Bill 18 explained in plain English
Municipal Amendment Act (Local Democracy and Accountability), 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 18, the Municipal Amendment Act (Local Democracy and Accountability), 2010, requires the election of heads and members of upper-tier municipal councils and adjusts related provisions in the Municipal Act, 2001.
This bill amends the Municipal Act, 2001, to require that the head of an upper-tier municipal council and the members of that council be elected. It also makes changes to how municipalities can structure these elections and provides the Minister with regulation-making authority for transitional matters.
- Amends the Municipal Act, 2001 to stipulate that the head of an upper-tier municipal council must be elected by general vote.
- Amends the Municipal Act, 2001 to stipulate that members of an upper-tier municipal council, excluding the head, must be elected according to the Municipal Elections Act, 1996.
- Amends the Municipal Act, 2001 to allow for members to be elected by general vote, by wards, or a combination of both.
- Adds a new subsection to Section 218 of the Municipal Act, 2001, stating that if there is a conflict between the rules for electing the head and members of an upper-tier council and other laws or regulations, the election rules in the Municipal Act prevail.
- Amends Section 218 of the Municipal Act, 2001 to allow for changes to the method of selecting council members, including direct election to the upper-tier council or election to serve on both upper-tier and lower-tier councils.
- Repeals certain provisions within Section 218 of the Municipal Act, 2001.
- Replaces subsection 218 (6) of the Municipal Act, 2001, to grant the Minister authority to make regulations regarding the exercise of powers by regional municipalities and transitional matters for the implementation of these amendments.
- Amends subsection 218 (8) of the Municipal Act, 2001, by removing a specific exclusion related to subsection (4).
- States that the Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Upper-tier municipal councils in Ontario.
- Individuals who are elected or seeking election as the head or a member of an upper-tier municipal council.
- The Minister of Municipal Affairs (or equivalent) who is given new regulation-making authority.
- Regional municipalities.
- Voters in Ontario who elect members to upper-tier municipal councils.
- Upper-tier municipal councils have an obligation to elect their head and members.
- Electors have the right to vote for the head and members of upper-tier municipal councils.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- The specific content of regulations that the Minister may make concerning transitional matters is not detailed in the bill text. The bill states these regulations are for matters that are 'necessary or desirable' for implementation.
- The bill refers to the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, for the conduct of elections, and its provisions would apply but are not detailed within this bill.
- While the bill requires election of the head and members, the specific timelines for these elections following the bill's enactment are not detailed within the provided text, beyond coming into force upon Royal Assent.
This bill makes significant changes to the Municipal Act, 2001, primarily concerning the election of heads and members of upper-tier municipal councils. It mandates that these positions must be elected and provides new rules and clarifications regarding election methods and conflicts with other legislation.
Source: Explanatory Note, Section 1
Specific subsections and paragraphs within Section 218 are amended or repealed to implement the new election requirements for upper-tier municipal councils. This includes provisions on who is elected, how they are elected, and how conflicts with other laws are resolved. It also grants the Minister new regulation-making powers related to these changes.
Source: Section 1 (1) to (9)
The bill specifies that the election of the head and members of upper-tier councils must be conducted in accordance with this Act.
Source: Section 1 (1) and (2)
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