Better for People, Smarter for Business Act, 2020

Last updated

Better for People, Smarter for Business Act, 2020
Ontario Legislative Building, Toronto, South view 20170417 1.jpg
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
  • An Act to reduce burdens on people and businesses by enacting, amending and repealing various Acts and revoking a regulation (Bill 213, 2020)
Territorial extent Ontario
Enacted by Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Royal assent 8 December 2020
Legislative history
First reading 6 October 2020
Second reading 24 November 2020
Third reading 7 December 2020

The Better for People, Smarter for Business Act, 2020 (Bill 213, 2020; French : Loi de 2020 pour mieux servir la population et faciliter les affaires) is a law in the province of Ontario that made a number of changes to regulations in the province.

Contents

Summary

The bill contained 28 different schedules.

Schedule 1 would amend the Business Corporations Act , including removing the minimum Canadian director residency requirement and lowering the approval threshold for a written ordinary resolution of the shareholders. [1]

Schedule 2 would amend the Canada Christian College and School of Graduate Theological Studies Act, 1999 to grant university status to the Evangelical Christian Bible college Canada Christian College, granting it additional degree-conferring powers and renaming it to the Canada University and School of Graduate Theological Studies.

Schedule 3 amended the Change of Name Act to remove the ability of a person to marry to simply assume the surname of their spouse or for them both to combine their names. Instead, married couples would have to apply for a legal name change similarly to any other change of name.

Schedule 9 amended the Ministry of the Environment Act to allow the Minister for the Environment to set a fee for providing documents that fell under the Ministry's purview.

Schedule 13 renamed the Official Notices Publication Act as the Ontario Gazette Act and amended it to allow the Queen’s Printer to determine the timing and manner of publication of The Ontario Gazette.

Schedule 15 dissolved the Ontario Highway Transport Board and repealed the Ontario Highway Transport Board Act . The Schedule also provided for the Minister of Transportation to make transitional regulations to phase out the Act.

Schedule 24 amended the Redeemer Reformed Christian College Act, 1998 to grant university status to Redeemer Reformed Christian College in Hamilton, renaming it Redeemer University.

Schedule 28 amended the Tyndale University College and Seminary Act, 2003 to grant university status to Tyndale University College & Seminary in Toronto, renaming it Tyndale University.

Legislative history

The bill was introduced to the Legislative Assembly in October 2020 by Brampton South MPP and Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction Prabmeet Sarkaria.

It received royal assent from Lieutenant-Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell on 7 December 2020.

Reactions

The bill was criticised by some commentators for being an omnibus bill, including unrelated items to the main goal of the bill in order to try to avoid controversy. [2]

The Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario stated that the bill "takes some initial steps towards a digital-first approach," but that more was needed to be done to modernise provincial government procedures. [3]

Schedule 3 of the Act was criticised by some as an attempt to impose a "marriage tax," with critics stating it would increase the amount of bureaucracy married couples faced. [4]

Canada Christian College controversy

The move to grant Canada Christian College university status in particular provoked strong reactions, especially considering that it had been introduced without the Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board (PEQAB) having completed review of the college's request for university status.

That schedule of the bill was described by some critics as corruption, due to the College's president Charles McVety having close ties to Premier Doug Ford and having been a prominent supporter of Ford's campaign for the Progressive Conservative Party leadership in 2018. Financial information submitted to the PEQAB had additionally raised questions as to how the college's charitable funds were being used, with the information revealing that McVety and his son had been given six-figure loans from the college - owing $860,000 by the end of 2019 — which were allegedly used to buy jet skis and vehicles. [5]

The move to grant the College university status was also criticised as the College's internal regulations were strictly conservative and the College leadership had a history of making discriminatory statements. [6] The College's internal regulations required that students "refrain from practices that are Biblically condemned" and prohibited things such as dancing and premarital sex. [7] McVety had previously been involved in campaigns against LGBT+ rights and updating the province's sex ed curriculum, as well as having made islamophobic statements. [8] The College had also previously hosted events with far-right politicians, such as Geert Wilders. [9]

Legacy

CBC News named the bill one of the most controversial bills in Ontario in 2020. [10]

