Ontario Legislation Research Articles

One Premier's Obsession? The McMichael Legislation in Ontario

One Premier's Obsession? The McMichael Legislation in Ontario

Landscape Policy and Planning Practice: The gap in understanding, Ontario, Canada

Distortions inevitably occur between the creation of policy and its practical application. The gap that exists between the understanding of landscape held by the policy writers and that of the implementers of land-use planning legislation in Ontario, Canada is revealed. The story is told over a nine-month period between the passing and defeat of one planning act, and the introduction of another. A change of government and a substantive shift in governing ideology resulted in the radical transformation of the policies protecting landscapes in this Canadian province's land-use development process. The research documented took place over that crucial period and gives a window into the dynamics of landscape conservation that is created by upper- and lower-tier differences. Higher-level policy makers have a considerable task in protecting landscapes within land-use planning that demands rational and bounded terminology and processes. Conversely, the local implementers of that policy need more flexible and site-specific strategies to conserve those landscapes on the ground. It is this gap that has stalled the protection of landscapes in Ontario, where governments and communities struggle to conserve their valued landscapes - a phenomenon not uncommon in other locations. Some strategies on how to bridge that gap in understanding and improve the prospects for landscape conservation are given.

Pay equity and nursing in Ontario: ten years later.

'Nurses have never been compensated in accordance with their central role in health care' (Schreiber 1994), reflecting the generalized and well-documented under-valuing of the work of women (Schreiber 1993). Pay equity legislation, passed in Ontario, Canada in 1987, designed to correct gender wage discrimination, created great optimism that the under-valuing of nurses' work might be ending. Nonetheless, this has not been the case, as the social, political, and economic climate has not kept pace with the speed and enormity of social change necessary to enact the intent of the legislation. Indeed, gains in nurses' wages have been directly offset by significant lay-offs. In this paper, we examine the issues surrounding the implementation of pay equity legislation in Ontario, Canada, along with analysis and implications of these issues, drawn from 10 years of experience. In addition, we highlight lessons that can be learned from the Ontario experience.

A Bit of an Ending: The Bre‐X Litigation, Class Actions and the Liability of Professionals

The notion of suing professionals — lawyers, brokers, accountants — appears to make good financial sense. It seems fiscally sensible because, while an offender may melt into the night, take up residence in a foreign haven or otherwise dissipate his assets, established professionals usually have sufficient property at their disposal to make their pursuit through the civil court economically prudent. Shareholders in the Bre‐X affair sought, through a class action, to hold analysts and stockbrokers accountable for losses sustained when the price of Bre‐X shares suddenly collapsed in 1997. A decision in late November 1999 not to appeal a ruling of an Ontario Superior Court signals but a tiny ending to a messy multi‐million‐dollar scandal and to the quest to attach responsibility to a group of professionals. It is a tiny ending because it was the individualistic character of the legal issues in the context of the exigencies of the Ontario legislation, rather than the merits of the underlying claim, that foreclosed this attempt to hold professionals liable for financial losses.

Innovative approach in rehabilitation nursing: providing primary care to tertiary care patients.

In 1998 health care legislation in Ontario changed and allowed Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioners the possibility to expand their practice. At a rehabilitation centre, where spinal cord injured patients would seek primary health care services, a new amalgamated role was implemented to meet those needs. This article will described the advanced practice role that was developed, define the scope of practice, and demonstrate an innovative approach to service delivery. The role serves as a concrete link between primary health care services and tertiary care patients needs.

Factors Influencing Implementation of the Legislated Smoking Ban on School Property in Ontario

Background. Implementation of legislation in Ontario, Canada, that banned smoking on school property gave rise to perceptions of problems in some schools. A telephone survey was conducted to assess these problems. This analysis identifies risk or protective factors in the school environment associated with administrators' reports of problems.Methods. Survey data were obtained from key informants in 213 high schools. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify school-related characteristics associated with: (1) major problems in implementing the ban and (2) recommendations that schools return to designated smoking areas.Results. A protective factor against both outcomes was having a school no-smoking policy prior to the ban. Also protective against major problems was a perceived decrease in student smoking during the school day. The identification of safety risks to students who leave school property to smoke was a strong risk factor for both outcomes. Beliefs that the ban was not effective and opposition to it from teachers/staff were associated with desires for its repeal.Conclusions. In implementing legislated school smoking bans, attention should be given to informing teachers and gaining their support. Strategies for dealing with potential safety risks to students who leave school property to smoke should also be devised.

