Supporting Local Restaurants Act, 2020

1 In this Act, “Associate Minister” means the Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction, or any other member of the Executive Council to whom responsibility for the administration of this Act is assigned or transferred under the Executive Council Act; (“ministre associé”) “beverage” includes an alcoholic beverage; (“boisson”) “chain restaurant” means a restaurant that is part of a set of related restaurants consisting of 10 or more food service premises in Canada that operate under the same or substantially the same name, regardless of ownership, and that offer the same or substantially the same food items; (“restaurant faisant partie d’une chaîne”) “Deputy Minister” means the deputy minister of the Ministry; (“sous-ministre”) “Director” means the person appointed as the Director under subsection 4 (1); (“directeur”) “food delivery services provider” means a person iden…

2 (1) A food delivery services provider shall not charge a restaurant described in subsection (2) more than the prescribed amount for food and beverage delivery services or related services it provides to the restaurant. Restaurants to which the maximum applies (2) Subsection (1) applies in respect of a restaurant if, (a) it is not a chain restaurant; (b) it has an indoor dining area; and (c) it is prohibited from permitting indoor dining by, (i) an order under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020, or (ii) a direction issued by the Chief Medical Officer of Health or an order under section 22 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act made by a medical officer of health.

3 No food delivery services provider shall reduce the compensation or any other prescribed payment that it provides to an employee or contractor who performs delivery services in order to comply with this Act. PART III Director and Deputy Directors

4 (1) The Deputy Minister shall appoint a Director for the purposes of this Act and may appoint Deputy Directors. Powers and duties (2) The Director may exercise the powers and shall perform the duties conferred on the Director under this Act. Duties of Deputy Director (3) A Deputy Director shall perform such duties as are assigned by the Director and shall act as Director in the Director’s absence. Same (4) Only one Deputy Director may act as Director in the Director’s absence at any one time. PART Iv Complaints and InvestigationS

5 (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), the Ministry may, (a) receive complaints concerning conduct that may be in contravention of this Act, whether the conduct constitutes an offence or not; and (b) make inquiries, gather information and attempt to resolve complaints, as appropriate, concerning any matter that comes to its attention that may be in contravention of this Act, whether the matter constitutes an offence or not. (2) A restaurant may file a complaint with the Ministry, along with documentary evidence of the amount charged to it by a food delivery services provider if, (a) the restaurant alleges that the food delivery services provider charged the restaurant more than the prescribed amount for food and beverage delivery services or related services it provided to the restaurant contrary to section 2; and (b) the restaurant gave written notice of its concerns to the food deli…

6 (1) The Director may appoint persons to be investigators for the purpose of conducting investigations. Identification (2) An investigator shall produce, on request, evidence of their appointment as an investigator.

7 (1) On application made without notice by an investigator, a justice of the peace may issue a warrant if the justice of the peace is satisfied on information under oath that there is reasonable ground for believing that, (a) a person has contravened or is contravening this Act or the regulations or has committed an offence under this Act or the regulations; and (b) there is, (i) in any building, dwelling, receptacle or place anything relating to the contravention of this Act or the regulations, or (ii) information or evidence relating to the contravention of this Act or the regulations that may be obtained through the use of an investigative technique or procedure or the doing of anything described in the warrant. Powers under warrant (2) Subject to any conditions contained in the warrant, a warrant issued under subsection (1) authorizes an investigator to, (a) enter or access the buil…

8 (1) Although a warrant issued under subsection 7 (1) would otherwise be required, an investigator may exercise any of the powers described in subsection 7 (2) without a warrant if the conditions for obtaining the warrant exist but because of exigent circumstances it would be impracticable to obtain the warrant. Dwellings (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to any part of a building that is being used as a dwelling. Use of force (3) An investigator may, in executing any authority given by this section, call upon police officers for assistance and use whatever force is reasonably necessary. Application of other provisions (4) Subsections 7 (6), (10), (11), (12), (13) and (14) apply, with necessary modifications, to the exercise of powers under this section.

PART V Offences, Penalties and Evidence

9 (1) A person is guilty of an offence if the person contravenes or fails to comply with any provision of this Act or the regulations. Officers or directors (2) An officer or director of a corporation is guilty of an offence if the officer or director fails to take reasonable care to prevent the corporation from committing an offence mentioned in subsection (1). Limitation (3) No proceeding under this section shall be commenced more than two years after the events on which the proceeding is based occurred. Penalties

10 (1) Every individual convicted of an offence under this Act or the regulations is liable to a fine of not more than $50,000, to imprisonment for a term of not more than one year less a day, or both. Corporations (2) Every corporation convicted of an offence under this Act or the regulations is liable to a fine of not more than $10,000,000.

11 Except in a proceeding under this Act, no person shall be required to give testimony in a civil proceeding with regard to information obtained in the course of exercising a power or carrying out a duty related to the administration of this Act or the regulations. PART VI REgulations

12 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations, (a) defining any word or expression used in this Act that is not already defined; (b) further defining or clarifying the definition of “restaurant” in section 1; (c) identifying persons, including naming corporations, who are “food delivery services providers”; (d) prescribing, for the purposes of section 2, the maximum amount that a food delivery services provider may charge for food and beverage delivery services or related services, or the manner of calculating the amount; (e) prescribing payments for the purposes of section 3 and prescribing what constitutes a reduction in compensation or a prescribed payment, and otherwise governing the compensation of employees and contractors who perform delivery services; (f) exempting persons or classes of persons from this Act or any provisions of this Act. Same (2) In the event of…

14 Omitted (provides for coming into force of provisions of this Act).

15 Omitted (enacts short title of this Act). ______________