Bill 100 explained in plain English
Great Lakes Protection Act, 2012
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 40th Parliament, 1st Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
The Great Lakes Protection Act, 2012 establishes a framework for protecting and restoring the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin through strategies, initiatives, public consultation, and regulatory powers.
The Great Lakes Protection Act, 2012 aims to protect and restore the ecological health of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin. It also seeks to involve individuals and communities in these efforts. The Act establishes the Great Lakes Guardians’ Council to facilitate discussion and action, and requires the Minister of the Environment to develop Ontario’s Great Lakes Strategy. The Act outlines a process for developing and approving specific initiatives within geographic areas of the basin, which can include policies that have legal effect on decisions made under other legislation, such as the Planning Act and the Condominium Act. It also provides powers for the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations concerning activities that could harm the basin's ecological health, with enforcement mechanisms and penalties for violations.
- Establishes the purposes of the Act as protecting and restoring the ecological health of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin and involving individuals and communities in these efforts (Section 1).
- Confirms that the Act does not affect existing Aboriginal or treaty rights (Section 2).
- Establishes the Great Lakes Guardians’ Council to provide a forum for identifying priorities, potential funding, and partnerships, and to facilitate information sharing (Section 4).
- Requires the Minister of the Environment to establish and review Ontario’s Great Lakes Strategy (Section 5).
- Allows the Minister of the Environment to establish targets for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin and direct public bodies to take action (Section 8).
- Outlines a process for developing proposals for geographically-focused initiatives, including consultation and public body involvement (Sections 9-14).
- Specifies the content and approval process for initiatives, which can include policies with legal effect (Sections 15-19).
- Details the legal effect of initiatives on decisions made under the Planning Act and the Condominium Act, 1998, requiring conformity with designated policies and giving precedence to designated policies in cases of conflict (Sections 20-22).
- Requires amendments to existing prescribed instruments to conform with designated policies in initiatives (Sections 23-24).
- Empowers the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations to protect the ecological health of the basin, including regulating or prohibiting activities and establishing enforcement mechanisms (Section 26).
- Includes provisions for public consultation and notice, traditional ecological knowledge, delegation of powers, and extension of timeframes (Sections 27-30).
- Requires consideration of existing Great Lakes agreements (Section 31).
- Addresses the obligations of public bodies and the non-application of certain other Acts (Sections 32-33).
- Limits remedies and clarifies that actions taken under the Act do not constitute expropriation or injurious affection (Section 34).
- Establishes rules for conflicts between this Act and other legislation, prioritizing the provision that offers greater protection to the basin's ecological health (Section 35).
- Grants the Lieutenant Governor in Council broad regulation-making powers to implement the Act (Section 36).
- Provides for amendments to adopted documents and sets rules for commencement of the Act (Sections 37-38).
- Names the Act as the Great Lakes Protection Act, 2012 (Section 39).
- The Minister of the Environment
- Other Great Lakes ministers
- Public bodies (municipalities, conservation authorities, ministries, boards, commissions, agencies, source protection authorities, source protection committees, and prescribed bodies)
- Municipal councils
- Municipal planning authorities
- Planning boards
- Local boards
- First Nations and Métis communities
- Environmental organizations
- The scientific community
- Industrial, agricultural, recreational, and tourism sectors
- Individuals and communities
- The Lieutenant Governor in Council
- Persons involved in activities within the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin
- Public bodies directed to develop proposals for initiatives must comply.
- Public bodies identified in approved proposals must develop initiatives.
- Decisions under the Planning Act or Condominium Act, 1998 must conform with designated policies in an initiative.
- Municipalities and municipal planning authorities must amend official plans to conform with designated policies in an initiative.
- Persons or bodies that issued prescribed instruments must amend them to conform with designated policies in an initiative.
- Individuals and corporations are subject to penalties for contravening regulations or orders made under the Act.
- First Nations and Métis communities may offer their traditional ecological knowledge.
- The Minister of the Environment must ensure meetings of the Great Lakes Guardians' Council are held and may invite specified individuals.
- The Minister of the Environment must prepare progress reports on the Strategy and initiatives.
- Public bodies must comply with directions from the Minister of the Environment.
- Public bodies must provide documents and data upon request by another public body involved in initiative development or reporting.
- The Act comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor (Section 38).
- The Act allows for regulations to authorize public bodies to charge fees related to the administration of regulations concerning shoreline protection (Section 26(1)(e) and (f)).
- The Act outlines penalties for individuals (up to $25,000 for a first conviction, $50,000 for subsequent convictions, per day) and corporations (up to $50,000 for a first conviction, $100,000 for subsequent convictions, per day) for contravening regulations or orders (Section 26(8) and (9)).
- The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations designating a public body as an enforcement body, authorizing officers to issue orders, and governing appeals of those orders (Section 26(1)(c), (d), (e), (f)).
- Penalties are established for contravening regulations or orders made under Section 26: individuals face fines up to $25,000 for a first conviction and up to $50,000 for subsequent convictions, per day. Corporations face fines up to $50,000 for a first conviction and up to $100,000 for subsequent convictions, per day (Section 26(6), (8), (9)).
- Directors, officers, employees, or agents of a corporation can also be guilty of an offence (Section 26(10)).
- The Act adopts enforcement and penalty provisions from the Lake Simcoe Protection Act, 2008, with necessary modifications (Section 26(4), (11)).
- Powers of enforcement officers include entering property without a warrant (with exceptions for dwellings), issuing orders, and requesting documents (Section 26(5)).
- Obstruction of an enforcement officer or refusal to comply with a request for documents is an offence (Section 26(7)).
- The Act comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation, meaning its full effect is not immediate.
- The specific details of Ontario's Great Lakes Strategy, targets, and initiatives will be developed through regulatory processes and ministerial decisions, which are not fully detailed in the Act itself.
- The Act allows the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations, which will further define specific rules and prohibitions.
- The application of Section 20 (Effect of initiative) regarding conflicts between designated policies and other plans or policies is subject to regulations made under clause 36 (1) (c), (d), and (e), which may clarify how conflicts are resolved.
- The application of sections regarding prescribed instruments and conformity (Sections 20(9), 23(1), 24) is subject to regulations made under clause 36 (1) (f), (g), and (h), which may clarify details of non-conformity and resolution.
- The Act specifies that it does not permit or require a person or body to make amendments that they do not otherwise have the authority to make, in relation to prescribed instruments (Section 20(10), Section 23(3)).
- The effectiveness of the Act and its initiatives may depend on the co-operation and actions of various stakeholders and government bodies.
- The definition of 'Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin' can be further specified by regulations (Section 3(1)).
The Act will come into force on a day to be proclaimed by the Lieutenant Governor.
Source: Section 38
References in the Act to an approved proposal for an initiative will be considered references to the approved proposal as amended.
Source: Section 14 (4)
Any legal proceedings commenced before the Act comes into force, related to the limitations on remedies, are deemed to have been dismissed without costs.
Source: Section 34 (5)
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
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Vote Summary
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No published representative vote breakdown
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Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
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