Bill 126 explained in plain English
Inactive Cemeteries Protection 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
Bill 126, the Inactive Cemeteries Protection Act, 2010, prohibits the relocation of inactive cemeteries in Ontario, overriding other conflicting laws.
This Ontario bill, the Inactive Cemeteries Protection Act, 2010, aims to protect inactive cemeteries across the province. It prohibits the relocation of these cemeteries and states that this Act takes precedence over any other law or regulation that might permit or outline a process for moving an inactive cemetery. The bill defines what constitutes a cemetery and an inactive cemetery, including those no longer accepting burials, those with fewer than five burials per year, family plots, unapproved Indigenous cemeteries, or historical cemeteries without markers. The Act comes into force on a date proclaimed by the Lieutenant Governor. The preamble emphasizes the historical, cultural, and ecological importance of cemeteries and the right of the deceased to rest in peace.
- Prohibits the relocation of inactive cemeteries in Ontario.
- Establishes that this Act takes precedence over any other law or regulation that permits or describes a process for relocating inactive cemeteries.
- Defines terms such as 'cemetery', 'human remains', and 'inactive cemetery'.
- Sets out the purpose of the Act in a preamble, highlighting the historical, cultural, and ecological significance of cemeteries and the rights of the deceased.
- Owners and operators of cemeteries in Ontario.
- Individuals and families with burial sites in inactive cemeteries.
- Indigenous peoples (as specific types of inactive cemeteries are defined).
- Government bodies responsible for cemetery regulation.
- The general public, in relation to Ontario's heritage.
- No person shall relocate an inactive cemetery (obligation).
- The deceased have a right to rest in peace at their chosen burial site (principle outlined in the preamble).
- The Act comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
- The specific date the Act comes into force is not yet determined, as it depends on a proclamation by the Lieutenant Governor.
- The bill does not specify enforcement mechanisms or penalties for contravening the prohibition on relocating inactive cemeteries.
- While the bill defines 'inactive cemetery', the application to specific or unique historical burial sites might be subject to interpretation.
Any other law or regulation that allows for the relocation of an inactive cemetery, or that provides a process for its relocation, will not apply if it conflicts with this Act. This Act takes precedence.
Source: Section 3
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
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