[36] Bill 108 As amended by Committee of Whole House (PDF)
B108_E
Bill 108 1998
An Act to deal with the prosecution of certain provincial offences, to reduce duplication and to streamline administration
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
PART I
AMENDMENTS TO THE PROVINCIAL OFFENCES ACT
PROVINCIAL OFFENCES ACT
1. (1) Section 60.1 of the Provincial Offences Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 1994, chapter 17, section 130 and amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 1995, chapter 6, section 7, is further amended by adding the following subsections:
Part X agreements
(3.1) When an agreement made under Part X applies to a fine, payments made by the defendant shall first be credited towards payment of the surcharge, not as described in subsection (3).
. . . . .
Same
(4.1) Subsection (4) also applies to payments received under clause 165 (5) (a).
(2) The Act is amended by adding the following Part:
PART X
AGREEMENTS WITH MUNICIPALITIES CONCERNING ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS AND PROSECUTIONS
Agreements
162. (1) The Attorney General and a municipality may enter into an agreement with respect to a specified area, authorizing the municipality to,
(a) perform courts administration and court support functions, including the functions of the clerk of the court, for the purposes of this Act and the Contraventions Act (Canada); and
(b) conduct prosecutions,
(i) in proceedings under Parts I and II, and
(ii) in proceedings under the Contraventions Act (Canada) that are commenced by ticket under Part I or II of this Act.
Application of cl. (1) (a)
(2) Clause (1) (a) also applies to the functions assigned to the clerk of the court by any other Act.
Performance standards and sanctions
(3) Performance standards and sanctions shall be specified in the agreement; the municipality shall meet the standards and is subject to the sanctions for failure to meet them.
Definition
(4) In subsection (3), "
performance standards" includes standards for the conduct of prosecutions, for the administration of the courts and for the provision of court support services.
Area of application
163. An agreement under this Part may specify an area that includes territory outside the municipality.
Deposit with clerk
164. (1) When the Attorney General and a municipality have entered into an agreement under this Part, a copy of the agreement shall be deposited with the clerk of the municipality and with the clerk of any other municipality that has jurisdiction in the specified area.
Judicial notice
(2) Judicial notice shall be taken of the agreement without the agreement or its deposit being specially pleaded or proved.
Non-compliance
(3) No proceeding is invalidated by reason only of a person's failure to comply with the agreement.
Fair hearing
(4) Without limiting the generality of subsection (3), that subsection does not preserve the validity of the proceeding if the failure to comply with the agreement results in prejudice to the defendant's right to a fair hearing. y
Collection and enforcement
165. (1) When an agreement under this Part is in force, the municipality has power to collect fines levied in respect of proceedings under Parts I, II and III, including costs under section 60, surcharges under section 60.1 and fees referred to in section 66.2, and to enforce their payment; collection and enforcement shall be carried out in the manner specified in the agreement.
Contraventions Act (Canada)
(2) Subsection (1) also applies to fines and fees imposed under the Contraventions Act (Canada).
Non-application of s. 69 (6-21)
(3) Subsections 69 (6) to (21) do not apply to fines that are governed by the agreement.
Fines, etc., payable to municipality
(4) Fines that are governed by the agreement are payable to the municipality and not to the Minister of Finance.
Payments to Minister of Finance
(5) The municipality shall pay to the Minister of Finance, at the times and in the manner specified in the agreement, amounts calculated in accordance with the agreement, in respect of,
(a) surcharges collected by the municipality under section 60.1;
(b) other fine revenues collected by the municipality that constitute money paid to Ontario for a special purpose within the meaning of the Financial Administration Act\;
(c) costs the Attorney General incurs for adjudication and prosecution, for monitoring the performance of the agreement and for enforcing the agreement; and
(d) fines and fees imposed under the Contraventions Act (Canada) and collected by the municipality.
Exception, federal-municipal agreement re parking fines and fees
(6) Despite clause (5) (d), fines and fees imposed under the Contraventions Act (Canada) in relation to the unlawful parking, standing or stopping of a vehicle and collected by the municipality shall be paid in accordance with any agreement made under sections 65.2 and 65.3 of that Act.
Payments to another municipality
(7) The municipality acting under an agreement under this Part shall pay to another municipality,
(a) the amount of any fine collected by the municipality that was imposed for a contravention of the other municipality's by-law;
(b) the amount of any fine collected by the municipality that was imposed for a contravention of a provincial statute and that would, except for the agreement, be payable to the other municipality; and
(c) the amount of any allowance retained by the municipality that would, except for the agreement, be payable to the other municipality under a regulation made under clause 20 (1) (g).
Retention of balance
(8) Despite the Fines and Forfeitures Act, the municipality is entitled to retain, as a fee, the balance remaining after payment under subsections (5) and (7).
No other charge
(9) The municipality shall not collect any other charge for acting under an agreement under this Part, except with the Attorney General's written consent, obtained in advance.
Disclosure to consumer reporting agency
(10) When an agreement under this Part applies to a fine, section 69.1 applies to the municipality in the same manner as it applies to the Ministry of the Attorney General.
Exception, transitional period
(11) Despite subsection (4), while a regulation made under clause 174 (b) is in effect, fines that are governed by the agreement remain payable to the Minister of Finance, who shall,
(a) calculate and retain the appropriate amounts under subsection (5);
(b) make any payments required by subsection (7); and
(c) pay the balance remaining to the municipality in accordance with subsection (8).
