Bill 99, Transparency in Public Matters Act, 2004

Versions

Bill 99 2004

An Act to require
open meetings for provincial
and municipal boards,
commissions and other public bodies

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Application and Definition

Application and definition

1. (1) In this Act,

"Information and Privacy Commissioner" means the Commissioner appointed under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Application

(2) This Act applies to,

(a) designated public bodies,

(i) listed as designated public bodies in Part I of the Schedule to this Act, and

(ii) prescribed as designated public bodies by the regulations made under this Act; and

(b) types of designated public bodies,

(i) listed as the type of public body that is a designated public body in Part II of the Schedule to this Act, and

(ii) prescribed as a type of designated public body by the regulations made under this Act.

Committees

(3) Sections 2, 3, 4 and 5 apply, with necessary modifications, to the committees of designated public bodies.

Open Meetings

Purpose

2. (1) The purpose of this Act is to provide public access that is as open as possible to meetings of designated public bodies and to the minutes of those meetings.

Meetings to which Act applies

(2) This Act applies to any meeting of a designated public body if the purpose of the meeting is the making of a decision or recommendation, the taking of an action or the giving of advice in respect of any matter or matters within the jurisdiction or terms of reference of the public body and,

(a) a sufficient number of the members of the public body are invited to attend to constitute a quorum; or

(b) a sufficient number of the members of the public body attend so as to constitute a quorum.

Meetings - open to the public

3. (1) Meetings of designated public bodies shall be open to the public.

Exception

(2) Despite subsection (1), a designated public body may exclude the public from a meeting or part of a meeting if,

(a) financial, personal or other matters may be disclosed of such a nature that the desirability of avoiding public disclosure of them in the interest of any person affected or in the public interest outweighs the desirability of adhering to the principle that meetings be open to the public;

(b) a person involved in a civil or criminal proceeding may be prejudiced;

(d) personnel matters involving an identifiable individual, including an employee of the designated public body, will be discussed;

(e) negotiations or anticipated negotiations between the designated public body and a person, bargaining agent or party to a proceeding or an anticipated proceeding relating to labour relations or a person's employment by the designated public body will be discussed;

(f) litigation affecting the designated public body will be discussed or instructions will be given to or opinions received from solicitors for the designated public body;

(g) matters prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council under clause 13 (b) will be discussed; or

(h) the designated public body will deliberate whether to exclude the public from a meeting or part of a meeting, and the deliberation will consider whether one or more of clauses (a) through (g) are applicable to the meeting or part of the meeting.

Motion stating reasons

(3) A designated public body shall not exclude the public from a meeting before a vote is held on a motion to exclude the public, which motion must clearly state the nature of the matter to be considered at the closed meeting and the general reasons why the public is being excluded.

Taking of vote

(4) The meeting shall not be closed to the public during the taking of the vote on the motion under subsection (3).

Minutes

(5) The minutes of a designated public body shall record any motion moved under subsection (3), including the nature of the matter to be considered and the reasons for excluding the public that are stated in the motion.

Offence - exclusion from meeting

4. (1) If a designated public body excludes the public from a meeting or part of a meeting and none of the circumstances listed in subsection 3 (2) apply, each member of the designated public body who was in attendance at the meeting or part of the meeting is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $1,000.

Defence

(2) A member of a designated public body is not guilty of an offence under subsection (1) if he or she,

(a) objected on the record to excluding the public from the meeting; or

(b) did not object on the record to excluding the public from the meeting in the good faith belief that one of the circumstances listed in subsection 3 (2) applied.

Offence - head or chairperson

(3) If the person who is convicted of an offence under subsection (1) is the head or chairperson of the designated public body, the maximum fine that may be imposed is $2,500 and not as provided in subsection (1).

Same

(4) Subsection (3) does not apply unless the court is satisfied that the person who is convicted was, at the time of the offence, the duly elected, appointed or selected, as the case may be, head or chair of the designated public body.

Minutes

5. (1) Minutes of meetings of a designated public body shall,

(a) be clear, concise and neutral;

(b) contain sufficient detail to adequately inform the public of the main subject-matters considered by the designated public body and the decisions made by the designated public body; and

(c) be made available to the public at the same time they are made available to the members of the designated public body, whether the minutes have been adopted or not.

Exception

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to minutes regarding meetings or parts of meetings from which the public was excluded in accordance with subsection 3 (2).

Recording decisions made in absence of the public

(3) Despite subsection (2), in respect of the minutes regarding meetings or parts of meetings from which the public was excluded in accordance with subsection 3 (2), the minutes shall,

(a) clearly record decisions that are made at the meeting or part of the meeting from which the public was excluded;

(b) contain sufficient detail to adequately inform the public of the nature of the decision and the matter upon which the decision was made; and

(c) be made available to the public at the next public meeting after the meeting or the part of the meeting from which the public was excluded.

Rules

6. (1) By the end of its third meeting after this Act comes into force, each designated public body, having regard to the purpose set out in section 2, shall make rules respecting,

(a) how public notice of its meetings and the meetings of its committees shall be given;

(b) how the minutes of its meetings and the meetings of its committees shall be made available to the public; and

Amendment or revision of rules

(2) A designated public body may amend the rules made under subsection (1) at any time.

