[37] Bill 50 Original (PDF)
Bill 50 2003
An Act to amend the
Ministry of Correctional
Services Act
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
1. The Ministry of Correctional Services Act is amended by adding the following section:
Work or training programs
24.1 (1) The director or superintendent of a correctional institution may establish programs for inmates or groups of inmates of the institution to work on projects according to their qualifications and skills or to receive the training that is necessary to acquire the qualifications and skills required to perform the work.
Terms of programs
(2) The programs shall involve work or training on the terms and conditions that the director or superintendent specifies and at the location that,
(a) the director or superintendent specifies, if the location is inside the correctional institution;
(b) the Minister authorizes for a work project or rehabilitation program under section 26, if the location is outside the correctional institution.
Determination of participation
(3) If a work or training program is established under subsection (1) and an inmate of a correctional institution participates in it at any time during the period of the inmate's confinement in the institution, the director or superintendent of the institution shall determine to what extent the inmate has participated in the program.
2. (1) Subsection 28 (1) of the Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 18, Schedule N, section 31, is amended by adding at the beginning "Subject to subsection (1.1)".
(2) Section 28 of the Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 18, Schedule N, section 31, is amended by adding the following subsection:
Exception
(1.1) Despite the regulations, an inmate of a correctional institution shall not be credited with remission of a sentence in respect of any day on which the inmate refuses, for a reason that the director or superintendent of the institution determines is invalid, to participate in a work or training program described in subsection 24.1 (1) that is available to the inmate.
3. Section 35 of the Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 2002, chapter 18, Schedule N, section 35, is amended by adding the following subsection:
Work or training programs
(3) In determining whether to order the release from custody on parole of an inmate of a correctional institution, the Board shall consider, in addition to the criteria for the granting of parole set out in the regulations, whether the inmate has refused, for a reason that the director or superintendent of the institution determines is invalid, to participate in a work or training program described in subsection 24.1 (1) that was available to the inmate.
4. Section 60 of the Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 1997, chapter 17, section 7, 1997, chapter 39, section 10, 2000, chapter 40, section 18, 2002, chapter 12, section 2 and 2002, chapter 18, Schedule N, section 56, is amended by adding the following subsections:
Fee for cost of confinement
(4.1) The fees and charges imposed by the Minister may include a fee that an inmate or a member of a class of inmates is required to pay to the Minister upon release from a correctional institution to cover the cost incurred by the Ministry, up to a maximum amount that the Minister specifies, in having confined the inmate in the institution for the period of confinement.
Reduction of fee
(4.2) The Minister shall reduce the amount of the fee described in subsection (4.1) that an inmate is required to pay by an amount that is proportionate to the extent to which the inmate participated fully in a work or training program described in subsection 24.1 (1) during the period of the inmate's confinement for which the program was available to the inmate.
Extent of inmate's participation
(4.3) The Minister shall determine the extent of the inmate's participation mentioned in subsection (4.2) based on the determination that a director or superintendent of a correctional institution is required to make under subsection 24.1 (3).
Commencement
5. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Short title
6. The short title of this Act is the Ministry of Correctional Services Amendment Act, 2003.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The Bill amends the Ministry of Correctional Services Act to allow the director or superintendent of a correctional institution to establish work or training programs for inmates or groups of inmates of the institution. If an inmate participates in a work or training program at any time during the period of the inmate's confinement in the institution, the director or superintendent of the institution shall determine to what extent the inmate has participated in the program.
If the director or superintendent of a correctional institution determines that an inmate has refused to participate in a work or training program for an invalid reason, the inmate shall not be credited with remission of a sentence in respect of any day to which the refusal relates. In addition, the Ontario Parole and Earned Release Board is required to consider that refusal in determining whether to order that the inmate be released from custody on parole.
At present, the Act authorizes the Minister of Public Safety and Security to impose fees to recover costs that the Ministry incurs. The Bill allows the Minister, as part of those fees, to impose a fee on an inmate who is released from a correctional institution to cover the Ministry's costs of having confined the inmate in the institution. The Minister must reduce the amount of a fee payable by an amount that is proportionate to the extent to which the inmate participated fully in a work or training program, as the Minister determines, during the period of the inmate's confinement.