Bill 95 explained in plain English
Financial Accountability Officer Act, 2013
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
The Financial Accountability Officer Act, 2013 establishes an independent officer of the Legislative Assembly to analyze and report on the province's finances and the financial impact of government proposals.
This Act establishes the position of a Financial Accountability Officer for Ontario. This Officer is an officer of the Legislative Assembly and is independent. The Officer's role includes analyzing the province's finances and economic trends, and researching financial costs or benefits of government proposals when requested by a Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) or a committee. Ministries and public entities must provide the Officer with necessary financial and economic information, with exceptions for certain sensitive records like Cabinet documents and personal information. The Officer is required to report annually on their work and may produce other reports. The Act also outlines administrative matters for the Officer's office, including budget, staffing, and the use of consultants. It also states that the Officer and their staff have limited liability unless they act in bad faith. The Act came into force on the day it received Royal Assent.
- Establishes the position of the Financial Accountability Officer, who is an officer of the Legislative Assembly.
- Defines the mandate of the Financial Accountability Officer to include independent analysis of the province's finances and economic trends, and research on the financial implications of legislative proposals.
- Requires ministries and public entities to provide the Financial Accountability Officer with necessary financial, economic, or other information, with specific exceptions.
- Allows the Financial Accountability Officer to disclose information under certain conditions.
- Mandates the Financial Accountability Officer to submit an annual report on their office's work and allows for other reports to be made.
- Requires the Officer and employees to assist the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs when requested.
- Provides for the administrative matters of the Financial Accountability Officer's office, including budget, premises, staff, and consultants.
- States that the Financial Accountability Officer and their employees are not liable for actions taken in good faith during their duties.
- Allows the Financial Accountability Officer to notify the Speaker of the Assembly if an MPP or their staff obstructs the Officer's duties.
- The Legislative Assembly of Ontario
- The Financial Accountability Officer
- Members of the Legislative Assembly (MPPs) and their staff
- The Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs
- Ministries of the Government of Ontario
- Public entities in Ontario
- The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly
- The Board of Internal Economy
- The Auditor General
- Ministries and public entities have a duty to provide the Financial Accountability Officer with requested financial, economic, or other information, subject to specific exceptions.
- The Financial Accountability Officer has the right to refuse requests from MPPs or committees at their discretion.
- The Financial Accountability Officer must report annually on the work of their office.
- The Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs has the right to receive reports from the Financial Accountability Officer and to report its observations to the Assembly.
- The Financial Accountability Officer and staff have protection from legal proceedings unless they acted in bad faith.
- The Act came into force on the day it received Royal Assent.
- The Financial Accountability Officer's term of office is five years, with one possible renewal for another five years.
- A temporary Financial Accountability Officer may be appointed for a term of not more than six months.
- The Financial Accountability Officer must submit an annual report on or before July 31 of each year.
- Money required for the Act's purposes is to be paid out of money appropriated by the Legislature.
- The Financial Accountability Officer's salary is determined by the Board of Internal Economy and must be within the range of salaries paid to deputy ministers.
- The Financial Accountability Officer is entitled to reimbursement for reasonable expenses, subject to the Board of Internal Economy's approval.
- The Financial Accountability Officer must present annual estimates to the Board of Internal Economy, which may alter them.
- Salaries and wages for the Officer's employees are determined by the Officer, subject to the Board of Internal Economy's approval, and must be comparable to similar public servant positions.
- The Financial Accountability Officer may retain technical and professional consultants.
- The financial costs or benefits to the Province of any public bill or proposal may be estimated by the Officer.
- If a ministry or public entity fails to provide requested information, the Financial Accountability Officer may notify the Speaker of the Assembly and the chair of the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs.
- If an MPP or their staff interferes with or obstructs the Financial Accountability Officer, the Officer may notify the Speaker of the Assembly.
- The Act does not specify the exact process for selecting the person to be appointed as the Financial Accountability Officer, beyond requiring a panel chaired by the Speaker and including one member from each recognized party.
- While the Act outlines exceptions for providing information (Cabinet records, personal information, personal health information), the exact nature of what constitutes 'Cabinet records' may be subject to interpretation.
- The conditions under which the Financial Accountability Officer may disclose information received are detailed, but the interpretation of 'essential for the performance of the Financial Accountability Officer’s mandate' could be a point of uncertainty.
- The Act does not define what constitutes 'cause' for removal of the Financial Accountability Officer, leaving this open to interpretation.
- The Act states that the Financial Accountability Officer may refuse any request from a member or committee at their discretion, without specifying grounds for refusal.
The Act came into force on the day it received Royal Assent.
Source: Section 19
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
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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.
How this data is sourced