In May 2021, the government announced that the “PEQAB has recommended that the institution not be granted expanded degree-granting authority or a name change at this time" and that "the minister has reviewed and accepts their recommendation.” In response to the government's decision not to implement Schedule 2 of the bill, McVety attacked the PEQAB as "political corruptness," alleging that it had misrepresented the College's application. [11]

Related Research Articles

Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is part of the Constitution of Canada. It is commonly known as the notwithstanding clause. Sometimes referred to as the override power, it allows Parliament or provincial legislatures to temporarily override sections 2 and 7–15 of the Charter. The clause was part of the 'Kitchen Accord' of 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legislative Assembly of Ontario</span> Unicameral legislature of Ontario

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal assent by the lieutenant governor of Ontario to become law. Together, the Legislative Assembly and Lieutenant Governor make up the unicameral Legislature of Ontario. The assembly meets at the Ontario Legislative Building at Queen's Park in the provincial capital of Toronto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Redeemer University</span> University in Ontario, Canada

Redeemer University is a private Christian liberal arts and science university located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, in the community of Ancaster. Founded in 1982, Redeemer stands in the Reformed Tradition and offers Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Education, Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Kinesiology, and Bachelor of Science degrees.

Tyndale University is a Canadian private interdenominational evangelical Christian university in Toronto, Ontario, which offers undergraduate and graduate programs. Tyndale students come from over 40 different Christian denominations.

Charles H. McVety is a Canadian evangelical Christian leader and conservative political activist. He has been the president of Canada Christian College in Whitby, Ontario since 1993, taking over for his father, and was president of Canada Family Action until 2008. He is perhaps best known for campaigning to repeal the law legalizing same-sex marriage in Canada. McVety played a significant role in helping to elect Doug Ford as the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. According to the CBC, McVety is "one of the most powerful leaders of the Christian Right in [Canada]".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canada Christian College</span> Private Bible college in Ontario, Canada

Canada Christian College and School of Graduate Theological Studies, also known as Canada Christian College, is a private evangelical Bible college in Whitby, Ontario, Canada. As of 2020, over 6,500 people have graduated from Canada Christian College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doug Ford</span> Premier of Ontario since 2018

Douglas Robert Ford Jr. is a Canadian politician and businessman who has served as the 26th and current premier of Ontario since June 2018 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party since March 2018. He represents the Toronto riding of Etobicoke North in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Thompson (politician)</span> Canadian politician

Lisa M. Thompson is a Canadian politician who serves as Ontario's Minister of Rural Affairs. She has represented the riding of Huron—Bruce in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party since 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd Smith (politician)</span> Canadian politician

Todd Andrew Smith is a former Canadian politician and Ontario cabinet minister. He was the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Bay of Quinte from 2018 until 2024, and previously represented Prince Edward—Hastings from 2011 to 2018. Smith is a member of the Progressive Conservative party and has held a number of cabinet positions under Doug Ford, including Minister of Government and Consumer Services from June to November 2018; Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade from November 2018 to June 2019; Ontario Government House Leader from June 2018 to June 2019; and Minister of Children, Community and Social Services from June 2019 to June 2021; and Minister of Energy from June 2021 to June 2024, and Minister of Education from June to August 2024. On August 16, 2024, Smith announced that he was resigning from cabinet and as an MPP effective immediately to take up a private sector position with Candu Energy as Vice-President of Marketing and Business Development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rod Phillips (politician)</span>

Rod Phillips is a Canadian businessman, serving as the Vice-Chair of Canaccord Genuity, a Canadian based global financial services company. He also currently serves on the board of Aecon Group Inc. He is a former politician who sat as the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Ajax from 2018 to 2022. A member of the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party, Phillips served as Ontario's minister of the environment, conservation and parks from 2018 to 2019, minister of finance from 2019 to 2020, and minister of long-term care from 2021 to 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">42nd Parliament of Ontario</span> 2018–2022 Canadian provincial legislature

The 42nd Legislative Assembly of Ontario was a legislature of the province of Ontario, Canada. The membership was set by the 2018 Ontario general election and sat for two sessions until it was dissolved on May 3, 2022 in advance of the 2022 Ontario general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Lecce</span> Canadian politician (born 1986)

