[39] Bill 35 Royal Assent (PDF)
Bill 35 2008
An Act to authorize the Minister of Finance to make payments to eligible recipients out of money appropriated by the Legislature and to amend the Fiscal Transparency and Accountability Act, 2004, the Ministry of Treasury and Economics Act and the Treasury Board Act, 1991
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 on 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:
Interpretation
1. (1) A word or expression that is defined in section 1 of the Financial Administration Act or section 1 of the Fiscal Transparency and Accountability Act, 2004 has the same meaning in this Act.
Eligible recipient
(2) In this Act,
"eligible recipient" means a person or entity, other than an individual but including a partnership whose members may be individuals, that does not carry on activities for the purpose of gain or profit.
Province's consolidated financial statements
(3) In this Act, a reference to the province's consolidated financial statements for a fiscal year is a reference to the summary financial statements set out in the Public Accounts for the fiscal year prepared in accordance with section 13 of the Ministry of Treasury and Economics Act.
Authorized payments
2. (1) The Minister of Finance may, out of money appropriated therefor by the Legislature and in accordance with this Act and the regulations, make payments in respect of a fiscal year beginning on or after April 1, 2007 to eligible recipients on such terms and conditions as the Minister considers advisable.
Maximum amount
(2) The maximum amount that may be paid to eligible recipients under this Act in respect of a fiscal year shall not exceed the lesser of the amount appropriated by the Legislature for the purposes of this Act in respect of the fiscal year and the amount, if any, by which "A" exceeds "B", where,
"A" is the amount that, but for the payments made under this Act in respect of the fiscal year, would be the surplus for the fiscal year as provided in the province's consolidated financial statements, and
"B" is the amount, if any, prescribed in the regulations that represents the amount of the surplus referred to in "A" that is to be allocated to the reduction of the accumulated deficit.
Regulations
3. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,
(a) prescribing eligible recipients and classes of eligible recipients for the purposes of this Act;
(b) prescribing the purposes for which payments may be made under this Act;
(c) prescribing the method of and the basis for calculating payments to be made under this Act;
(d) prescribing activities in which the Minister of Finance may engage in furtherance of the purposes of this Act;
(e) prescribing, for the purposes of the definition of "B" in subsection 2 (2), the amount, if any, of the surplus for a fiscal year to be allocated to the reduction of the accumulated deficit shown in the province's consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year.
Retroactive regulations
(2) A regulation is, if it so provides, effective with reference to a period before it is filed.
Complementary Amendments
4. The Fiscal Transparency and Accountability Act, 2004 is amended by adding the following section:
Expenditures under the Investing in Ontario Act, 2008
14.1 An expenditure incurred by the Government of Ontario in respect of a fiscal year under the Investing in Ontario Act, 2008 shall be considered to be an expense of the Government of Ontario for that fiscal year for the purposes of this Act.
5. (1) Subsection 13 (1) of the Ministry of Treasury and Economics Act is repealed.
(2) Section 13 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsection:
Expenditures under the Investing in Ontario Act, 2008
(2.0.1) An expenditure incurred by the Government of Ontario in respect of a fiscal year under the Investing in Ontario Act, 2008 shall be recorded as an expense of the Government of Ontario for that fiscal year in the summary financial statements set out in the Public Accounts for that fiscal year.
6. Section 8 of the Treasury Board Act, 1991 is amended by adding the following subsection:
Exception
(7) An amount authorized under any Act to be expended for payments under the Investing in Ontario Act, 2008 may not be reduced as an offset under subsection (4).
Commencement and Short Title
Commencement
7. This Act is deemed to have come into force on March 18, 2008.
Short title
8. The short title of this Act is the Investing in Ontario Act, 2008.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
This Explanatory Note was written as a reader's aid to Bill 35 and does not form part of the law. Bill 35 has been enacted as Chapter 6 of the Statutes of Ontario, 2008.
The Investing in Ontario Act, 2008 authorizes the Minister of Finance to make payments out of money appropriated by the Legislature to certain persons and entities that do not carry on their activities for the purpose of gain or profit.
The total payments made under the new Act in each fiscal year shall not exceed the lesser of,
(a) the amount appropriated by the Legislature; and
(b) the amount that would otherwise be the annual surplus for that fiscal year less the prescribed amount, if any, of that surplus allocated to the reduction of the accumulated deficit.
The new Act authorizes the Minister of Finance to determine the terms and conditions on which payments may be made.
The Lieutenant Governor in Council is authorized to prescribe by regulation the recipients to whom payments may be made, the purposes for which payments may be made, the method of and basis for calculating the payments, the activities in which the Minister of Finance may engage in furtherance of the purposes of this Act and the amount of the surplus, if any, for a fiscal year that must be allocated to the reduction of the province's accumulated deficit.
Complementary amendments are made to the Fiscal Transparency and Accountability Act, 2004, the Ministry of Treasury and Economics Act and the Treasury Board Act, 1991.