[38] Bill 73 Royal Assent (PDF)
Bill 73 2004
An Act to enhance the
safety of children and youth
on Ontario's roads
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
Amendments to the Highway Traffic Act
1. (1) Section 7 of the Highway Traffic Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 1992, chapter 20, section 2, 1993, chapter 8, section 1, 1993, chapter 27, Schedule, 1993, chapter 31, section 2, 1994, chapter 27, section 138, 1998, chapter 38, section 1, 1999, chapter 12, Schedule R, section 2, 2000, chapter 29, section 1, 2002, chapter 18, Schedule P, section 1 and 2002, chapter 22, sections 96 and 97, is amended by adding the following subsection:
No permit when owner's fine for passing school bus unpaid
(11.3) If an owner of a vehicle is in default of payment of a fine imposed for a conviction of an offence under subsection 175 (19) or (20), an order or direction may be made under section 69 of the Provincial Offences Act directing that,
(a) if the owner holds a permit, validation of that owner's permit be refused until the fine is paid; or
(b) if the owner does not hold a permit, the issuance of a permit be refused until the fine is paid.
(2) Subsection 7 (12) of the Act, as re-enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 1993, chapter 31, section 2 and amended by 1998, chapter 38, section 1, is repealed and the following substituted:
Exception to permit denials
(12) If a person holds more than one permit and an order or direction in respect of that person is made under section 69 of the Provincial Offences Act pursuant to this section, the order or direction shall not apply so as to prevent validation of any permit in respect of which the numbered plate evidencing current validation of the permit had not been displayed on the vehicle involved in the infraction.
2. Subsection 57.1 (1) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 1993, chapter 40, section 7, is amended by adding the following clause:
(b.1) prescribing the qualifications of applicants for and holders of any class or level of driver's licence for novice drivers;
3. The Act is amended by adding the following section:
Police request for novice driver's passenger's identification
57.1.1 (1) A police officer or officer appointed for carrying out the provisions of this Act may request that a passenger in a motor vehicle driven by a novice driver identify himself or herself if the officer suspects that the novice driver is contravening a regulation made under section 57.1 and the passenger of whom the request is made shall give the officer his or her correct name and address.
Additional information
(2) The officer may also request additional prescribed information from a passenger of whom he or she requests identification under subsection (1) and the passenger of whom the request is made shall give the officer the requested information.
Regulations
(3) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations prescribing additional information that a police officer or officer appointed for carrying out the provisions of this Act may request and that a passenger is required to give under subsection (2).
4. (1) Section 106 of the Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 1996, chapter 20, section 22, is amended by adding the following subsection:
Exception
(6.1) Subsection (6) does not apply where the passenger is required by the regulations to be secured in a prescribed manner.
(2) Subsection 106 (7) of the Act is repealed.
(3) Subsection 106 (8) of the Act, as it reads before its re-enactment by the Statutes of Ontario, 1996, chapter 20, section 22, is amended by adding "or" at the end of clause (a), by striking out "or" at the end of clause (b) and by striking out clause (c).
5. (1) Subsection 175 (15) of the Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 2001, chapter 13, section 18, is amended by adding the following clause:
(i) governing the service of offence notices for the purposes of subsections (26), (27) and (28), including deeming service to have been effected on a date determined in accordance with the regulations.
(2) Subsection 175 (19) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Certificate of offence - owner
(19) A person who issues a certificate of offence or who prepares an information to be laid under the Provincial Offences Act for a contravention of subsection (11) shall, despite that Act and the regulations under that Act, specify this subsection, instead of subsection (11), as the provision that was contravened, if the defendant is being charged as the owner of the vehicle.
Same
(20) A person who issues a certificate of offence or who prepares an information to be laid under the Provincial Offences Act for a contravention of subsection (12) shall, despite that Act and the regulations under that Act, specify this subsection, instead of subsection (12), as the provision that was contravened, if the defendant is being charged as the owner of the vehicle.
Deemed to specify subs. (11) or (12)
(21) A certificate of offence, offence notice, information or summons that specifies subsection (19) or (20) as the provision that was contravened shall be deemed to specify that subsection (11) or (12) was contravened, as the case may be.
No dismissal
(22) No charge shall be dismissed, and no certificate of offence or information shall be quashed, on the basis that a certificate of offence, offence notice, information or summons specifies subsection (19) or (20) instead of subsection (11) or (12) as the provision that was contravened.
No amendment
(23) A certificate of offence or information that specifies subsection (11) or (12) as the provision that was contravened shall not be amended to specify subsection (19) or (20) and a certificate of offence or information that specifies subsection (19) or (20) as the provision that was contravened shall not be amended to specify subsection (11) or (12), without the consent of the prosecutor and the defendant.
Purpose of subss. (19) to (23)
(24) The purpose of subsections (19) to (23) is to facilitate the use of computer systems that are maintained by the Government of Ontario for recording and processing information related to provincial offences.
Provincial Offences Act, Part I
(25) No summons shall be issued under clause 3 (2) (b) of the Provincial Offences Act in proceedings alleging an offence under subsection (19) or (20).