Free voting in a provincial parliament: The case of ‘same‐sex’ legislation in Ontario, 1994

Previous research on parliamentary free voting, which has been confined exclusively to national parliaments and almost exclusively to the British House of Commons, has found relatively little constituency impact on members’ voting decisions, even on the most contentious issues of social policy. Since sub‐national parliaments tend to be smaller, less professionalised, and (arguably) ‘closer to the people’, it is possible that a more significant ‘constituency connection’ might be observed in these legislative arenas. This study extends the literature on this topic by empirically examining the fate of a recent homosexual rights bill in the Ontario Legislative Assembly. Contrary to expectations, none of the constituency characteristics used in logistical regression models generates a significant MLE coefficient, suggesting that Canadian provincial legislators may be even less sensitive to constituency preferences than their national counterparts.

A New Bottle for Renewed Wine: The Arbitration Act, 1991

This article provides a useful overview of the 1991 Arbitration Act in Alberta and its similar counterparts in Ontario and Saskatchewan including a history of legislation governing arbitrations. The author outlines the purpose and function of the Arbitration Act and discusses how the legislation has fared, so far, in the courts. The article then ends with a discussion concerning the significance of the Arbitration Act for drafters. The appendix contains a valuable sample of case law concerning the new legislation in Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan.

Out to pasture: a case for the retirement of Canadian mental health legislation.

The emergence of new adult guardianship and related legislation and systems in British Columbia, Ontario, and other jurisdictions has generated questions about the utility of separate mental health legislation. Mental health statutes are the descendents of legislation that once created and regulated separate institutions and systems for the insane (later known as the mentally diseased and, more recently, the mentally ill). Such legislation is no longer consistent with the dominant community care and treatment strategies in the mental health field and the growing trend to recognize and respect consumer involvement in care and treatment decision making. Emerging legislation in the guardianship field makes provision for a range of options and mechanisms that can replace separate mental health statutes (e.g., general consent to health care legislation, and provision for enduring powers of attorney of the person and Ulysses agreements) and produce a new and more effective legal framework for the provision of mental health care and treatment.

Legislating equity: A comparison of provincial legislation in manitoba and ontario requiring pay equity

A great deal of activity is currently underway in Canada surrounding pay equity. Several provinces have passed legislation requiring some form of assessment or implementation of equity for public and/or private sector employers. However, definitions of what constitutes equity have not been consistent across provinces. Differing provisions have quite different implications for the overall equity of the results. Analysis of these implications are useful for policy makers designing assessments and implementation projects. The paper examines the legislation in Manitoba and Ontario in terms of how each provides for equity. Each piece of legislation contains provisions which may compromise the resulting equity, either in the way gender-domination is defined, the way comparable worth is estimated, or the way equity is achieved. The lessons to be learned (or re-learned) from these provisions are detailed.

Notes and Comments

In the February issue of the Urban History Review, there was a report on freedom of information and the potential opportunities and difficulties that new legislation in Ontario might pose. Now there are two additional developments to note. The proceedings of the November conference, "Key to the '90s: Privacy and Information Access," have been recorded and are available as published transcripts for $10.00. Copies may be ordered by mail. Cheques or money orders should be made payable to the Treasurer of Ontario and mailed to:

The Socio-Legal Impact of Equal Pay Legislation in Ontario, 1946-1979

The Socio-Legal Impact of Equal Pay Legislation in Ontario, 1946-1979

Making the Workplace 'Safe' in Capitalism: The Enforcement of Factory Legislation in Nineteenth-Century Ontario