Compliance with rules

7. By the end of its third meeting after this Act comes into force, a designated public body shall appoint a member of the body to be the person responsible for overseeing compliance by the body and by committees of the body with section 5 and with the rules made under section 6.

Offence - minutes and rules

8. (1) A person appointed for a designated public body under section 7 or under subsection 10 (3) who fails to be reasonably diligent in overseeing compliance with section 5 and the rules made under section 6 is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $1,000.

Offence - head or chair

(2) If the person who is convicted of an offence under subsection (1) is the head or chair of the designated public body, the maximum fine that may be imposed is $2,500 and not as provided in subsection (1).

Same

(3) Subsection (2) does not apply unless the court is satisfied that the person who is convicted was, at the time of the offence, the duly elected, appointed or selected, as the case may be, head or chair of the public body.

Complaint re: failure to make rules

9. (1) Any person who believes that a designated public body has failed to make its rules in accordance with section 6 may complain in writing to the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

Request for copy of rules

(2) Upon receiving a complaint under subsection (1), the Information and Privacy Commissioner shall investigate the complaint and may request that the designated public body provide a copy of its rules to the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

Failure to comply with request

(3) If the designated public body does not comply with the Information and Privacy Commissioner's request within 30 days or such longer time as the Information and Privacy Commissioner considers reasonable in the circumstances, the Information and Privacy Commissioner may make the rules for the body and for all purposes, including the purposes of section 8, those rules have the same effect as if they were made by the body under section 6.

Amendment or substitution of rules

(4) If the designated public body provides a copy of the rules to the Information and Privacy Commissioner and the Information and Privacy Commissioner is satisfied that the rules made by the body under section 6 reflect a lack of reasonable regard for the purpose set out in section 2, he or she may amend the rules or substitute new rules and for all purposes, including the purposes of section 8, the amended or substituted rules have the same effect as if they were made by the body under section 6.

Failure to appoint person responsible

10. (1) Any person who believes that a designated public body has failed to comply with section 7 may complain in writing to the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

Request for appointment

(2) Upon receiving a complaint made under subsection (1), the Information and Privacy Commissioner shall investigate the complaint and may request that the designated public body make the appointment required under section 7 and provide minutes of the appointment to the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

Failure to comply with request

(3) If the designated public body does not comply with the Information and Privacy Commissioner's request within 30 days or such longer time as the Information and Privacy Commissioner considers reasonable in the circumstances, the Information and Privacy Commissioner may appoint a member of the body to be the person responsible for overseeing compliance by the body and by committees of the body with section 5 and the rules made under section 6.

Appointment by IPC

(4) The appointment made by the Information and Privacy Commissioner under subsection (3) may be made by naming an individual or by referring to an office or position on the designated public body or committee of the designated public body, and for all purposes, including the purposes of section 8, the appointment has the same effect as if it were made by the body under section 7.

Appointment of investigators

11. The Information and Privacy Commissioner may appoint investigators for the purposes of investigating complaints made under this Act and of ensuring compliance with it.

Miscellaneous

Conflict

12. Subject to the regulations made under clause 13 (c), in the event of a conflict between this Act and the regulations made under it and any other Act or regulations, this Act and the regulations made under it prevail, except to the extent that the other Act or regulations provide for greater openness of meetings or greater accessibility to minutes of meetings.

Regulations

Regulations

13. The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,

(a) prescribing persons or entities or types of persons as designated public bodies;

(b) prescribing matters for the purposes of clause 3 (2) (g);

(c) providing for the resolution of a conflict between provisions in an Act or regulation other than as provided for by section 12.

Commencement

14. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

15. The short title of this Act is the Transparency in Public Matters Act, 2004.

SCHEDULE

PART I

1. The following are designated public bodies for the purposes of this Act:

Item Number	Name of Designated Public Body	Legislative Basis for Designated Public Body
1.	Ontario Municipal Board	Section 4 of the Ontario Municipal Board Act

PART II

2. The following are types of designated public bodies for the purposes of this Act:

Item Number	Type of Designated Public Body
1.	A district school board or school authority as defined in section 1 of the Education Act.
2.	A board of health as defined in section 1 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act.
3.	A commission as established under section 174 of the Municipal Act, 2001.
4.	A council of a municipality.
5.	The board of directors, governors, trustees, commission or other governing body or authority of a hospital to which the Public Hospitals Act applies.
6.	The board of directors, governors, trustees or other governing body or authority of a university in Ontario and any affiliated or federated college of a university that receives operating grants from the Government of Ontario.
7.	The board of governors of a college of applied arts and technology.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill requires specified provincial and municipal councils, boards, commissions and other public bodies, as listed in the Schedule to the Bill or as prescribed, to hold meetings which are open to the public. The public can only be excluded from meetings of the body if certain specified types of matters are going to be discussed by the body. Minutes of meetings open to the public have to be made available to the public in a timely fashion, and must contain sufficient detail.

The body is also required to set rules respecting public notice of its meetings and the meetings of its committees, the availability of minutes to the public and the availability of the body's rules. The body is required to appoint a person responsible for compliance with the rules. Section 8 imposes a penalty for failure to comply with the requirements for notice, minutes and rules.