Bill 24, Protection of Minors in Amateur Sports Act, 2012

Bill 24 2011

An Act to provide protection for minors participating in amateur sports

CONTENTS

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

Definitions

Definitions

   1.  In this Act,

"amateur sports program" means a series of events involving a specific sport, where a person is not required to be a professional in order to participate in the program, but does not include a program of sporting events specified by the regulations; ("programme de sports amateur")

"criminal record", with respect to a person, means a record of the offences under the Criminal Code (Canada), the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (Canada) or any other Act of Canada of which the person has been convicted and for which the person has not received a pardon under the Criminal Records Act (Canada); ("casier judiciaire")

"investigator" means an investigator appointed under section 5; ("enquêteur")

"Minister" means the Attorney General or whatever other member of the Executive Council to whom the administration of this Act is assigned under the Executive Council Act; ("ministre")

"regulations" means the regulations made under this Act. ("règlements")

Obligations

Requirement for criminal record check

   2.  (1)  No organizer of an amateur sports program in which persons under 18 years of age may participate and no agent acting on behalf of such an organizer shall retain or continue to retain the services of a person, whether for consideration or not, to act in a position described in subsection (2) in respect of the program unless the organizer or the agent,

  (a)  no earlier than four years before the day on which the program begins and no later than the day on which the program begins, has requested in writing a copy of the criminal record of the person from a police force and has included in the request the written consent of the person to have the police force release the copy to the organizer or the agent, as the case may be; and

  (b)  no earlier than four years before the day on which the program begins and no later than 90 days after the day on which the program begins, has obtained, from the police force, the copy described in clause (a) or a written response stating that the police force is legally prohibited from releasing the copy.

Positions affected

   (2)  The positions mentioned in subsection (1) consist of the positions of a referee, other official, trainer, coach or any other position that involves dealing with persons under 18 years of age on a regular basis.

Consent

   (3)  No person shall act in a position described in subsection (2) in respect of an amateur sports program in which persons under 18 years of age may participate unless the person provides a written consent to the organizer of the program, upon the latter's request, to have a police force release to the organizer or an agent acting on the organizer's behalf a copy of the criminal record of the person.

Frequency for criminal record checks

   3.  (1)  Every organizer of an amateur sports program in which persons under 18 years of age may participate shall have a policy that requires the organizer to request, at least every four years from a police force, a copy of the criminal record of every person that the organizer retains in a position described in subsection 2 (2) in respect of the program.

Compliance

   (2)  The organizer shall comply with the policy mentioned in subsection (1), but nothing in that subsection shall prevent the organizer from requesting a copy of a criminal record more frequently than is required under that subsection.

Response by police force

   4.  A police force that receives a request under section 2 or 3 from an organizer of an amateur sports program or an agent of such an organizer for a copy of a criminal record of a person shall release the copy to the organizer or the agent, as the case may be, if the police force is not legally prohibited from doing so.

Investigations

Investigators

   5.  (1)  The Minister may appoint any person to be an investigator for the purpose of determining whether a person has complied with this Act or the regulations.

Certificate of appointment

   (2)  The Minister shall issue to every investigator a certificate of appointment bearing the Minister's signature or a facsimile of it.

Police officers

   (3)  Police officers, by virtue of office, are investigators for the purposes of this Act and the regulations, but subsection (2) does not apply to them.

Proof of appointment

   (4)  Every investigator who exercises powers under this Act shall, upon request, produce the certificate of appointment as an investigator or identification as a police officer, as the case may be.

Investigation without warrant

   6.  (1)  An investigator may, without warrant or court order, conduct an investigation in accordance with this section if the investigator does so for the purpose of determining whether a person has contravened or failed to comply with this Act or the regulations.

Powers of investigator

   (2)  In an investigation under this section, an investigator may,

  (a)  enter and inspect any premises in accordance with this section if the investigator has reasonable grounds to believe that an organizer of an amateur sports program is using it to run the program or to store a copy of the criminal record of a person acting in a position described in subsection 2 (2) in respect of the program;

  (b)  inquire into all records and other matters that are relevant to an investigation;

   (c)  demand the production for inspection of any thing relevant to the investigation;

  (d)  use any data storage, processing or retrieval device or system belonging to the persons being inspected in order to produce a record in readable form of the records and other matters produced in response to a demand mentioned in clause (c); or

  (e)  in accordance with the regulations, seize or detain any thing relevant to the investigation if the thing is capable of being seized or detained.

Entry to dwellings

   (3)  An investigator shall not, without the consent of the occupier, exercise a power to enter a place that is being used as a dwelling, except under the authority of a search warrant issued under section 158 of the Provincial Offences Act.

Time for entry

   (4)  An investigator shall exercise the power to enter a premises under this section only during reasonable hours for the premises.

Written demand

   (5)  A demand for things or copies or extracts from them under subsection (2) shall be in writing and shall include a statement of the nature of the things that are required to be produced.

No obstruction

   (6)  No person shall obstruct an investigator who is exercising powers under this section or provide an investigator with false or misleading information.

Assistance

   (7)  An investigator who exercises powers under this section may,

  (a)  call on any person for whatever assistance the investigator considers necessary to accomplish what the investigator is empowered to do;

  (b)  call for the assistance of any member of the Ontario Provincial Police or the municipal police force in the area where the assistance is required to preserve the peace.