Service of offence notice
(26) An offence notice issued in proceedings alleging an offence under subsection (19) or (20) may be served in accordance with the regulations, in which case subsections 3 (3) to (7) of the Provincial Offences Act do not apply.
Certificate of service
(27) If the provincial offences officer who issues the certificate of offence also serves the offence notice, that officer shall certify, on the certificate of offence, the fact that he or she took the steps authorized by the regulations to serve the offence notice and the date those steps were taken.
Evidence
(28) A certificate referred to in subsection (27) purporting to be signed by the provincial offences officer who issued it shall be received in evidence and is proof of service in the absence of evidence to the contrary.
6. (1) Clause 207 (2) (b) of the Act, as re-enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 1998, chapter 38, subsection 5 (1), is repealed and the following substituted:
(b) sections 129 to 143, subsections 144 (1) to (17), subsections 144 (19) to (32), sections 145 to 168, section 172, subsections 175 (1) to (10), subsections 175 (13) to (18) or section 176, 182 or 199;
(2) Subsection 207 (7) of the Act, as enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 1993, chapter 31, section 2, is repealed and the following substituted:
Limitation
(7) An owner of a motor vehicle convicted of an offence under section 128 on the basis of evidence acquired through the use of a photo-radar system or under subsection 175 (19) or (20) is not liable to imprisonment, a probation order under subsection 72 (1) of the Provincial Offences Act or a driver's licence suspension as a result of that conviction or as a result of default in payment of a fine resulting from that conviction.
Amendments to the Provincial Offences Act
7. (1) Subclause 12 (2) (a) (iii) of the Provincial Offences Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 1994, chapter 10, section 23, is repealed and the following substituted:
(iii) for the purposes of giving effect to any action or result provided for under the Highway Traffic Act, and
(2) Subclause 12 (2) (a) (iv) of the Act is repealed.
8. Subsection 69 (3) of the Act, as re-enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 1993, chapter 31, section 1, is repealed and the following substituted:
Highway Traffic Act permits
(3) If section 7 of the Highway Traffic Act authorizes an order or direction under this section that any permit under that Act not be validated or issued because payment of a fine is in default, a person designated by the regulations who is satisfied that payment of a fine is in default shall direct that until the fine is paid,
(a) validation of any permit held by the person who has defaulted be refused; and
(b) issuance of any permit to the person who has defaulted be refused.
Commencement and Short Title
Commencement
9. (1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Same
(2) Sections 1 to 6 come into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
Short title
10. The short title of this Act is the Highway Traffic Statute Law Amendment Act (Child and Youth Safety), 2004.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
This Explanatory Note was written as a reader's aid to Bill 73 and does not form part of the law. Bill 73 has been enacted as Chapter 22 of the Statutes of Ontario, 2004.
The Bill amends the Highway Traffic Act as follows:
Section 57.1 is amended to authorize regulations prescribing qualifications for novice drivers' licences.
New section 57.1.1 authorizes police officers and other enforcement officers to demand identification from passengers in a vehicle driven by a novice driver in order to determine whether the novice driver is contravening a condition or restriction imposed on novice drivers by regulation.
Under current subsection 106 (7), a child passenger who weighs less than 23 kilograms must occupy a position where there is a seat belt. This is repealed, leaving the requirements respecting child seating and restraint systems to be set out in the regulations.
Current clause 106 (8) (c) exempts a passenger in a motor vehicle from the requirement to wear a seat belt properly adjusted and securely fastened if he or she is secured in another manner prescribed by regulations. This is repealed and replaced by subsection 106 (6.1), which exempts a passenger from the seat belt requirement as long as there are regulations that require the passenger to be secured in another manner.
Under section 207, the owner of a vehicle may be charged with and convicted of an offence even though the owner was not driving the vehicle when the offence was committed. Subsections 175 (11) and (12), failing to stop for a school bus with its overhead red signal-lights flashing, are added to the list of provisions for which an owner who was not driving the vehicle when the offence was committed may be charged and convicted under this section. New subsections 175 (19) to (24) allow for distinctions between charges laid against drivers and charges laid against owners for failing to stop for a school bus to be made in the government's computer systems. New subsections 175 (25) to (28) allow for different methods of service to be prescribed for service on the owner of the vehicle for the offence of failing to stop for a school bus.
Section 7 is amended to provide that if an owner convicted of the offence of failing to stop for a school bus with its overhead red signal-lights flashing fails to pay the fine imposed on the conviction, the owner's vehicle permit may not be validated or a new permit issued until the fine is paid.
The Bill makes related amendments to the Provincial Offences Act as follows:
Currently, section 12 provides that when a proceeding for an offence under any Act is initiated by an offence notice, any actions or results provided for in that Act to follow on a conviction do not apply, with a few specific exceptions. Among the exceptions are two provisions of the Highway Traffic Act. Section 12 is amended to set out all of the Highway Traffic Act as an exception to the general rule.
Section 69 is amended in order to give effect to the permit denial authorized by the amendments made in this Bill to section 7 of the Highway Traffic Act.