[37] Bill 216 Royal Assent (PDF)
Bill 216 2002
An Act respecting
access to information,
the review of expenses and the
accountability of Cabinet ministers,
Opposition leaders and
certain other persons
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
Schedule A
1. The Cabinet Ministers' and Opposition Leaders' Expenses Review and Accountability Act, 2002, as set out in Schedule A to this Act, is hereby enacted.
Schedule B
2. Schedule B to this Act is hereby enacted.
Commencement
3. (1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Same
(2) Schedules A and B come into force as provided in the commencement section at or near the end of each Schedule.
Short title
4. The short title of this Act is the Accountability for Expenses Act (Cabinet Ministers and Opposition Leaders), 2002.
SCHEDULE A
CABINET MINISTERS' AND
OPPOSITION LEADERS' EXPENSES REVIEW
AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT, 2002
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CONTENTS |
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Interpretation |
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1. |
Definitions |
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Reviewable Expenses |
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2. 3. |
Reviewable expenses of Cabinet ministers, etc. Reviewable expenses of Opposition leaders and staff |
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Allowable Expenses |
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4. 5. 6. 7. |
Allowable expenses Authority to make rules Advice re allowable expenses Payment of allowable expenses |
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Annual Review by the |
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8. 9. 10. |
Duty to give copies to the Commissioner Review by the Commissioner Annual report to the Speaker |
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Discretionary Review by the Commissioner |
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11. 12. |
Authority to obtain expense claims, etc. Authority to review, etc. |
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Transitional Review and Report by the Commissioner |
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13. 14. 15. 16. |
Duty to give copies to the Commissioner Public inspection of expense claims Mandatory review by the Commissioner Special report to the Speaker |
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General |
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17. 18. 19. |
Members' Integrity Act, 1994 Commencement Short title |
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______________ |
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Interpretation
Definitions
1. In this Act,
"allowable expense" means a reviewable expense that, according to subsection 4 (1), is an allowable expense; ("dépense autorisée")
"applicable rules" means the applicable rules described in subsection 4 (2) or (3), as the case may be; ("règles applicables")
"Cabinet minister" means a member of the Executive Council; ("ministre")
"Integrity Commissioner" or "Commissioner" means the Integrity Commissioner appointed under the Members' Integrity Act, 1994; ("commissaire à l'intégrité", "commissaire")
"Legislative Assembly Fund" has the same meaning as in section 81 of the Legislative Assembly Act; ("Caisse de l'Assemblée législative")
"Opposition leader" means the leader of a recognized party, within the meaning of subsection 62 (5) of the Legislative Assembly Act, other than the Premier; ("chef d'un parti de l'opposition")
"reviewable expense" means an expense that, according to subsection 2 (1) or (2) or section 3, as the case may be, is a reviewable expense. ("dépense sujette à examen")
Reviewable Expenses
Reviewable expenses of Cabinet ministers, etc.
2. (1) An expense of a Cabinet minister or a person employed in his or her office is a reviewable expense under this Act,
(a) if the expense was incurred in the performance of a ministerial duty or function; and
(b) if a claim was made for payment of the expense from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
Same, parliamentary assistants and staff
(2) An expense of a parliamentary assistant or a person employed in his or her office is a reviewable expense under this Act,
(a) if the expense was incurred in the performance of a ministerial duty or function, or in the performance of a duty or function of a parliamentary assistant; and
(b) if a claim was made for payment of the expense from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
Reviewable expenses of Opposition leaders
and staff
3. An expense of an Opposition leader or a person employed in his or her office is a reviewable expense under this Act,
(a) if the expense was for travel, hotels and similar accommodation, meals or hospitality; and
(b) if a claim was made for payment of the expense from the Legislative Assembly Fund, but not a claim for payment pertaining to the leader's constituency work as a member of the Assembly.
Allowable Expenses
Allowable expenses
4. (1) A reviewable expense of a Cabinet minister, parliamentary assistant, Opposition leader or person employed in their offices is an allowable expense if the expense is reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances and if the expense meets the standards set out in the applicable rules.