Person assisting

   (8)  A person assisting an investigator in exercising powers under this section has the powers of an investigator while acting under the direction of the investigator.

Police

   (9)  It is the duty of every member of a police force called to render assistance under clause (7) (b) to render the assistance.

Obligation to assist

   (10)  If an investigator makes a demand for any thing under subsection (2), the person having custody of the thing shall produce it to the investigator and, at the request of the investigator, shall provide whatever assistance is reasonably necessary, including using any data storage, processing or retrieval device or system to produce a record in readable form, if the demand is for a document.

Removal of things

   (11)  If a person produces things to an investigator, the investigator may, on issuing a written receipt, remove them and may,

  (a)  review or copy any of them or part of them; or

  (b)  bring them before a justice, in which case section 159 of the Provincial Offences Act applies.

Return of things seized

   (12)  The investigator shall carry out any reviewing or copying of things with reasonable dispatch, and shall forthwith after the reviewing or copying return the things to the person who produced them.

Admissibility of copies

   (13)  A copy certified by an investigator as a copy made under clause (11) (a) is admissible in evidence to the same extent, and has the same evidentiary value, as the thing copied.

General

Non-compellable witness

   7.  No person employed in the administration or enforcement of this Act shall be required to give testimony in any civil proceeding, except in a proceeding under this Act, with regard to information obtained in the discharge of the person's duties.

Crown liability

   8.  (1)  In this section,

"Crown appointee" means a person who is appointed under this Act but who is not a public servant; ("représentant de la Couronne")

"public servant" means a public servant employed under Part III of the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006. ("fonctionnaire")

No liability

   (2)  No action or other proceeding shall be instituted against the Crown, the Minister or any employee in the Ministry,

  (a)  for any act done or neglect or default in the execution or intended execution of a power or duty under this Act by,

           (i)  a person who is not a public servant and not a Crown appointee, or

          (ii)  a person who is assisting an investigator in exercising powers under section 6, if the investigator is not a public servant or not a Crown appointee; or

  (b)  for any tort committed by a person described in clause (a) or an employee or agent of the person in relation to a power or duty described in that clause.

No personal liability

   (3)  Except in the case of an application for judicial review or an action or proceeding that any Act or regulation under this or any other Act specifically provides with respect to a person mentioned in this subsection, no action or other proceeding for damages or otherwise shall be instituted against any of the following persons for any act done in good faith in the execution or intended execution of any duty or authority under this Act or for any alleged neglect or default in the execution in good faith of that duty or authority:

    1.  An employee in the Ministry.

    2.  A public servant.

    3.  A Crown appointee.

    4.  A person who is assisting an investigator in exercising powers under section 6, if the investigator is a public servant or a Crown appointee.

Crown liability

   (4)  Subsection (3) does not, by reason of subsections 5 (2) and (4) of the Proceedings Against the Crown Act, relieve the Crown of liability in respect of a tort committed by an agent or servant of the Crown to which it would otherwise be subject.

Offences

   9.  (1)  A person who contravenes section 2 or 3 or subsection 6 (6) is guilty of an offence.

Directors, officers

   (2)  If a corporation commits an offence under this Act, every director, officer, employee or other agent of the corporation who authorized, or who had the authority to prevent the offence from being committed but knowingly refrained from doing so, is a party to and guilty of the offence and is liable, on conviction, to the penalty for the offence, whether or not the corporation has been prosecuted or convicted.

Penalty

   (3)  A person who is guilty of an offence under this section is liable, on conviction,

  (a)  to a fine of not more than $50,000, if the person is an individual; and

  (b)  to a fine of not more than $500,000, if the person is not an individual.

Regulations

   10.  The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,

  (a)  exempting a program of sporting events specified in the regulations from the definition of "amateur sports program";

  (b)  specifying requirements that investigators must comply with when seizing or detaining things under clause 6 (2) (e);

   (c)  respecting any matter necessary or advisable to carry out effectively the purposes of this Act.

Commencement and Short Title

Commencement

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

Short title

   12.  The short title of this Act is the Protection of Minors in Amateur Sports Act, 2011.

 

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill enacts a new Act with respect to amateur sports programs in which persons under 18 years of age may participate. An organizer of such a program is required to obtain a copy of the criminal record from a police force for every person who acts in a position in the program that involves dealing with persons under 18 years of age on a regular basis, whether or not the position is for remuneration. If the police force is legally prohibited from releasing a copy of a criminal record, the organizer is required instead to obtain a written response to that effect. The organizer must obtain the copy of the criminal record or the written response, as the case may be, no earlier than four years before the day on which the program begins and no later than 90 days after the day on which the program begins.

The positions affected include the positions of referee, other official, trainer or coach. A person is not allowed to hold any of those positions without consenting to have a police force release a copy of his or her criminal record to the organizer.

The Minister responsible for the administration of the Act can appoint investigators to enter and inspect any premises without a warrant if the investigator has reasonable grounds to believe that an organizer of an amateur sports program is using it to run the program or to store a copy of the criminal record of a person acting in an affected position in respect of the program.

It is an offence to contravene the requirements that the Act imposes on organizers and affected persons.