to enter into an agreement with the Minister to surrender mining lands. Part of the agreement may be a payment of money in an amount sufficient to offset the costs of any rehabilitation work required to be undertaken on the mining lands after the surrender. A proponent who surrenders mining lands subject tosuch an agreement is not subject to the liability imposed by certain provisions of the Environmental Protection Act.
8. Section 150 of the Act (section 27 of this Schedule) would give certain proponents a period of 12 months to surrender a mining lease to the Crown or require that the lease revert to a mining claim. A proponent who takes action under the section will no longer be responsible for anything arising out of the existence of a mine hazard created on the claim lands by others before the claim was staked and subsequently taken to lease.
9. Proposed section 153.1 of the Act (set out in section 28 of this Schedule) would provide Crown immunity from proceedings arising out of claims of regulatory negligence relating to the filing, approval, review and acceptance of closure plans.
10. New section 153.2 of the Act contains certain powers of the Director, particularly with respect to transfers, and subsection 153.3 (1) clarifies the obligations of lessees and patentees with respect to the rehabilitation of mine hazards.
Section 38 of this Schedule contains transitional provisions that set out the situation of proponents of existing projects.
Proposed section 145 (financial assurance), with the changes mentioned above, and sections 146 (rehabilitation inspectors), 151 (cost of work completed), 152 (hearings and appeals) and 153 (mineral development officers) reproduce already existing provisions in a substantially unamended form.
SCHEDULE P
AMENDMENT TO THE
MINISTRY OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES ACT
The amendment to the Ministry of Correctional Services Act in this Schedule reduces the quorum for the Board of Parole from three members to two.
SCHEDULE Q
AMENDMENTS TO VARIOUS STATUTES
WITH REGARD TO INTEREST ARBITRATION
This Schedule amends the Fire Departments Act, the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act, the Police Services Act, the Public Service Act and the School Boards and Teachers Collective Negotiations Act to require arbitrators to consider specified criteria, including the employer's ability to pay.
Bill1995
An Act to achieve Fiscal Savings
and to promote Economic Prosperity through
Public Sector Restructuring, Streamlining and Efficiency
and to implement other aspects of
the Government's Economic Agenda
CONTENTS
1. Enactment of schedules
2. Commencement
3. Short title
Schedule A Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, 1995
Schedule B Amendments to the Corporations Tax Act
Schedule C Amendments to the Income Tax Act
Schedule D Ontario Loan Act, 1995
Schedule E Amendments to the Capital Investment Plan Act, 1993 and the Highway Traffic Act relating to Toll Highways
Schedule F Health Services Restructuring
Schedule G Amendments to the Ontario Drug Benefit Act, the Prescription Drug Cost Regulation Act and the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991
Schedule H Amendments to the Health Insurance Act and the Health Care Accessibility Act
Schedule I Physician Services Delivery Management Act, 1995
Schedule J Amendments to the Pay Equity Act
Schedule K Amendments to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
Schedule L Amendments to the Public Service Pension Act and the Ontario Public Service Employees' Union Pension Act, 1994
Schedule M Amendments to the Municipal Act and various other Statutes related to Municipalities, Conservation Authorities and Transportation
Schedule N Amendments to certain Acts administered by the Ministry of Natural Resources
Schedule O Amendments to the Mining Act
Schedule P Amendment to the Ministry of Correctional Services Act
Schedule Q Amendments to various Statutes with regard to Interest Arbitration
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
Enactment of schedules
1. (1) All of the schedules to this Act, other than Schedules A, D and I, are hereby enacted.
Same
(2) The Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, 1995, as set out in Schedule A, is hereby enacted.
Same
(3) The Ontario Loan Act, 1995, as set out in Schedule D, is hereby enacted.
Same
(4) The Physician Services Delivery Management Act, 1995, as set out in Schedule I, is hereby enacted.
Commencement
2. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), this Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Same
(2) The schedules to this Act come into force as provided in the commencement section at or near the end of each schedule.
Same
(3) Where a schedule to this Act provides that it is to come into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor, any such proclamation may apply to the whole or any part or parts or portion or portions or section or sections of the schedule, and proclamations may be issued at different times as to any part or parts or portion or portions or section or sections of the schedule.
Short title
3. The short title of this Act is the Savings and Restructuring Act, 1995.