Building Ontario Up Act (Budget Measures), 2015, S.O. 2015, c. 20 - Bill 91

• Jurisdiction: Ontario
• Date: 04 June 2015
• Bill Number: 91

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Explanatory Note was written as a reader’s aid to Bill 91 and does not form part of the law. Bill 91 has been enacted as Chapter 20 of the Statutes of Ontario, 2016.

The Bill implements measures contained in the 2015 Ontario Budget and enacts or amends various Acts. The major elements of the Bill are described below.

SCHEDULE 1
alcohol and gaming regulation and public protection act, 1996

Subsection 14.1 (1) of the Alcohol and Gaming Regulation and Public Protection Act, 1996 currently permits the board of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission to establish a schedule of monetary penalties for specific contraventions of Acts and regulations administered by the Commission that are prescribed by the regulations. The subsection is re-enacted to permit the schedule to also impose monetary penalties with respect to contravention of an authorization, direction or approval issued or imposed by the Registrar under a power or duty under the Liquor Control Act that is assigned to the Registrar by the regulations made under Part 1 of the Act, and any conditions applicable to the authorization, direction or approval.

Currently, the definition of “beer manufacturer” in subsection 17 (1) of the Act includes a person that makes beer in a province other than Ontario if that person ships beer to a facility in Ontario at which the person or a wholly-owned subsidiary makes beer. The definition is amended to include shipments to a facility in Ontario where beer is made by a person that wholly owns the out-of-province brewer.

The Act is amended by moving the definition of “collector” from section 32 to subsection 17 (1).

The definition of “non-refillable container” in subsection 17 (1) of the Act is amended to exclude beer bottles that are recognized as an industry standard bottle by the Brewers Association of Canada and for which a manufacturer has entered into an agreement with the Association for the use of the bottle.

Subsection 17 (2) of the Act currently deems persons to be purchasers of beer, wine or wine coolers in specified circumstances. A new subsection 17 (2.1) provides that, for greater certainty, persons who are deemed to be purchasers under subsection 17 (2) are also deemed to have purchased beer, wine or wine coolers, as the case may be, for the purposes of Part II of the Act.

A new clause 17 (3) (g) of the Act provides that purchases made by the federal government of beer, wine or wine coolers are not subject to taxation under the Act if the product will be warehoused in Ontario before it is exported for use by Canadian diplomatic or consular offices abroad.

Subsection 22 (3) of the Act currently sets out conditions that must be met in order for a beer manufacturer to be considered a microbrewer for a sales year. The subsection is amended to provide that the relevant time for each of the conditions to be met is the preceding production year. An exception is also added to paragraph 3 of that subsection.

New subsection 22 (3.1) of the Act provides that a beer manufacturer will not be disqualified from being a microbrewer only because certain final packaging processes are undertaken on its behalf by another manufacturer that is not a microbrewer.

Subsection 22 (5) of the Act, which is spent, is repealed.

Amendments are made to section 26 with respect to the method of calculating the annual adjustment to the basic tax rates for beer. The Act currently provides that the annual adjustment of the basic tax rates for beer is based on the Consumer Price Index for Ontario over the previous three years. New subsection 26 (1.1) provides for an increase of 3 cents per litre on November 1 in each of 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, in addition to the annual adjustment. Consequential amendments are made to subsection 22 (1).

SCHEDULE 2
Assessment Act

Currently, subsection 53 (1) of the Assessment Act prohibits the disclosure of income and expense information on individual properties. The prohibition is expanded to include any proprietary information of a commercial nature prescribed by the Minister relating to an individual property.

Subsection 53 (3) of the Act currently requires the assessment corporation to give all municipalities and school boards information sufficient to meet their planning requirements. The subsection is re-enacted to require the assessment corporation to also give information to every board of a local roads area established under the Local Roads Boards Act and every local services board established under the Northern Services Boards Act. A consequential amendment is made to subsection 53 (4).

Schedule 3
auditor general act

A new section 13 of the Act relates to Hydro One Inc. and its subsidiaries. It specifies that Hydro One Inc. and its subsidiaries are deemed not to be agencies of the Crown or Crown controlled corporations for the purposes of the Act. Provision is made for transitional matters. For six months after the Bill receives Royal Assent, the Auditor General may continue to exercise his or her powers with respect to certain matters relating to Hydro One Inc. and its subsidiaries.

