Bill 190, Property Rights and Responsibilities Act, 2009

Bill 190 2009

An Act to amend the Expropriations Act and the Human Rights Code with respect to property rights and responsibilities

Note: This Act amends or repeals more than one Act.  For the legislative history of these Acts, see the Table of Consolidated Public Statutes – Detailed Legislative History at www.e-Laws.gov.on.ca.

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

Expropriations Act

   1.  (1)  Section 7 of the Expropriations Act is amended by adding the following subsection:

Merits of objectives

   (5.1)  In the inquiry, in addition to the duties described in subsection (5), the inquiry officer shall consider the merits of the objectives of the expropriating authority.

   (2)  Clause 7 (9) (a) of the Act is amended by striking out "may" at the beginning and substituting "shall".

   (3)  Section 8 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsection:

Judicial review

   (4)  For the purposes of the Judicial Review Procedure Act, the approving authority's decision constitutes the exercise of a statutory power of decision.

Human Rights Code

   2.  (1)  The preamble to the Human Rights Code is amended by adding the following paragraph after the second paragraph:

And Whereas it is public policy in Ontario to recognize that the right to own private property, whether real or personal, is a fundamental element of economic freedom and provides a key incentive for economic growth and prosperity;

   (2)  The Act is amended by adding the following Part:

Part I.1
Property Rights

Rights and responsibilities

   9.1  (1)  Every person has a right to own the real and personal property that he or she has acquired in accordance with law and, except to the extent provided by law, to the peaceful enjoyment and free disposition of the property.

Respect for private property

   (2)  No one may enter onto another person's real property or into another person's home, whether or not the person is the owner of the home, or take any personal property from the real property or home without the person's express or implied consent, except to the extent provided by law.

Moral responsibility for real property

   9.2  In addition to whatever duties are specified by law, every person has the moral responsibility to ensure that his or her real property is maintained to a presentable standard in keeping with such factors as the legal uses to which the property is put and the character of the community in which the property is located.

Commencement and Short Title

Commencement

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

Short title

   4.  The short title of this Act is the Property Rights and Responsibilities Act, 2009.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill amends the Expropriations Act and the Human Rights Code to enhance the protection that Ontario law gives to owners of property, whether real or personal.

Under the Expropriations Act, an inquiry officer on an inquiry is required to consider the merits of the objectives of the expropriating authority and to add, as parties to an expropriation inquiry, the owners of all lands affected by the expropriation. The decision of an approving authority is subject to judicial review.

The amendments to the Human Rights Code recognize, subject to specific limitations at law, the right to own property, whether real or personal, the right to peaceful enjoyment of one's property and the right to freedom from search of one's real property and home and from seizure of one's personal property located there. Those rights have long been recognized at common law but are largely missing from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The amendments to the Human Rights Code also include the moral responsibility to maintain one's real property.