Bill 122 explained in plain English
Broader Public Sector Accountability Act, 2010
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 39th 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 Broader Public Sector Accountability Act, 2010, enhances financial accountability in Ontario's broader public sector by regulating lobbyists, consultant use, expense reporting, and procurement, and by amending privacy legislation to include hospitals.
Bill 122, the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act, 2010, aims to increase financial accountability within Ontario's broader public sector. It introduces new rules and amends existing laws related to lobbyists, consultants, expense claims, and procurement. The Act prohibits certain organizations from hiring lobbyists paid with public funds or their own revenues in certain situations. It requires local health integration networks (LHINs) and hospitals to report on their use of consultants and to publicly post information about expense claims. The Management Board of Cabinet can issue directives and guidelines on allowable expenses and procurement for designated broader public sector organizations and publicly funded organizations. The Act also mandates compliance reports from LHINs, hospitals, and other organizations. Furthermore, it amends the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to include hospitals under its provisions and makes related changes to other statutes, including the Lobbyists Registration Act, 1998, the Public Hospitals Act, and the Quality of Care Information Protection Act, 2004.
- Prohibits certain organizations from engaging lobbyists whose compensation is paid from public funds or, in some cases, from the organization's own revenues.
- Requires Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) and hospitals to prepare and report on their use of consultants.
- Requires LHINs and hospitals to publicly post information about their expense claims.
- Allows the Management Board of Cabinet to issue directives and guidelines concerning allowable expenses and procurement for designated broader public sector organizations and publicly funded organizations.
- Requires LHINs, hospitals, and other organizations to prepare and report on their compliance with the Act's provisions.
- Amends the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to make hospitals subject to its provisions.
- Makes consequential amendments to various other statutes.
- Designated broader public sector organizations (including hospitals, school boards, universities, colleges, children's aid societies, community care access corporations, and certain publicly funded organizations).
- Publicly funded organizations.
- Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs).
- Hospitals (public and private).
- Consultants.
- Lobbyists.
- Hydro One Inc. and its subsidiaries.
- Ontario Power Generation Inc. and its subsidiaries.
- Ontario Power Authority.
- Independent Electricity System Operator.
- Employees in senior management positions at hospitals and LHINs.
- The Crown, its ministers, agents, appointees, and employees.
- Churches and religious organizations affiliated with educational institutions or hospitals.
- Hospital foundations.
- Members of health professions operating private practices.
- Prohibition on engaging lobbyists paid with public funds or certain other revenues for specified organizations.
- Requirement for LHINs and hospitals to report on consultant use.
- Requirement for LHINs and hospitals to publicly post expense claim information.
- Requirement for designated broader public sector organizations and publicly funded organizations to comply with directives and guidelines on expenses and procurement.
- Requirement for LHINs, hospitals, and other organizations to prepare and post compliance attestations.
- Obligations for individuals in senior management positions at hospitals and LHINs regarding compliance with the Act.
- Provisions for reductions in compensation for senior management in case of non-compliance.
- Terms of agreements are invalidated if they conflict with the Act's requirements.
- Hospitals are brought under the purview of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
- Sections 24 and 28 of the Act come into force on January 1, 2012.
- The rest of the Act comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
- Prohibits the use of public funds or revenues for compensation of lobbyists in specific circumstances.
- May affect the expenses and procurement practices of designated broader public sector organizations and publicly funded organizations through directives and guidelines.
- Failure to comply with section 4.1 of the Lobbyists Registration Act, 1998 (as amended by this Act) regarding consultant lobbyists and public funds is an offence.
- Obligations of LHINs and hospitals under this Act are incorporated into their accountability agreements.
- Failure by senior management at hospitals or LHINs to meet requirements of this Act may lead to a reduction in their compensation.
- Provisions limiting remedies and barring proceedings against the Crown and subject organizations for actions taken under the Act.
- No compensation is payable for losses or damages arising from the enactment or application of this Act or anything done in accordance with it.
- The specific content of directives and guidelines that can be issued by the Management Board of Cabinet or the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care is not fully detailed, but examples are provided.
- The Act specifies that certain regulations may be made to designate or exclude organizations, providing flexibility in its application.
- The effective date for most provisions of the Act is subject to proclamation by the Lieutenant Governor, meaning it may not come into force immediately upon enactment.
Makes hospitals subject to the Act by adding definitions and making other related changes to its provisions.
Source: Part VIII
Modifies the definition of 'public office holder' and introduces new provisions related to consultant lobbyists and the use of public funds, including an offence for non-compliance.
Source: Section 25
Removes a clause related to the Minister's ability to review or audit operations of a local health integration network.
Source: Section 26
Repeals and substitutes the definition of 'inspector', makes changes related to proceedings against the Crown, modifies provisions for investigators and supervisors, and replaces section 18 concerning inspectors' powers.
Source: Section 27
Adds a section stating that the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act does not apply to quality of care information.
Source: Section 28
Establishes new rules and requirements for financial accountability in the broader public sector.
Source: Preamble and various parts
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