Bill 7 explained in plain English
Fairness in Petroleum Products Pricing Act, 2018
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
This Act empowers the Ontario Energy Board to set maximum retail prices and minimum wholesale mark-ups for petroleum products in Ontario, with penalties for violations.
The Fairness in Petroleum Products Pricing Act, 2018, aims to regulate the price of gasoline, diesel, furnace oil, and stove oil in Ontario. It gives the Ontario Energy Board the power to set maximum retail prices and minimum wholesale mark-ups for these products on a weekly basis. The Act also allows the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations related to these price and mark-up settings and provides for inspections, administrative penalties, and fines for non-compliance.
- Establishes the ability for the Ontario Energy Board (Board) to set maximum weekly retail prices for petroleum products.
- Grants the Board the authority to set minimum weekly wholesale mark-ups for petroleum products.
- Allows for different prices and mark-ups to be set for different regions within Ontario.
- Empowers the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations regarding the setting of these prices and mark-ups.
- Prohibits retailers from selling petroleum products above the maximum retail price set by the Board.
- Prohibits wholesalers from selling petroleum products to retailers at a price that does not allow for the minimum mark-up set by the Board.
- Requires wholesalers and retailers to keep records of petroleum product sales for at least five years.
- Allows the Board to receive complaints and conduct inquiries into potential contraventions of the Act.
- States that any contract term allowing for sales above the maximum price is invalid.
- Authorizes the Board to appoint inspectors to conduct inspections of wholesalers and retailers.
- Grants inspectors the power to enter business premises, examine records, and make copies.
- Allows the Board to impose administrative penalties on retailers or wholesalers who contravene section 3, up to $100,000 per day.
- Specifies that paying an administrative penalty prevents a retailer or wholesaler from being charged with an offence for the same contravention.
- Establishes that contravening the Act is an offence, with penalties including fines of up to $500,000.
- Specifies that each day a contravention continues constitutes a separate offence.
- States that the Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Consumers of petroleum products (gasoline, diesel, furnace oil, stove oil)
- Retailers of petroleum products
- Wholesalers of petroleum products
- The Ontario Energy Board
- The Lieutenant Governor in Council
- The Minister responsible for the administration of the Act
- Retailers have the right to sell petroleum products up to the maximum retail price set by the Board.
- Wholesalers have the right to sell petroleum products to retailers at a price that allows for the minimum mark-up set by the Board.
- Retailers and wholesalers have a duty to keep records of sales for at least five years.
- Consumers are protected by the objective of predictable and consistent retail pricing.
- Consumers are protected by the objective of preventing anti-competitive pricing practices.
- Consumers are protected by the objective of ensuring transparency and reasonableness in pricing.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Retailers are prohibited from selling above the Board-set maximum retail price.
- Wholesalers are prohibited from selling to retailers at prices that do not allow for the Board-set minimum mark-up.
- Administrative penalties can be imposed, not exceeding $100,000 for each day of contravention.
- Fines for offences can be up to $500,000.
- The potential for administrative penalties to be increased by the amount of monetary benefit gained from the contravention.
- Inspectors appointed by the Board can conduct inspections.
- Contravention of maximum retail price rules can result in administrative penalties up to $100,000 per day.
- Contravention of pricing rules is an offence liable to a fine of up to $500,000.
- Each day of contravention is considered a separate offence.
- The specific areas for which different prices and mark-ups may be fixed are not detailed in the Act.
- The regulations that the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make are not detailed in the Act.
- The specific circumstances under which a retailer or wholesaler may not be required to pay an administrative penalty, or may pay a reduced penalty, are to be prescribed by regulation.
- The procedures applicable to the imposition of administrative penalties, including reviews and hearings, are to be prescribed by regulation.
- The definition of 'petroleum product' can be expanded by regulation to include other types of furnace oil or stove oil.
This Act establishes a new regulatory framework for petroleum product pricing in Ontario.
Source: Section 13
Part III (Regulations) of the Legislation Act, 2006, does not apply to orders made by the Ontario Energy Board under this Act.
Source: Section 10
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
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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.
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