Bill 52 explained in plain English
Stopping Illegal Handgun Smuggling Act, 2021
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 42nd 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 enacts the Stopping Illegal Handgun Smuggling Act, 2021, requiring the Ontario government to develop a plan and potentially pursue legal action against American handgun manufacturers to reduce illegal handgun smuggling into Ontario.
Bill 52, the Stopping Illegal Handgun Smuggling Act, 2021, requires the Ontario Minister responsible for this Act (the Attorney General or as assigned) to create a plan to stop illegal handguns from entering Ontario. This plan must be developed within one year of the Act coming into force and will include research on how illegal handguns enter Ontario, sales of these guns in Ontario, and potential legal actions against American handgun manufacturers. The Minister must consult with affected communities, legal professionals involved in similar past litigation, and law enforcement before finalizing the plan. The plan will then be published online. If research suggests legal action against manufacturers is likely to lead to changes that protect Ontarians, the Minister must start legal action within six months of the plan's development and may develop new legislation. The Minister must also report to the Legislative Assembly about the plan and the decision on legal action within six months of the plan's development, and annually thereafter.
- Enacts the Stopping Illegal Handgun Smuggling Act, 2021.
- Requires the Minister responsible for the Act to develop an illegal handgun litigation plan within one year of the Act coming into force.
- Specifies that the plan must include research into the entry and sale of illegal handguns in Ontario, and potential legal action against U.S. manufacturers.
- Mandates consultation with affected communities, legal professionals, and law enforcement in developing the plan.
- Requires the Minister to publish the plan on a government website.
- If research indicates legal action is likely to improve protection for Ontarians, the Minister must take steps to commence legal action within six months of the plan's development.
- Allows the Minister to develop new legislation if considered in the public interest, following a determination that legal action is likely to be effective.
- Requires the Minister to report to the Legislative Assembly on the plan and any litigation strategy within six months of the plan's development, and annually thereafter.
- States that the Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- The Minister responsible for the Act (Attorney General or assigned member of the Executive Council).
- Communities affected by illegal handguns.
- The legal community involved with litigation against manufacturers of tobacco or pharmaceutical products.
- Law enforcement and border security professionals.
- Gun manufacturers that manufacture handguns in the United States of America.
- Ontarians.
- The Minister has an obligation to develop an illegal handgun litigation plan within one year of the Act coming into force.
- The Minister has an obligation to consult with specific groups when developing the plan.
- The Minister has an obligation to publish the plan.
- The Minister has an obligation to undertake research and investigations.
- The Minister has an obligation to commence legal action if specific conditions are met.
- The Minister has an obligation to develop legislation if considered in the public interest under certain conditions.
- The Minister has an obligation to report to the Legislative Assembly.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- The Minister shall develop the illegal handgun litigation plan within one year after this section comes into force.
- If legal action is deemed likely to be effective, the Minister shall take steps to commence such legal action within six months after the illegal handgun litigation plan is developed.
- The Minister shall prepare and table a report on the plan within six months after the illegal handgun litigation plan is developed.
- The bill mentions Canada and Ontario spend millions of dollars each year to stop gun smuggling and seize illegal guns, but it does not specify any new financial or tax impacts resulting from this bill.
- The bill outlines steps for developing a plan and potentially commencing legal action, but it does not specify any penalties for non-compliance with the Act's provisions by individuals or entities other than the government's required actions.
- The bill does not specify who will be responsible for funding the research, litigation, or potential new legislation mentioned.
- The bill does not define the specific 'communities affected by illegal handguns' for consultation purposes.
- The bill does not specify the exact nature or extent of the 'litigation' that might be pursued, beyond targeting manufacturers.
- The bill does not detail what the potential new legislation, if developed, might entail.
- The bill does not provide specific metrics for determining when legal action is 'reasonably likely to compel the gun manufacturing industry to make changes that would lead to greater protection for Ontarians'.
This bill creates a new Act that outlines requirements for developing a plan to address illegal handgun smuggling and potential legal action against manufacturers.
Source: Section 2
The bill refers to the Attorney General or another member of the Executive Council as assigned by this Act for the administration of the Stopping Illegal Handgun Smuggling Act, 2021. The specific effect on the Executive Council Act is not detailed in the provided text, beyond defining who the 'Minister' is.
Source: Section 1
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 does not have a published recorded division in the current official sources, so representative-by-representative vote counts are not shown.
No published representative vote breakdown
The current official sources do not publish a recorded division breakdown for this bill, so there is no representative-by-representative table to show.
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