Applicable rules
(2) The applicable rules for a reviewable expense incurred on or after January 1, 2003 are the rules made under section 5.
Transition
(3) The applicable rules for a reviewable expense incurred before January 1, 2003 are the guidelines that were used by the Management Board of Cabinet or by the Board of Internal Economy, as the case may be, to determine whether to pay such an expense.
Same, public notice
(4) The Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet shall ensure that a copy of the guidelines that were used by the Management Board of Cabinet is available to the public for inspection and the Speaker shall ensure that a copy of the guidelines that were used by the Board of Internal Economy is available to the public for inspection.
Authority to make rules
5. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make rules respecting allowable expenses, and the Executive Council shall consult with the Integrity Commissioner before the Lieutenant Governor in Council makes such rules.
Same
(2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), the rules may,
(a) impose restrictions on the types of expenses or the amounts that may be claimed or on the circumstances in which claims may be made;
(b) specify the circumstances in which expenses are considered to be reasonable or unreasonable and appropriate or inappropriate;
(c) require specified information or documents to be supplied or kept in support of a claim;
(d) establish procedural requirements for claiming expenses.
Public notice
(3) The Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet shall ensure that a copy of the rules made under subsection (1) is available to the public upon request and is posted on the Internet.
Non-application of Regulations Act
(4) The Regulations Act does not apply to rules made under this section.
Advice re allowable expenses
6. (1) Upon request, the Integrity Commissioner may advise a Cabinet minister, a parliamentary assistant, an Opposition leader or a person employed in their offices as to whether an expense is an allowable expense.
Effect of advice
(2) If the Commissioner advises a person, in writing, that an expense is an allowable expense in the opinion of the Commissioner, the expense shall be deemed to be an allowable expense of the person.
Exception
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply if the person fails to disclose to the Commissioner all of the relevant facts known to the person when seeking the Commissioner's advice.
Payment of allowable expenses
Cabinet ministers, parliamentary assistants and their staff
7. (1) The allowable expenses of Cabinet ministers, parliamentary assistants and persons employed in their offices are payable from the Consolidated Revenue Fund out of amounts appropriated therefor by the Assembly, but only if a claim for payment of the expense is made in accordance with the applicable rules.
Opposition leaders and staff
(2) The allowable expenses of the Opposition leaders and persons employed in their offices are payable from the Legislative Assembly Fund out of amounts authorized therefor by the Board of Internal Economy, but only if a claim for payment of the expense is made in accordance with the applicable rules.
Restriction re certain types of expense
(3) The allowable expenses of Cabinet ministers, parliamentary assistants and persons employed in their offices for travel, hotels and similar accommodation, meals or hospitality shall not be paid out of the Legislative Assembly Fund.
Annual Review by the
Integrity Commissioner
Duty to give copies to the Commissioner
Cabinet ministers and parliamentary assistants
8. (1) On or before April 30 each year, the Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet shall give the Integrity Commissioner a copy of all expense claims made for reviewable expenses incurred during the previous fiscal year by Cabinet ministers, parliamentary assistants and the persons employed in their offices and shall indicate whether each expense claim was paid, in whole or in part, from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or was refused, in whole or in part.
Opposition leaders
(2) On or before April 30 each year, the Speaker shall give the Commissioner a copy of all expense claims made for reviewable expenses incurred during the previous fiscal year by the Opposition leaders and the persons employed in their offices and shall indicate whether each expense claim was paid, in whole or in part, from the Legislative Assembly Fund or was refused, in whole or in part.
Supporting documents
(3) The expense claims given to the Commissioner must be accompanied by the supporting documents.
Transition
(4) On or before April 30, 2003, the Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet and the Speaker shall give the Commissioner a copy of all expense claims made for reviewable expenses incurred from January 1, 2003 to March 31, 2003 only, not for those incurred during the entire 2002-2003 fiscal year.
Review by the Commissioner
9. (1) The Integrity Commissioner may review any of the expense claims given to him or her under section 8 to determine whether, in his or her opinion, the reviewable expenses are allowable expenses.
