Bill 94 explained in plain English
Keeping 2SLGBTQI+ Communities Safe Act, 2023
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 43rd 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
This bill enacts the 2SLGBTQI+ Community Safety Zones Act, 2023, to create designated safety zones and prohibit intimidation within 100 metres of them, and establishes the Ontario 2SLGBTQI+ Safety Advisory Committee Act, 2023, to advise on improving safety for 2SLGBTQI+ communities in Ontario.
This bill, titled the Keeping 2SLGBTQI+ Communities Safe Act, 2023, proposes to create two new acts in Ontario. The first act would allow the Attorney General to designate specific areas as "2SLGBTQI+ community safety zones." Within 100 metres of these zones, it would be prohibited to commit acts of intimidation, such as causing disturbances, distributing hate propaganda, making threats, or protesting for the purpose of homophobia and transphobia. Violating this prohibition could result in a fine of up to $25,000. The second act would establish the "Ontario 2SLGBTQI+ Safety Advisory Committee." This committee would be tasked with making recommendations to the Associate Minister on ways to improve safety and prevent hate crimes and incidents against Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and other diverse people in Ontario. The committee would also be required to produce an annual report of its findings and recommendations, which would then be tabled in the Legislative Assembly and published online.
- Enacts the 2SLGBTQI+ Community Safety Zones Act, 2023.
- Enacts the Ontario 2SLGBTQI+ Safety Advisory Committee Act, 2023.
- Prohibits acts of intimidation within 100 metres of designated 2SLGBTQI+ community safety zones.
- Establishes the Ontario 2SLGBTQI+ Safety Advisory Committee.
- Requires the Ontario 2SLGBTQI+ Safety Advisory Committee to make recommendations on improving safety and preventing hate crimes against 2SLGBTQI+ communities.
- Requires the Ontario 2SLGBTQI+ Safety Advisory Committee to produce an annual report.
- The Attorney General (who may designate safety zones).
- Individuals and the public (who may be subject to prohibitions and penalties).
- Members of Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and additional sexually and gender diverse communities.
- Members of the Legislative Assembly (who may be appointed to the Advisory Committee).
- The Associate Minister responsible for Women's Social and Economic Opportunity (who chairs the Advisory Committee and receives reports).
- No person shall perform an act of intimidation within 100 metres of a designated 2SLGBTQI+ community safety zone.
- The Ontario 2SLGBTQI+ Safety Advisory Committee must make findings and recommendations to improve safety and prevent hate crimes against 2SLGBTQI+ people.
- The Ontario 2SLGBTQI+ Safety Advisory Committee must provide an annual report.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent, unless otherwise specified.
- The Schedules to the Act come into force as provided in each Schedule.
- The Ontario 2SLGBTQI+ Safety Advisory Committee must be established no more than 60 days after the section establishing it comes into force.
- Annual reports from the Advisory Committee are due on or before one year after its establishment and annually thereafter.
- The Associate Minister must table the annual report within 60 days of receiving it.
- The Associate Minister must publish the annual report within 14 days of it being tabled.
- The Associate Minister must respond to the annual report within 60 days of it being tabled.
- Conviction for contravening the prohibition in a safety zone is liable to a fine of not more than $25,000.
- The Associate Minister may determine financial support for implementing recommendations, subject to legislative appropriation.
- Contravention of the prohibition in a safety zone is an offence liable on conviction to a fine of not more than $25,000.
- The Superior Court of Justice may grant an injunction to restrain a person from contravening the prohibition.
- The specific criteria or process for the Attorney General to designate a property as a 2SLGBTQI+ community safety zone are not detailed beyond it being a place where 2SLGBTQI+ persons gather.
- The definition of 'act of intimidation' includes specific examples but may not be exhaustive.
- The bill states that it does not prevent peaceful protests or demonstrations.
- The specific number of members for the Advisory Committee is between one and six, with specific breakdowns by party, but the exact composition beyond these numbers and diversity considerations is not fixed.
- The bill does not specify the exact amount of financial support for implementing recommendations, only that the Associate Minister may determine it subject to appropriation.
This Act creates new rules regarding 2SLGBTQI+ community safety zones and prohibits intimidation within these zones.
This Act establishes a new committee to advise on the safety of 2SLGBTQI+ communities.
The Act references definitions of 'causing a disturbance' and 'hate propaganda' from the Criminal Code of Canada when defining prohibited acts of intimidation.
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 is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
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