The development of industrial capitalism in the second half of the nineteenth century in Ontario brought new and more serious hazards into the workplace and drew women and children into the waged labour force. As a result of working class lobbying and the efforts of middle class reformers, the state empowered itself to regulate health and safety conditions in factories and to protect child and female labour. The implementation of these regulations was left to an inspectorate which was armed with substantial legal powers to enforce the law. These powers were rarely invoked by the inspectors. However, the failure to prosecute does not in itself indicate that the law was unenforced. An alternative enforcement strategy based on persuasion was followed by most inspectors. It has been argued that persuasion was chosen over prosecution because it made more efficient use of the scarce enforcement resources available to the inspectors, and that persuasion was effective. This paper argues that although it is true that the government chose to devote woefully inadequate resources to enforcement of factory legislation, this is not an adequate explanation of the inspectors' enforcement behaviour. The belief that persuasion was an effective enforcement model also flowed from the inspectors' values and assumptions, including the following: that worker carelessness was the major cause of accidents; that employers were socially responsible; that workers and employers had common interests in occupational health and safety; and that women and children needed special protection. It is further argued that persuasion was not an effective enforcement strategy, especially because it was linked with an acceptance by the inspectors of 'normal' industrial practices, even where those practices generated significant risks for workers. In effect, health and safety regulation probably did as much to legitimate industrial capitalism as it did to protect workers health and safety. Resume Dans la seconde moitie du dix-neuvieme siecle, en Ontario, le capitalisme industriel entraina de nouveaux risques et augmenta les dangers inherents au milieu de travail, en meme temps qu'il attirait les femmes et les enfants dans la main-d'œuvre salariee. Les pressions exercees par la classe ouvriere et par les reformateurs bourgeois inciterent l'Etat a assumer la reglementation des conditions sanitaires et securitaires dans les usines et la protection du travail des femmes et des enfants. La mise en vigueur de ces reglements etait laissee a des inspecteurs armes d'assez de pouvoirs pour appliquer la loi. Ces pouvoirs etaient cependant rarement invoques. L'absence de poursuites judiciaires n'indique toutefois pas que la loi etait ignoree. La plupart des inspecteurs soucieux d'appliquer la loi poursuivaient une strategie alternative basee sur la persuasion. On a maintenu que la persuasion etait preferee aux accusations non seulement parce qu'elle etait plus efficace mais aussi parce qu'elle se basait sur une meilleure utilisation des moyens limites mis a la disposition des inspecteurs. Le present article demontre que, bien que le gouvernement eut choisi d'allouer des ressources tres inadequates pour l'application de la legislation ouvriere, la penurie de moyens ne fournit pas une explication suffisante au comportement des inspecteurs. La conviction que la persuasion constitue un modele capable de faire observer les reglements decoulait aussi des postulats et des valeurs auxquelles adheraient les inspecteurs. Ainsi, certains croyaient que la negligence des travailleurs etait la cause premiere des accidents; que les employeurs assumaient leurs responsabilites sociales; que travailleurs et patrons possedaient un interet commun dans la sante et la securite au travail; enfin, qu'il fallait accorder une protection speciale aux femmes et aux enfants. L'auteur maintient, de plus, que la persuasion ne forme pas une strategie efficace pour faire observer la loi, en particulier parce qu'elle etait liee a une acceptation, de la part des inspecteurs, des pratiques industrielles normales, meme lorsque ces pratiques provoquaient des risques certains pour les travailleurs. En somme, les reglements sur la sante et la securite au travail contribuerent autant a legitimer le capitalisme industriel qu' a proteger la sante et la securite des ouvriers.

Gay Rights and Family Values: The Passage of Bill 7 in Ontario

On 16 December 1986, the Ontario Legislative Assembly passed into law an amendment to the Human Rights Code prohibiting discrimination against homosexuals. Originating in June of 1985 as an innocuous piece of housekeeping intended to bring Ontario statutes into line with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Bill 7 (Equality Rights Statute Law Amendment Act) had been altered in such a way as to confront the Liberal government with one of its most controversial choices since forming the government.

Civil commitment and consent for electroconvulsive therapy in Ontario.

Among the most contentious legal and ethical issues concerning the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are the criteria for obtaining a valid consent to treatment and its administration to involuntarily hospitalized patients, with or without consent. This paper reviews the consent process, in particular the assessment of competence, as it is affected by the symptoms and clinical circumstances, including civil status, of those patients for whom ECT is prescribed. The ECT caseload at one psychiatric facility was reviewed to determine the diagnosis and civil status of each patient and the source of consent for each course of ECT prescribed over a 10-year period. Significant differences were found in the diagnostic distribution and the source of consent by diagnostic group between the 1,042 courses administered to informal patients and the 249 courses to involuntary patients. The results are discussed in the context of relevant Ontario legislation and hospital policies. Recommendations are made for the improvement of procedural safeguards to protect the autonomy of all patients.

Civil commitment trends in Ontario: the effect of legislation on clinical practice.

The rationale for and history of civil commitment legislation in Ontario are reviewed. The civil commitment rate in Ontario from 1926 to 1980 for provincial psychiatric hospitals, and from 1974 to 1980 for all psychiatric inpatient facilities was analyzed to detect variation in the rate over time and with relevant legislation. The findings indicate that mental health legislation has had little effect on commitment practices in Ontario. In addition, the variation in the commitment rate over the period reviewed cannot be ascribed to inconsistent application by physicians. The other variables affecting the rate are discussed in this context. The need for more descriptive studies of the major determinants of the commitment rate is emphasized.

Occupational health and safety legislation in Ontario: an analysis of its origins and content.

