Bill 161 explained in plain English
Nick's Law (Opioid Abuse Awareness), 2017
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 41st 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 requires the Ontario government to use at least 10% of its Bulk Media Buy Program for opioid and fentanyl abuse awareness campaigns, with reporting by the Minister of Finance.
Nick's Law (Opioid Abuse Awareness), 2017, requires the Government of Ontario to dedicate at least 10 per cent of its Bulk Media Buy Program budget each fiscal year to marketing campaigns focused on the risks of opioid and fentanyl abuse. These campaigns must cover dangers, prevention, early warning signs of addiction, effects of fentanyl, contaminated drugs, the Fentanyl Patch for Patch return policy, and where to find help. The Minister of Finance must report annually on these campaigns and their funding, with the reports made publicly accessible. The law applies starting with the fiscal year beginning April 1, 2018.
- Requires the Government of Ontario to allocate at least 10 per cent of its Bulk Media Buy Program for a fiscal year to marketing campaigns aimed at raising awareness about the risks of prescription opioid abuse and fentanyl abuse.
- Specifies that these awareness campaigns must address the dangers and prevention of opioid abuse, including safe disposal of medications and early warning signs of addiction.
- Requires campaigns to inform the public about the dangers of fentanyl abuse, symptoms of overdose, risks from fentanyl-contaminated drugs, and the Fentanyl Patch for Patch return policy.
- Mandates that campaigns inform the public about where to seek help for opioid and fentanyl abuse.
- Requires the Minister of Finance to prepare an annual report within 30 days of the end of each fiscal year, detailing the awareness campaigns undertaken and the percentage of the Bulk Media Buy Program allocated to them.
- Requires the Minister to submit these reports to the Lieutenant Governor in Council and to lay them before the Legislative Assembly.
- Requires the Minister to ensure the reports are made publicly accessible on a government website as soon as possible after being laid before the Assembly.
- States that the requirements apply starting with the fiscal year beginning on April 1, 2018.
- States that the Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- The Government of Ontario
- The Minister of Finance
- The Legislative Assembly of Ontario
- The public in Ontario
- The Government of Ontario is obligated to allocate at least 10 per cent of the Bulk Media Buy Program toward specific awareness campaigns.
- The Minister of Finance has an obligation to prepare and submit an annual report on these campaigns.
- The public has a right to access these reports.
- The public is to be informed about the risks and prevention of opioid and fentanyl abuse, and where to seek help.
- The requirements of the Act apply commencing with the fiscal year that begins on April 1, 2018.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- A minimum of 10 per cent of the funds appropriated for the Bulk Media Buy Program will be allocated to opioid and fentanyl abuse awareness campaigns.
- The bill does not specify penalties for non-compliance.
- The specific amount of money that constitutes '10 per cent of the Bulk Media Buy Program' is not detailed beyond referring to 'vote 3411 of the estimates and supplementary estimates'.
- The 'earliest reasonable opportunity' for laying the report before the Assembly is not defined.
- The bill does not specify penalties or consequences for the Government of Ontario or the Minister of Finance if the requirements are not met.
At least 10 per cent of the funds allocated to this program must be used for opioid and fentanyl abuse awareness campaigns.
Source: Section 1(1)
The awareness campaigns must inform the public about the Fentanyl Patch for Patch return policy established under this Act.
Source: Section 1(2)2.iii
The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Source: Section 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