Authority re expenses that are not allowable expenses
(2) If the Commissioner determines that a reviewable expense is not, in his or her opinion, an allowable expense in whole or in part, the Commissioner may notify the claimant and such other persons as the Commissioner considers appropriate and may,
(a) direct the claimant to repay the Consolidated Revenue Fund or the Legislative Assembly Fund, as the case may be, and specify a deadline for doing so; and
(b) recommend that other remedial action be taken and specify a deadline for doing so.
Exception
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to the extent that payment of the expense from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or the Legislative Assembly Fund was refused when the claim was submitted for payment.
Discretion of Commissioner
(4) The Commissioner may, in such circumstances as he or she considers appropriate, choose not to direct the repayment of an amount and choose not to recommend other remedial action.
Notice to Commissioner
(5) Each person to whom the Commissioner gives a direction or recommendation under subsection (2) shall promptly give written notice to the Commissioner of the action, if any, taken by him or her.
Same
(6) If the Commissioner has not received the written notice required by subsection (5) within one week after the deadline specified for the repayment or other remedial action, the Commissioner may assume that the amount has not been repaid or that no remedial action has been taken.
Effect of failure to remedy
(7) If the amount is not repaid or remedial action that the Commissioner considers appropriate is not taken by the specified deadline, the Commissioner may include in the report to the Speaker under section 10 such details relating to the expenses and the claim as the Commissioner considers appropriate.
Annual report to the Speaker
10. (1) Each year, the Integrity Commissioner shall give the Speaker a written report about the Commissioner's review of the reviewable expenses during a fiscal year of Cabinet ministers, parliamentary assistants, Opposition leaders and the persons employed in their offices.
Same
(2) The Commissioner shall give the report for a fiscal year to the Speaker no later than the date on which the Speaker tables in the Assembly the report prepared for the Speaker on individual members' expenditures for the same fiscal year.
Contents
(3) The Commissioner's report shall contain such information as the Commissioner considers appropriate relating only to,
(a) expense claims for reviewable expenses that, in the Commissioner's opinion, are allowable expenses;
(b) expense claims for reviewable expenses in respect of which the Commissioner ordered an amount to be repaid but it was not repaid or in respect of which the Commissioner recommended remedial action but remedial action that the Commissioner considers appropriate was not taken.
Restriction
(4) In the report, the Commissioner shall not identify any individual in connection with an expense claim other than a Cabinet minister, parliamentary assistant or Opposition leader or a person who was employed in their offices when the expense was incurred.
Discretionary Review
by the Commissioner
Authority to obtain expense claims, etc.
11. (1) The Integrity Commissioner may make a written request to any person who is or was, on or after June 26, 1995, a Cabinet minister, parliamentary assistant, Opposition leader or person employed in their offices for information and documents relating to reviewable expenses.
Same, Cabinet ministers and parliamentary assistants
(2) The Commissioner may make a written request to a Cabinet minister or parliamentary assistant for information and documents relating to reviewable expenses incurred by a person employed in his or her office.
Same, Opposition leaders, etc.
(3) The Commissioner may make a written request to an Opposition leader for information and documents relating to reviewable expenses incurred by a person employed in his or her office.
Duty to comply
(4) A person to whom the Commissioner makes a request shall comply with it within the time specified by the Commissioner.
Authority to review, etc.
12. (1) The Integrity Commissioner may review information and documents obtained under section 11 in order to determine whether the reviewable expenses are, in his or her opinion, allowable expenses.
Same
(2) Subsections 9 (2) to (7) apply, with necessary modifications, with respect to the Commissioner's review.
Transitional Review and Report
by the Commissioner
Duty to give copies to the Commissioner
Cabinet ministers
13. (1) On or before December 31, 2002, the Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet shall give the Integrity Commissioner a copy of all expense claims made for reviewable expenses incurred by the following persons on or after June 26, 1995 and before January 1, 2003 and shall indicate whether each expense claim was paid, in whole or in part, from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or was refused, in whole or in part:
1. Every person who holds office as a Cabinet minister on November 28, 2002.
2. Every person employed in the office of a Cabinet minister described in paragraph 1 at any time on or after June 26, 1995 and before January 1, 2003.