Cette étude reconnait les moyens par lesquels le conflit des classes et les contradictions structurelles dans le traitement de la main d'oeuvre ont influencé la récente législation sur la sécurité et la santé au travail en Ontario. Certains disent que le déclenchement de la procédure législative qui a abouti au projet de loi 70, répondait essentiellement au coût grimpant des blessures et maladies industrielles que devaient payer les employeurs et l'Etat. Le contenu de la législation semble avoir été formulé par les pressions des organizations ouvrières.This paper identifies ways in which class conflict and structural contradictions in the labour process have influenced recent occupational health and safety legislation in Ontario. It is argued that the initiation of the legislative process leading up to Bill 70 can be understood primarily as a response to the increasing costs of industrial illness and injury borne by employers and the state. The content of the legislation appears to have been shaped by pressures from organized labour.

Alberta Securities Act

Abstract AN OIL and gas company wishing to issue securities to the public cannot do 50 without complying with the SecuritiesACTofAlberta. The Act is administered by the Athena Securities Commission and although dealings with natural resource companies are commonplace at present, strangely enough the evolution of the securities regulatory process in the province of Alberta, had little to do with the growth of the oil and gas industry. The first securities legislation, administered by the Board of Public Utility Commissioners, was passed in Alberta in 1916 with its main purpose to prevent stock fraud and to assist in the detection and prosecution of persons not normally liable for offences under the Criminal Code. In 1955, a new Securities Act was passed by the Alberta legislature as it became apparent that an agency which could only deal with the regulation -of securities on a part-time basis was no longer adequate. The first appointed Chairman of the Commission was G. Harry Rose who was a former member of the Board of Public Utility Commissioners and who, in fact, was responsible for establishing the machinery for the proclamation of the Act. The 1955 Act was expected to provide protection to the investing public from several "boiler shop" operations and "suitcase" brokers who had been forced out of other provinces where effective securities legislation had been enacted. This effectively curtailed these undesirable business operations. Although the 1955 Act helped eliminate telephone solicitations from other provinces and relieved the province of stockaleers, it did not totally prevent fraudulent trades in securities. Shady promoters simply became smarter and were able to circumvent the intent of the securities legislation. In 1967, the Securities Act of Alberta underwent a substantial revision in an attempt to improve laws which would better protect the public and improve the integrity of the capital markets. This new legislation was based mainly on recommendations prepared by the Kimber Committee which undertook a special study of securities legislation in Canada, the United States, England and Australia. The committee's mandate was: "To review and report upon, in the light of modern business conditions and practices, the provisions and working of securities legislation in Ontario and in particular to consider the problems of take-over bids and of insider trading, the degree of disclosure of information to shareholders, the requirement as to proxy solicitation, procedures as to primary distribution of securities to the public and like matters and generally to recommend what, if any, changes in the law are desirable." The revised Act introduced a "new concept of disclosure", new rules relating to take-over bids and insider trading and proxy notices. From the public's viewpoint, the financial disclosure provisions represented the most important changes as they were primarily designed to provide investors with more information on corporate and financial affairs of companies whose shares were trading" on the public market.

Reasons for involuntary commitment in Manitoba and Ontario.

This paper concerns itself with the question of involuntary commitment of psychiatric patients in southwestern Manitoba. The purpose was to survey the reasons given for involuntary psychiatric hospitalization by a group of Manitoba physicians in 1979, and to compare these reasons with those given by their Ontario counterparts, as described in the Page and Yates (1) and Page and Firth (2) studies. Particularly, the aim was to compare the relative emphasis given to dangerousness/self-harm reasons, in view of the fact that Manitoba's Mental Health Act makes no explicit reference to the dangerousness criterion, while Ontario's legislation has increasingly specified this factor as a necessary condition for civil commitment.

Municipal Bonusing of Industry: The Legislative Framework in Ontorio to 1830

Nombreuses furent les municipalités qui, en Ontario, ont tenté, entre les années 1870 et les années 1920, d'influer sur la vitesse et la forme de la croissance urbaine en offrant des stimulants aux fabricants. La présente étude résume la législation ontarienne régissant ce type de stimulants. Elle définit les diverses formes d'aide que pouvaient fournir les conseils municipaux aux entreprises industrielles et les contraintes limitant les pouvoirs modifiés de temps à autre des municipalités. Le cadre législatif du système de primes sur lequel porte l'étude est divisé en quatre périodes: 1867-1892; 1892-1900; 1900-1924; après 1924; des extraits des lois sont présentés en annexe. L'auteur évoque certaines incidences du système de primes dont doit tenir compte l'étude de l'histoire urbaine.