Bill 83 explained in plain English
Protection of Public Participation Act, 2014
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 40th 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 83, the Protection of Public Participation Act, 2013, amends Ontario laws to protect public expression on matters of public interest by providing a mechanism to dismiss lawsuits intended to stifle such expression.
Bill 83, the Protection of Public Participation Act, 2013, aims to protect people's right to express themselves on matters of public interest. It introduces a process to dismiss legal proceedings that are seen as attempts to silence public debate. The bill also clarifies protections for communications on public interest matters and changes rules for written submissions about costs in certain tribunal proceedings. It amends three existing Ontario laws: the Courts of Justice Act, the Libel and Slander Act, and the Statutory Powers Procedure Act.
- Creates a new process within the Courts of Justice Act to allow a judge to dismiss a legal proceeding if it arises from an expression related to a matter of public interest.
- Establishes conditions under which a proceeding will not be dismissed, requiring the party bringing the proceeding to show it has substantial merit, the defendant has no valid defence, and the harm from the expression is outweighed by the public interest in continuing the proceeding.
- Limits further steps in a legal proceeding once a motion to dismiss is filed until the motion is decided, and restricts amendments to pleadings that could avoid dismissal.
- Outlines rules for costs and damages when a motion to dismiss is made under the new process.
- Specifies that motions to dismiss must be heard within 60 days and limits cross-examination on documentary evidence.
- Requires appeals of dismissal motions to be heard as soon as practicable.
- Introduces a process to automatically stay tribunal proceedings if the person bringing the motion believes the tribunal proceeding relates to the same matter of public interest as the court proceeding.
- Amends the Libel and Slander Act to clarify that qualified privilege for communications on matters of public interest applies regardless of media presence or reporting.
- Amends the Statutory Powers Procedure Act to require submissions for a costs order to be in writing, unless a party would face significant prejudice.
- Specifies that the new provisions apply to proceedings commenced before the Act comes into force.
- Repeals certain spent subsections related to costs orders in the Statutory Powers Procedure Act.
- Amends the Courts of Justice Act to exclude orders made under the new dismissal process from certain appeal provisions.
- Individuals and entities making expressions on matters of public interest.
- Individuals and entities who bring legal proceedings that may be seen as limiting public expression.
- Judges presiding over legal proceedings and motions to dismiss.
- Parties involved in legal proceedings, including civil litigation and tribunal proceedings.
- Media representatives and other persons who witness or report on communications on matters of public interest.
- Tribunals and administrative bodies.
- The right for a person against whom a proceeding is brought to move to have it dismissed if it arises from an expression on a matter of public interest.
- The obligation for a judge to dismiss such a proceeding unless certain conditions are met by the party opposing dismissal.
- The right for parties to a tribunal proceeding to be notified of a stay.
- The right for a party to move to lift a stay on a tribunal proceeding under certain conditions.
- The Act comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
- The moving party in a successful motion to dismiss a proceeding is entitled to costs on a full indemnity basis, unless a judge finds this inappropriate.
- The responding party in a denied motion to dismiss is generally not entitled to costs unless a judge finds it appropriate.
- A judge may award damages to the moving party if the proceeding is dismissed and the judge finds it was brought in bad faith or for an improper purpose.
- The primary enforcement mechanism is the dismissal of legal proceedings under the new process.
- Potential for awarding damages if a proceeding is dismissed and found to be in bad faith or for an improper purpose.
- The definition of 'expression' is broad, including any communication regardless of how it is made or whether it is private or public.
- The determination of what constitutes a 'matter of public interest' may be subject to judicial interpretation.
- The conditions for not dismissing a proceeding (substantial merit, no valid defence, public interest outweighing harm) require judicial assessment.
- The possibility of a judge ordering exceptions to the limits on cross-examination or pleading amendments.
- The effectiveness of the stay on tribunal proceedings may be affected by a judge's decision to lift it.
- The bill does not specify the exact day it comes into force, only that it will be proclaimed.
Adds new sections (137.1 to 137.5) that create a process for dismissing legal proceedings concerning expressions on matters of public interest, and modifies appeal provisions.
Source: Section 2 of the Bill
Adds a new section (25) to clarify that qualified privilege for communications on matters of public interest applies regardless of whether media or others witness or report on the communication.
Source: Section 3 of the Bill
Changes section 17.1 to require submissions for a costs order to be in writing, unless a party would face significant prejudice, and repeals three spent subsections.
Source: Section 4 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.
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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
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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.
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