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OntarioDid not become law (session ended)41st Parliament, 1st Session

Bill 75 explained in plain English

Microbead Elimination and Monitoring Act, 2015

Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.

At a glance

Jurisdiction
Ontario Legislature
Legislature / Parliament
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Session
41st Parliament, 1st Session
Bill number
Bill 75
Full title
Microbead Elimination and Monitoring Act, 2015
Current status
Did not become law (session ended)
Latest event
Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs
Last updated
Jun 4, 2015

Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 41st Parliament, 1st Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.

Chamber
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Current Stage
Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs
Latest Activity
Jun 4, 2015
Plain-language explanation
In plain English (our explanation)

Our plain-language take, written for civic education.

Source: By PoliticalData.ca

AI-assisted, reviewed before publishing
Short Version

The Microbead Elimination and Monitoring Act, 2015, prohibits the manufacture and use of microbeads in products and mandates their monitoring in the Great Lakes, with penalties for non-compliance.

What It Means

This bill, called the Microbead Elimination and Monitoring Act, 2015, aims to eliminate the use of microbeads in products sold in Ontario and to monitor their presence in the Great Lakes. Microbeads are defined as tiny, non-biodegradable plastic particles used in cosmetics, soaps, and similar items for cleansing or exfoliating. The Act prohibits their manufacture and addition to products, imposes penalties for violations, and requires the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change to monitor microbeads in the Great Lakes and publish the results. The Act also allows for regulations to be made regarding exemptions, water analysis, and other related matters. The provisions of the Act are set to come into force two years after receiving Royal Assent.

What This Bill Does
  • Prohibits the manufacture of microbeads.
  • Prohibits the addition of microbeads to cosmetics, soaps, or similar products.
  • Establishes an offence for contravening the prohibitions, with a potential fine of up to $10,000.
  • Requires the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change to ensure annual analysis of Great Lakes water samples for microbeads.
  • Requires the Minister to publish the results of Great Lakes water sample analysis on a government website.
  • Grants the Lieutenant Governor in Council the power to make regulations, including exemptions from the prohibitions, conditions for exemptions, and governing water sample analysis.
  • Specifies that the Act comes into force two years after receiving Royal Assent.
Who Is Affected
  • Manufacturers of cosmetics, soaps, and similar products.
  • Businesses that add microbeads to cosmetics, soaps, and similar products.
  • The Minister of the Environment and Climate Change.
  • The public, through the monitoring and publication of microbead presence in the Great Lakes.
Rights, Duties, Or Obligations
  • No person shall manufacture microbeads or add them to cosmetics, soaps, or similar products.
  • The Minister must ensure annual analysis of Great Lakes water samples for microbeads.
  • The Minister must publish the results of the water sample analysis.
  • The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations, including providing exemptions from section 2 under certain conditions.
Important Dates
  • The Act comes into force two years after the day it receives Royal Assent.
Financial Or Tax Impacts
  • Individuals or corporations found guilty of manufacturing microbeads or adding them to products may be liable for a fine of not more than $10,000.
Enforcement Or Penalties
  • Contravention of the prohibition on manufacturing or adding microbeads is an offence.
  • A person convicted of an offence is liable to a fine of not more than $10,000.
Uncertainties Or Limits
  • The Act allows for regulations to be made regarding exemptions from section 2 (prohibition on manufacture or addition) and the conditions attached to such exemptions. The specific details of these exemptions and conditions are not provided in the bill text.
  • The Act requires water samples from the Great Lakes to be analyzed 'in accordance with the regulations'. The specific details of this analysis, such as sampling methods, frequency beyond 'in every year', and specific locations, are not detailed in the bill text itself but would be defined by regulations.
  • The definition of 'similar products' in relation to cosmetics and soaps is not further elaborated in the bill.
  • The term 'government website' is used for publishing results, but the specific website is not identified.
Laws Or Regulations Affected
Microbead Elimination and Monitoring Act, 2015
enacted

This bill creates a new Act with specific prohibitions and requirements regarding microbeads.

Source: Bill 75, Section 6

Commencement of the Microbead Elimination and Monitoring Act, 2015
commencement

The Act will officially become law and its provisions will take effect two years after it receives Royal Assent.

Source: Section 5

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 text

Process Snapshot

Step 1
First reading
Mar 9, 2015
Step 2
Second reading
Mar 12, 2015
Step 3
Committee review
Jun 4, 2015
Step 4
Third reading
Not reached yet
Step 5
Royal assent
Not reached yet

Vote Summary

No published recorded division

This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.

Sponsor
Marie-France Lalonde
Sponsor party or district not listed
Jurisdiction
Ontario Legislature

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