In the News June 2

What to Expect from the Next Ontario Government

Ontario’s Permanent New Powers Over Trade Corridors

Bill 100, the Keeping Ontario Open for Business Act, 2022, was tabled by Ontario Solicitor General Sylvia Jones on March 21 and received Royal Assent on April 14. Premier Doug Ford had indicated that his government would make permanent several of the emergency measures introduced in February following the blockade in Windsor at the Ambassador Bridge.

Debate on Bill 100 opened in the legislature March 24 and centred on the Ambassador Bridge blockade as the justification for the new measures.

That same day, the Ontario government, along with the federal government and the City of Windsor, announced a new electric vehicle battery plant would be built in Windsor and would require the transport of rare earth metals mined in northern Ontario to Windsor along road corridors.

The new Act establishes prohibitions and enforcement mechanisms to prevent persons from impeding access to, egress from or ordinary use of protected transportation infrastructure.

“Protected transportation infrastructure” is defined in section 1 of the new Act as “any land or water border crossing point between Ontario and the United States, any airport that regularly accommodates flights directly between Ontario and a country other than Canada that is prescribed by the regulations made under the Act, and any other transportation infrastructure that is of significance to international trade that is prescribed by the regulations made under the Act.

“In the case of regulations relating to other transportation infrastructure, the bill provides that any such regulation ceases to apply after 30 days, if it is not revoked earlier.”

The bill at section 2 prohibits persons from impeding access to or egress from, or the ordinary use of, protected transportation infrastructure, or from directly or indirectly causing such access, egress or ordinary use to be impeded, if the impediment has or is reasonably expected to have the effect of disrupting ordinary economic activity or interfering with the safety, health or well-being of members of the public. Subsection 2(4) prohibits persons from knowingly aiding others in doing something prohibited under its provisions.

New Powers for Police

Police may remove vehicles that are in contravention of the Act, take and suspend drivers’ licences and licence plates on the spot for 14 days and impound vehicles at the owner’s expense. These provisions would also apply if a vehicle were used to “knowingly aid” a person who was illegally impeding access to protected transportation infrastructure.

The bill empowers the Registrar of Motor Vehicles to make orders, without a hearing, suspending or cancelling the plate portion of a permit for a commercial motor vehicle or trailer or a Commercial Vehicle Operator’s Registration (CVOR) certificate, if the holder of the permit or certificate has contravened section 2 of the Act or is the owner or operator of a commercial motor vehicle or trailer that has been used in a contravention of that section. The suspension not only affects the vehicle identified as being involved in the blockade, but could impact the entire fleet of a company associated with that CVOR holder.

Police officers are empowered to direct persons to provide identifying information for the purpose of commencing a proceeding under the Provincial Offences Act. Section 13 of the Act provides for specified related powers of arrest without a warrant.

The maximum punishment for breaching any offence under the new legislation, except a failure to identify oneself, is one year’s imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $100,000 for an individual.

Directors and officers of corporations can face up to $500,000 in fines or up to one year’s imprisonment or both. Corporations can face up to $10 million in fines.

Failure to comply with the proposed requirement to identify oneself would result in a fine of up to $5,000, as is the case under the Provincial Offences Act.

A review of the first 12 months of the application of the Act is required and must be published online and tabled in the Legislature.

Ontario Political Forum, posted June 2, 2022.