Stephen Francis Lecce is a Canadian politician and Ontario's current minister of energy and electrification. Lecce served as the Ontario minister of education from 2019 to 2024. A member of the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party, Lecce is the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for King—Vaughan, representing the riding in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since his election in 2018. Before running for office, Lecce worked in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) as the director of media relations during Stephen Harper's tenure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goldie Ghamari</span> Canadian politician

Golsa "Goldie" Ghamari is a Canadian politician who has represented the riding of Carleton in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 2018. Before entering politics, Ghamari was a lawyer who specialized in international trade law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Bethlenfalvy</span> Canadian businessman and politician

Peter Bethlenfalvy is a Canadian businessman and politician who has been the finance minister for Ontario since December 31, 2020. Bethlenfalvy has sat in the Ontario Legislature as the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Pickering—Uxbridge since the 2018 Ontario provincial election, representing the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party. He served as President of the Ontario Treasury Board from 2018 to 2021.

<i>Bill 66: Restoring Ontarios Competitiveness Act, 2018</i>

An Act to restore Ontario's competitiveness by amending or repealing certain Acts is a law adopted on April 3, 2019, during the 42nd Parliament of Ontario. Critics of the bill argue that, if passed, it will repeal a number of consumer protections, labour laws, anti-crime rules, clean water rules, child safety rules, and environmental protections in the Province of Ontario. On the other hand, one study showed that there were significant public savings to be had through adoption of the bill: The City of Waterloo saw a 14% drop in the average amount of the winning bid for public construction projects while the city of Toronto, in 2019, could have saved up to $381 million.

<i>Supporting Ontarios Recovery Act, 2020</i>

The Supporting Ontario’s Recovery Act, 2020 is a law in the province of Ontario that shielded organisations from lawsuits over their role in the spread of COVID-19 and banned city councils in the province from using ranked voting in municipal elections.

<i>Accelerating Access to Justice Act, 2021</i>

The Accelerating Access to Justice Act, 2021 is a law in the province of Ontario that amended the judicial appointments process in the province and made a number of other changes.

The Ontario minister's zoning orders controversy refers to a controversy of the government of Ontario's use of minister's zoning orders (MZOs), which allows it to override municipal council decisions on development. Both the frequency of their use and the way in which the government has used them has come under criticism.

The Ontario sex education curriculum controversy refers to the debates over reforms of the sex education curriculum in the province of Ontario during the 2010s.

<i>Making Ontario Open for Business Act, 2018</i> Ontario, Canada statute

The Making Ontario Open for Business Act is a law in the province of Ontario that froze the minimum wage in the province and removing a number of protections of workers' rights.

References

  1. ↑ "Ontario's Bill 213: Proposed changes to the Business Corporations Act".
  2. ↑ "How Doug Ford's COVID-19 legislation helps advance his party's agenda". CBC News. 22 October 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  3. ↑ "Bill 213: Better for People, Smarter for Business Act, 2020 (Reducing regulatory burdens) | AMCTO".
  4. ↑ "No 'marriage tax' for Ontario despite suggestions to the contrary, government says". 29 October 2020.
  5. ↑ Cohn, Martin Regg (9 November 2020). "Charles McVety borrows heavily from his Christian college charity. He also holds a political IOU from Doug Ford". Toronto Star. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  6. ↑ "'Listen to Ontarians'; Ford government urged to deny degree-granting status to controversial Christian college". 3 December 2020.
  7. ↑ "Ford denies granting favour to evangelical college".
  8. ↑ "YOU ASKED: Why did MPP Norm Miller vote in favour of a bill granting university status to Charles McVety's school?". 11 December 2020.
  9. ↑ "The real reason the Ford government wants to let Canada Christian College grant degrees". 21 October 2020.
  10. ↑ Crawley, Mike (10 December 2020). "Ontario's most controversial bills of 2020". www.cbc.ca. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  11. ↑ Rushowy, Kristin (21 May 2021). "Charles McVety denounces 'vicious attacks' as Canada Christian College is denied university status". Toronto Star. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.