Bill 22 explained in plain English
Prohibiting Driving with Unlawful Handguns Act, 2018
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 41st Parliament, 3rd 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 prohibits driving a vehicle with an unlawfully possessed handgun, establishes penalties, and allows for vehicle impoundment and forfeiture.
Bill 22, the Prohibiting Driving with Unlawful Handguns Act, 2018, aims to increase public safety by making it illegal to drive a vehicle with an unlawfully possessed handgun. It introduces new penalties, including fines and driver's licence suspensions, and allows for vehicle impoundment and forfeiture. The bill amends existing laws related to traffic safety and civil remedies to support these changes.
- Creates a new offence under the Highway Traffic Act for driving a motor vehicle with an unlawfully possessed handgun.
- Establishes fines for this offence ranging from $2,000 to $10,000, or up to six months in jail, or both.
- Mandates driver's licence suspensions for this offence: one year for a first conviction, five years for a second, and indefinitely for a third.
- Requires police officers to request the surrender of a driver's licence and detain a vehicle if they believe an offence has occurred.
- Institutes an administrative seven-day suspension of the driver's licence.
- Institutes an administrative seven-day impoundment of the vehicle, at the owner's cost and risk.
- Allows for early release of the vehicle if it was stolen at the time of the offence.
- States that licence suspensions and vehicle impoundments under this bill are not a substitute for other legal proceedings or penalties.
- Amends the Civil Remedies Act, 2001, to allow vehicles involved in this new offence to be subject to forfeiture.
- Includes definitions for "handgun" and "unlawfully possessed handgun" within the Highway Traffic Act.
- Drivers operating motor vehicles on highways in Ontario.
- Owners of motor vehicles.
- Police officers.
- The Superior Court of Justice.
- The Crown in right of Ontario.
- Operators of impound facilities.
- Drivers have the obligation not to drive a motor vehicle with an unlawfully possessed handgun.
- Drivers must surrender their licence when requested by a police officer under this act.
- Vehicle owners have the right to recover losses from a driver who caused their vehicle to be impounded.
- Vehicle owners must pay impoundment costs before their vehicle can be released.
- Police officers have the duty to request licence surrender and detain vehicles under specified circumstances.
- The Superior Court of Justice has the authority to order vehicle forfeiture in certain proceedings.
- The Act comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
- Fines for the offence of driving with an unlawfully possessed handgun range from $2,000 to $10,000.
- Owners of impounded vehicles are responsible for removal and storage costs.
- The owner of an impounded vehicle may sue the driver to recover these costs.
- Conviction for driving with an unlawfully possessed handgun can result in fines of $2,000 to $10,000, or up to six months imprisonment, or both.
- Conviction also leads to driver's licence suspension: one year for a first offence, five years for a second, and indefinite for a third.
- Administrative seven-day driver's licence suspension upon request by police.
- Administrative seven-day vehicle impoundment upon detention by police.
- Obstruction or interference with a police officer performing duties under this section is an offence, punishable by a fine of $200 to $5,000, or up to six months imprisonment, or both.
- The specific date the Act comes into force is not yet set, as it depends on a proclamation by the Lieutenant Governor.
- The bill does not specify the exact criteria or process for determining when a handgun is "unlawfully possessed" beyond referencing the Firearms Act (Canada).
- The bill allows for exemptions from its provisions through regulations made by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, but these exemptions are not detailed in the bill text.
- While the bill amends several sections of the Highway Traffic Act and Civil Remedies Act, the precise scope of these amendments beyond the specific changes noted is subject to interpretation.
- The bill does not detail the specific procedures or costs associated with vehicle forfeiture beyond what is outlined in the Civil Remedies Act, 2001.
Adds a new section (172.2) making it an offence to drive a motor vehicle with an unlawfully possessed handgun, and includes provisions for penalties, licence suspension, and vehicle impoundment. It also amends various existing sections to include references to the new section 172.2.
Source: Section 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 of the Bill
Amends Part III.1 to allow vehicles involved in contravening the new section 172.2 of the Highway Traffic Act to be subject to forfeiture. It also amends specific subsections to include references to section 172.2.
Source: Section 9, 10, 11 of the Bill
Provides the definition for 'handgun' as used in the Highway Traffic Act amendments.
Source: Section 1(1) of the Bill
Provides the basis for determining if a handgun is "unlawfully possessed" as defined in the Highway Traffic Act amendments.
Source: Section 1(1) 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.
Official textProcess Snapshot
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