Fines imposed before effective date
166. An agreement under this Part may,
(a) authorize the municipality to collect and enforce the payment of fines that were imposed before the agreement's effective date; and
(b) provide in what proportions and in what manner the amounts collected are to be shared between the municipality and the Minister of Finance.
Special rules
167. (1) When an agreement under this Part is in effect, the following rules apply:
1. The clerk of the court may be a municipal employee.
2. Subject to section 29, the court may sit in the location designated by the municipality, which need not be in premises operated by the Province of Ontario for court purposes.
3. The court office shall be in the location designated by the municipality.
4. Despite anything else in this Act, the municipality shall not without the Attorney General's written consent, obtained in advance, assign to a person other than its own employee a function that the agreement gives to the municipality.
Definition: "prosecutor"
(2) For the purposes of this Part, "
prosecutor" means the Attorney General or, where the Attorney General does not intervene, means a person acting on behalf of the municipality in accordance with the agreement or, where no such person intervenes, means the person who issues a certificate or lays an information, and includes counsel or agent acting on behalf of any of them.
Right to intervene
168. An agreement under this Part does not affect the Attorney General's right to intervene in a proceeding and assume the role of prosecutor at any stage, including on appeal.
No agency
169. A municipality that acts under an agreement under this Part does not do so as an agent of the Crown in right of Ontario or of the Attorney General.
Protection from personal liability
170. (1) No proceeding shall be commenced against any person for an act done in good faith in the performance or intended performance of a function under an agreement under this Part or for an alleged neglect or default in the performance in good faith of such a function.
Municipality not relieved of liability
(2) Subsection (1) does not relieve a municipality of liability in respect of a tort committed by a person referred to in subsection (1) to which the municipality would otherwise be subject.
Order for compliance
171. (1) When an agreement under this Part is in effect, the Attorney General may make an order directing the municipality to comply with the agreement within a specified time.
Revocation or suspension
(2) The Attorney General may revoke or suspend the agreement if the municipality does not comply with the order within the specified time.
Protection from personal liability
(3) No proceeding for damages shall be commenced against the Attorney General or an employee of the Ministry of the Attorney General for anything done or omitted in good faith in connection with the revocation or suspension of an agreement.
Review committee
172. An agreement under this Part may provide for a review committee whose composition and functions are determined by regulation.
Transition: application to all proceedings
173. (1) Unless an agreement under this Part provides otherwise, the agreement applies in respect of a proceeding whether it was commenced before or after the agreement's effective date.
Exception
(2) However, if one of the following conditions applies to a proceeding, the trial and disposition, including sentencing, shall be conducted as if there were no agreement:
1. The trial is scheduled to begin within seven calendar days after the effective date.
2. The trial began before the effective date and the disposition, including sentencing, is not yet complete on that date.
Regulations
174. The Attorney General may, by regulation,
(a) impose obligations in connection with an agreement under this Part on a person who is not a party to the agreement;
(b) provide that fines governed by an agreement may, for a transitional period after its effective date, be paid to the Minister of Finance;
(c) determining the composition and functions of a review committee for the purposes of section 172;
(d) provide for the effective implementation of agreements.
Delegation
175. (1) Subject to subsection (2), a municipality has power to assign to any person a function that an agreement under this Part gives to the municipality.
Attorney General's consent
(2) An assignment to a person other than the municipality's employee requires the Attorney General's written consent, obtained in advance.
Group of municipalities
176. An agreement under this Part may also be made with two or more municipalities, and in that case sections 162 to 175 apply with necessary modifications.
PART II
COMPLEMENTARY AMENDMENTS, COMMENCEMENT AND SHORT TITLE
COURTS OF JUSTICE ACT
2. Subsection 70 (3) of the Courts of Justice Act is amended by adding the following clause:
(c.1) regulating the duties of municipal employees and other persons who act under the authority of agreements made under Part X of the Provincial Offences Act.
MUNICIPAL ACT
3. Part XVI of the Municipal Act is amended by adding the following section:
Definitions
206.1 (1) In this section,
"
municipality" includes a regional, metropolitan and district municipality and the County of Oxford; ("municipalité")
"
Part X agreement" means an agreement under Part X of the Provincial Offences Act. ("entente prévue à la partie X")
Part X agreements
(2) A municipality has power to enter into and to perform a Part X agreement.
Employees and others
(3) The functions given to a municipality by a Part X agreement may be performed,
(a) by the municipality's employees;
(b) by a combination of the municipality's employees and the employees of another municipality, if the municipalities have an agreement under subsection (4); or
(c) by any other person, with the Attorney General's consent, as described in subsection 175 (2) of the Provincial Offences Act.
Joint performance agreement between municipalities
(4) A municipality that has entered into a Part X agreement may enter into an agreement with one or more other municipalities for the joint performance (by a joint board of management or otherwise) of the functions given to the first municipality by the Part X agreement.
Attorney General's consent
(5) The joint performance agreement requires the Attorney General's written consent, obtained in advance.
Extra-territorial effect
(6) The power to perform a Part X agreement may be exercised in an area outside the municipality's territorial limits if that area forms part of the area specified in the agreement.
Commencement
4. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Short title
5. The short title of this Act is the Streamlining of Administration of Provincial Offences Act, 1998.
Copyright © 1998
Office of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Toronto, Ontario, Canada.