Under new subsections 13 (2), (3) and (4), Hydro One Inc. and its auditors have a continuing duty to give the Auditor General information and access to documents and records for a specified purpose relating to the Public Accounts. However, they are not required to give information and access to documents and records that relate to a period for which Hydro One Inc. has not yet disclosed to the public its audited or unaudited financial statements.

Schedule 4
Broader Public Sector Accountability Act, 2010

Amendments to the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act, 2010 relate to Hydro One Inc. and its subsidiaries.

An amendment to section 3 of the Act provides that Hydro One Inc. and its subsidiaries cannot be prescribed to be designated broader public sector organizations or publicly funded organizations for the purposes of the Act.

Section 4 of the Act prohibits certain organizations from engaging a lobbyist if the compensation for the lobbyist’s services is paid from certain sources of funds. Amendments to section 4 discontinue the application of this section to Hydro One Inc. and its subsidiaries.

Section 7.5 of the Act governs the expiry of the restraint period for the restraint measures imposed under Part II.1 (Compensation Arrangements) of the Act. An amendment to section 7.5 specifies that the restraint measures for Hydro One Inc. and its subsidiaries, and for their designated executives and designated office holders, expire on the day the Bill receives Royal Assent.

Section 7.13 of the Act restricts a designated employer’s authority to alter the title of a position or office or carry out any other restructuring that would result in a restraint measure not applying before the expiry of the restraint period. An amendment to section 7.13 provides that this section does not apply with respect to Hydro One Inc. and its subsidiaries as of the date on which the Bill was introduced.

Section 7.19 of the Act authorizes the Management Board of Cabinet to issue directives to designated employers requiring them to conduct compensation studies for specified purposes. An amendment to section 7.19 provides that this section does not apply with respect to Hydro One Inc. and its subsidiaries.

Schedule 5
Broader Public Sector executive compensation act, 2014

An amendment to subsection 3 (2) of the Broader Public Sector Executive Compensation Act, 2014 provides that the Act does not apply to the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan Administration Corporation and its subsidiaries. Amendments to subsections 3 (1) and (2) of the Act discontinue the application of the Act to Hydro One Inc. and its subsidiaries.

schedule 6
commodity futures act

Subsection 14 (1) of the Commodity Futures Act is re-enacted to include a requirement that market participants keep such books, records and other documents as may reasonably be required to demonstrate compliance with Ontario commodity futures law.

schedule 7
co-operative corporations act

Technical amendments are made to two provisions of the Co-operative Corporations Act to update a reference to the Credit Unions and Caisses Populaires Act, 1994.

Section 187 of the Act is repealed and replaced. The new section 187 allows the Minister to make regulations governing fees under the Act.

schedule 8
credit unions and caisses populaires act, 1994

References in the Credit Unions and Caisses Populaires Act, 1994 to the Handbook of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants are updated to refer to the Handbook of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada.

Section 321.6 of the Act is repealed and replaced. The new section 321.6 allows the Minister to make regulations governing fees under the Act.

schedule 9
electricity act, 1998

Amendments to the Electricity Act, 1998 relate to Hydro One Inc. and its subsidiaries.

Section 1 of the Act, which sets out the purposes of the Act is amended. New clauses (g.1) and (g.2) are added, and provide that the purposes of the Act include facilitating the alteration of ownership structures of publicly-owned corporations that transmit, distribute or retail electricity, facilitating the disposition, in whole or in part, of the Crown’s interest in corporations that transmit distribute or retail electricity, and making the proceeds of any such disposition available to be appropriated for any Government of Ontario purpose.

Currently, subsections 48.1 (2) and (3) of the Act impose restrictions on Hydro One Inc. relating to its ownership and operation of transmission systems and distribution systems and relating to the transmission and distribution of electricity. Those subsections are re-enacted. Restrictions are imposed with respect to the location of the head office of Hydro One Inc., and of the centres of control and operation of the transmission systems and distribution systems that are regulated...