Parliamentary assistants
(2) On or before December 31, 2002, the Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet shall give the Commissioner a copy of the following expense claims made for reviewable expenses incurred by a person who holds office as a parliamentary assistant on November 28, 2002 or by a person employed in the office of such a parliamentary assistant and shall indicate whether each expense claim was paid, in whole or in part, from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or was refused, in whole or in part:
1. Every reviewable expense incurred by the parliamentary assistant on or after the date on which he or she was appointed to the particular office that he or she holds on November 28, 2002 and before January 1, 2003.
2. Every reviewable expense incurred during the period described in paragraph 1 by a person employed in the office of the parliamentary assistant.
Opposition leaders
(3) On or before December 31, 2002, the Speaker shall give the Commissioner a copy of all expense claims in the custody or control of the Assembly on November 28, 2002 that were made for reviewable expenses incurred by the following persons on or after June 26, 1995 and before January 1, 2003 and shall indicate whether each expense claim was paid, in whole or in part, from the Legislative Assembly Fund or was refused, in whole or in part:
1. Every person who held office as an Opposition leader at any time on or after June 26, 1995 and before January 1, 2003.
2. Every person employed in the office of an Opposition leader at any time on or after June 26, 1995 and before January 1, 2003.
Supporting documents
(4) The expense claims given to the Commissioner must be accompanied by the supporting documents.
Public inspection of expense claims
14. (1) On or before January 31, 2003, the Integrity Commissioner shall make available to the public for inspection a copy of every expense claim given to the Commissioner under section 13, together with the supporting documents.
Restriction
(2) The Commissioner shall ensure that the expense claims and supporting documents made available to the public do not identify any individual other than a Cabinet minister, parliamentary assistant or Opposition leader or a person who was employed in their offices when the expense was incurred.
Mandatory review by the Commissioner
15. (1) The Integrity Commissioner shall review the expense claims given to him or her under section 13 to determine whether, in the Commissioner's opinion, the reviewable expenses are allowable expenses.
Same
(2) Subsections 9 (2) to (7) apply, with necessary modifications, with respect to the Commissioner's review.
Special report to the Speaker
16. (1) On or before January 31, 2003, the Integrity Commissioner shall give the Speaker a written report about the Commissioner's review of the reviewable expenses for which the Commissioner was given expense claims under section 13.
Contents
(2) Subsections 10 (3) and (4) apply, with necessary modifications, with respect to the report required by subsection (1).
General
Members' Integrity Act, 1994
17. Nothing in this Act affects or detracts from the role of the Integrity Commissioner under the Members' Integrity Act, 1994.
Commencement
18. The Act set out in this Schedule comes into force on the day the Accountability for Expenses Act (Cabinet Ministers and Opposition Leaders), 2002 receives Royal Assent.
Short title
19. The short title of the Act set out in this Schedule is the Cabinet Ministers' and Opposition Leaders' Expenses Review and Accountability Act, 2002.
SCHEDULE B
AMENDMENTS TO OTHER ACTS
Executive Council Act
1. Subsection 4 (2) of the Executive Council Act is repealed.
Freedom of Information
and Protection of Privacy Act
2. The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act is amended by adding the following section:
Limited application re Assembly
1.1 (1) This Act applies to the Assembly, but only in respect of records of reviewable expenses of the Opposition leaders and the persons employed in their offices and in respect of the personal information contained in those records.
Same
(2) Sections 11, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 44, 45 and 46 do not apply with respect to the Assembly.
Definitions
(3) In this section,
"Opposition leader" has the same meaning as in section 1 of the Cabinet Ministers' and Opposition Leaders' Expenses Review and Accountability Act, 2002; ("chef d'un parti de l'opposition")
"reviewable expense" means a reviewable expense as described in section 3 of the Cabinet Ministers' and Opposition Leaders' Expenses Review and Accountability Act, 2002. ("dépense sujette à examen")
3. (1) The definition of "head" in subsection 2 (1) of the Act is amended by adding the following clause:
(0.a) in the case of the Assembly, the Speaker;
(2) The definition of "institution" in subsection 2 (1) of the Act is amended by adding the following clause:
(0.a) the Assembly;
Commencement
4. (1) Subject to subsection (2), this Schedule comes into force on the day the Accountability for Expenses Act (Cabinet Ministers and Opposition Leaders), 2002 receives Royal Assent.
