Bill 183 explained in plain English
Strengthening Human Rights in Ontario Act, 2020
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 42nd Parliament, 1st 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 Strengthening Human Rights in Ontario Act, 2020 amends the Human Rights Code to enhance the independence of the Ontario Human Rights Commission by aligning its functions with UN principles and incorporating a memorandum of understanding.
This bill, called the Strengthening Human Rights in Ontario Act, 2020, aims to make the Ontario Human Rights Commission more independent. It does this by changing how the Commission's duties are described in the Human Rights Code and by including a specific memorandum of understanding between the Attorney General and the Chief Commissioner into the Code.
- It amends the Human Rights Code to require the Ontario Human Rights Commission to carry out its functions independently and in line with United Nations principles concerning the status of national human rights institutions.
- It incorporates a memorandum of understanding between the Attorney General and the Chief Commissioner, dated February 19, 2019, into Part III of the Human Rights Code.
- It specifies that section 7 (Duration, review and amendment) of the memorandum of understanding is excluded from being incorporated into the Code.
- It states that the Commission must follow the memorandum of understanding, but failing to do so will not invalidate its actions or create new rights or remedies for anyone.
- It requires the Attorney General to follow the terms of the memorandum of understanding.
- It states that the Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- The Ontario Human Rights Commission
- The Attorney General of Ontario
- The Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission
- Individuals interacting with the Ontario Human Rights Commission
- The Ontario Human Rights Commission has a duty to promote human rights independently and in accordance with UN principles.
- The Ontario Human Rights Commission must comply with the incorporated memorandum of understanding.
- The Attorney General must comply with the requirements of the incorporated memorandum of understanding.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Failure by the Commission to comply with the memorandum of understanding does not affect the validity of its actions or create new rights or remedies for anyone.
- The bill does not specify what happens if the Attorney General fails to comply with the memorandum of understanding.
- The bill does not detail the specific consequences for the Commission if it fails to comply with the memorandum of understanding, only stating that it does not affect the validity of its actions or create new rights or remedies.
- The bill does not provide details on the UN General Assembly's 'Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions' beyond stating they should be followed.
Changes are made to how the functions of the Ontario Human Rights Commission are described, requiring them to be performed independently and in line with UN principles. It also incorporates a memorandum of understanding between the Attorney General and the Chief Commissioner into the Code.
Source: Section 1 and Section 2
A memorandum of understanding between the Attorney General and the Chief Commissioner is incorporated into this part of the Code, with an exception for its section on duration, review, and amendment. The Commission and the Attorney General are required to comply with this memorandum.
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.
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