Bill 26 explained in plain English
Living Within Our Means Act, 2013
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 40th Parliament, 2nd 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 Living Within Our Means Act, 2013 enacts a Balanced Budget Act and amends the Financial Administration Act to establish requirements for balanced budgets, manage provincial debt, and implement salary reductions for the Executive Council in case of deficits.
This bill, titled the Living Within Our Means Act, 2013, aims to establish rules for balancing the provincial budget and managing debt. It enacts the Balanced Budget Act, 2013, and makes changes to the Financial Administration Act. The Balanced Budget Act, 2013, requires the provincial government, starting in the 2017-2018 fiscal year, to plan for and present a balanced budget. It outlines exceptions for expenditures due to natural disasters or war. If a deficit is planned, a recovery plan must be developed. It also introduces salary reductions for members of the Executive Council if the province incurs a deficit. The Financial Administration Act is amended to prevent the government from borrowing money if it would cause the province's net debt to exceed 50 per cent of its gross domestic product.
- Enacts the Balanced Budget Act, 2013.
- Amends the Financial Administration Act.
- Requires the Executive Council to plan for a balanced budget and the Minister of Finance to present one, starting with the 2017-2018 fiscal year.
- Makes special provisions for expenditures arising from extraordinary circumstances like natural disasters or war.
- Requires the Executive Council to develop a recovery plan if a deficit is planned.
- Introduces salary reductions for members of the Executive Council if a deficit occurs, with different rules for larger or smaller deficits.
- Amends the Financial Administration Act to limit borrowing if it would cause net debt to exceed 50% of the gross domestic product.
- The Executive Council of Ontario
- The Minister of Finance
- Members of the Legislative Assembly
- The Province of Ontario (as a government entity)
- The Executive Council must plan for a balanced budget starting in the 2017-2018 fiscal year.
- The Minister of Finance must present a balanced budget.
- The Crown is prohibited from borrowing money if it would exceed 50% of Ontario's gross domestic product.
- Members of the Executive Council will have their salaries reduced if the province incurs a deficit.
- The Living Within Our Means Act, 2013 comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- The Balanced Budget Act, 2013 comes into force on April 1, 2017.
- The amendments to the Financial Administration Act come into force on the day the Living Within Our Means Act, 2013 receives Royal Assent.
- The requirement for planning a balanced budget begins with the 2017-2018 fiscal year.
- The Act mandates a balanced budget, which may impact government spending and revenue planning.
- The Financial Administration Act amendment imposes a limit on provincial borrowing based on gross domestic product.
- The salaries of Executive Council members are subject to reduction in the event of a deficit.
- If the province has a deficit, the salary of each member of the Executive Council is reduced. The reduction is 25% for one year if the deficit is over 1% of revenue and there was no prior deficit, or if a smaller deficit is not offset in the following year. The reduction becomes 50% for one year if there is a deficit in the year following a first deficit year, or a second year deficit under specific conditions, and this 50% reduction continues for each consecutive year with a deficit.
- The definition of 'gross domestic product' for the debt limit is based on the Minister of Finance's most recent quarterly Ontario economic accounts.
- The application of salary reductions for the Executive Council has specific conditions related to the size of the deficit and whether previous years were also in deficit.
- The bill does not specify how the gross domestic product will be determined if it is not published in the Minister of Finance's quarterly accounts.
- The bill does not specify the exact date the 2017-2018 fiscal year begins, but it is standard for Ontario fiscal years to begin on April 1st.
This new Act sets out requirements for planning and presenting balanced budgets, outlines exceptions for deficits, and introduces salary reductions for the Executive Council in case of deficits.
Source: Section 2 and Schedule 1
This Act is amended to prevent the Crown from raising money through loans or securities if it would result in Ontario's net debt exceeding 50 per cent of its gross domestic product.
Source: Schedule 2
Section 4 of this Act, which outlines requirements for planning a balanced budget and permits deficits under certain conditions, is repealed.
Source: Section 5(1)
A consequential amendment is made to subsection 5(3) of this Act.
Source: Section 5(2)
The salary of members of the Executive Council, as defined by this Act, is subject to reduction under the provisions of the Balanced Budget Act, 2013.
Source: Section 4(10)
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.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill does not have a published recorded division in the current official sources, so representative-by-representative vote counts are not shown.
No published representative vote breakdown
The current official sources do not publish a recorded division breakdown for this bill, so there is no representative-by-representative table to show.
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.
How this data is sourced