Bill 171 explained in plain English
Prohibition Against Government Funding of the Promotion of Hatred Act, 2011
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
This bill would amend the Financial Administration Act to prohibit the Ontario government from funding individuals or groups that use those funds to promote hatred or contempt by communicating statements in a public place.
Bill 171, also known as the Prohibition Against Government Funding of the Promotion of Hatred Act, 2011, would amend the Financial Administration Act to prevent the Ontario government from providing funds to any person or group if it is likely that the money will be used to incite hatred or contempt against any person or group by communicating statements in a public place. The bill defines what it means to 'communicate' and an 'identifiable group,' and specifies that such actions include words, gestures, or signs made in a public place. The bill creates an offence for receiving and using such funds for these purposes and allows for the recovery of money paid out contrary to these provisions. Penalties include fines based on a percentage of the money received, with higher penalties for subsequent convictions.
- Prohibits the government from funding individuals or groups likely to use the money to incite hatred or contempt against any person or group by communicating statements in a public place.
- Defines terms such as 'communicate,' 'identifiable group,' 'public place,' and 'statement.'
- Creates an offence for individuals or bodies that receive and use government funds to incite hatred or contempt.
- Allows the Crown, a minister, or a public entity to recover funds paid out contrary to the prohibitions.
- Establishes penalties for those found guilty of the offence, including fines based on a percentage of the money received.
- The Government of Ontario (ministries, public entities, Crown)
- Persons and bodies receiving government funding
- Directors, officers, employees, or agents of corporations or bodies that receive government funding
- Government is prohibited from providing funds if there is a reasonable likelihood the funds will be used to incite hatred or contempt.
- Individuals or bodies receiving funds are prohibited from using them to incite hatred or contempt.
- The Crown, ministers, or public entities have the right to recover funds paid out contrary to the Act.
- Individuals or bodies found guilty of an offence face penalties.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Fines for contravention are set at a minimum of 5% of the money received for a first conviction and a minimum of 25% for subsequent convictions.
- An offence is created for receiving and using government funds to incite hatred or contempt.
- Penalties include a fine of at least 5% of the money received for a first conviction and at least 25% for subsequent convictions.
- Directors, officers, employees, or agents of corporations or bodies can also be found guilty of the offence.
- The bill does not specify the exact process or timeline for determining if it is 'reasonably likely' that money will be used to incite hatred or contempt.
- The bill does not detail which court or tribunal would hear actions for recovery of funds.
- The bill does not specify the maximum amount of fines beyond the minimum percentages.
Adds new provisions to prohibit government funding for the promotion of hatred and to create an offence and penalties for violations.
Source: Section 1 of the Bill
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