Same
(2) Sections 2 and 3 come into force on January 1, 2003.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
This Explanatory Note was written as a reader's aid to Bill 216 and does not form part of the law. Bill 216 has been enacted as Chapter 34 of the Statutes of Ontario, 2002.
The Bill creates a new Act, the Cabinet Ministers' and Opposition Leaders' Expenses Review and Accountability Act, 2002, and makes related amendments to the Executive Council Act and the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
The new Act
The new Act authorizes the Integrity Commissioner to review certain expenses of Cabinet ministers, parliamentary assistants, Opposition leaders and people employed in their offices in order to determine whether those expenses are, in the Commissioner's opinion, allowable expenses under the Act.
Sections 2 and 3 of the Act specify which expenses are reviewable expenses. For Cabinet ministers and their staff, expenses incurred in the performance of a ministerial duty or function are reviewable if a claim was made for payment of the expense out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund. For parliamentary assistants and their staff, expenses incurred in the performance of a ministerial duty or function or in the performance of a duty or function of a parliamentary assistant are reviewable if a claim was made for payment of the expense out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund. For Opposition leaders and their staff, expenses incurred for travel, hotels and similar accommodations, meals and hospitality are reviewable if a claim was made for payment of the expense out of the Legislative Assembly Fund, but not a claim for payment pertaining to the leader's constituency work as a member of the Assembly.
Section 4 of the Act specifies which expenses are allowable expenses. An expense is an allowable expense if it is reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances and if it meets the standards set out in the applicable rules. Under section 5, the Lieutenant Governor in Council is authorized to make rules, after the Executive Council consults with the Integrity Commissioner, relating to expenses incurred on or after January 1, 2003. Section 6 enables the Integrity Commissioner to give binding advice about whether an expense is an allowable expense.
Section 7 governs the payment of allowable expenses. Certain allowable expenses of Cabinet ministers, parliamentary assistants and their staff cannot be paid out of the Legislative Assembly Fund.
Sections 8 to 10 of the Act govern the Integrity Commissioner's annual review and report to the Speaker about reviewable expenses. Under section 8, the Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet and the Speaker are required to give information and documents to the Commissioner for review. Section 9 governs the review, and authorizes the Commissioner to recommend remedial actions and to require the claimant to repay amounts, when the expenses claimed were not allowable expenses. Section 10 governs the Commissioner's report to the Speaker.
Under sections 11 and 12 of the Act, the Integrity Commissioner is authorized to undertake a discretionary review of expense claims.
Sections 13 to 16 provide for a transitional review by the Integrity Commissioner of specified reviewable expenses of people who hold office as Cabinet ministers or parliamentary assistants on November 28, 2002 and their staff and people who have held office as Opposition leader anytime on or after June 26, 1995 and their staff. The Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet and the Speaker are required to give information and documents to the Commissioner by December 31, 2002. The Commissioner is required to make those documents available for public inspection by January 31, 2003. The Commissioner is also required to review the expense claims and to make a report to the Speaker by January 31, 2003.
Amendments to the Executive Council Act
Subsection 4 (2) of the Executive Council Act, which authorizes the payment of the expenses of parliamentary assistants, is repealed.
Amendments to the
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
Currently, the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act applies to ministries of the Government of Ontario and to other entities specified in the regulations. An amendment provides that the Act will be given limited application to the Assembly beginning on January 1, 2003. The new section 1.1 of the Act provides that the Act will apply to the Assembly in respect only of records of reviewable expenses of Opposition leaders and their staff (within the meaning of the Cabinet Ministers' and Opposition Leaders' Expenses Review and Accountability Act, 2002) and the personal information in those records.