June 7, 2019: A weekly scan of new legislation and regulations important to the Ontario health sector, as well as articles of interest.
Bills
Bill 74, the People’s Health Care Act, 2019
Schedule A to Bill 74, the Connecting Care Act, 2019, was proclaimed into force on June 6.
Bill 100, Protecting What Matters Most Act (Budget Measures), 2019
I reported on this Bill before, but it received royal assent on May 29, 2019. See below for summary as a refresher.
This Bill was introduced by Hon. Victor Fedeli, Minister of Finance.
The Bill includes 61 schedules, each relating to amendments to a different existing statute. The following schedules might be of interest to the health care community:
| Schedule 31 | Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act | Amendments include data integration, provision for the designation of units within ministries that may collect personal information in order to compile information for among other things the planning for the delivery of programs and services provided, provides for rules governing the collection, use and disclosure of this personal information and the Information and Privacy Commissioner is given the authority to conduct reviews of the units’ practices and procedures.
The grounds on which personal information can be disclosed under Part III of the Act are also amended.
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| Schedule 53 | Public Sector Labour Relations Transition Act, 1997 | Section 8 of the Public Sector Labour Relations Transition Act, 1997 is repealed and replaced. The new section 8 provides that the Act applies when two or more health service providers are amalgamated or when all, or substantially all, of the assets of one health service provider are transferred to another health service provider. Rules respecting the application of the Act in those circumstances are also set out. The Lieutenant Governor in Council is given the power to make regulations that provide for transitional matters in connection with the implementation of these amendments, and complementary and consequential amendments are also made. | | |
| Schedule 61 | Vital Statistics Act | The Schedule amends the Vital Statistics Act. Instead of tabling in the Assembly the annual report of registrations under the Act that subsection 3 (5) requires the Registrar General to prepare, the Registrar General is required to publish it in a manner that the Registrar General considers appropriate.
In deciding under subsection 34 (1) to correct an error made in a registration, the Registrar General no longer requires a statutory declaration to supplement evidence of the error. The Schedule adds powers for the Registrar General to make regulations governing the correction of errors in a registration. It also transfers some of the present regulation-making powers of the Lieutenant Governor in Council to the Registrar General.
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More Information: Bill 100
Proposed and Approved Regulations
No new and approved regulations of interest.
Ontario Newsroom
Ontario Government Protecting What Matters Most
Promises Made, Promises Kept: Ontario’s Government for the People Marks One-Year Anniversary
Ontario government taking a flexible, fair and reasonable approach to managing public sector compensation
Articles of Interest
Cannabis
How do you sell cannabis vape devices you’re not allowed to show the customer? Turns out it’s hard
Ontario signs new deals to ease cannabis supply crunch
Ontario Health Teams
Updated Timelines for Ontario Health Teams
Health Care
Families of patients with SMA meet with Ontario health minister, hope ‘miracle drug’ will get funded
Unions push back after Ontario moves to cap public-sector wage increases
Ontario government moves to cap pay increases for public service workers
Privacy
P.E.I: 1041 dental patients identified in privacy breach
Exclusive: Privacy commissioner suspends consultation following Equifax data breach, says lawyer
Professionalism
Disgraced former fertility doctor’s actions now subject to disciplinary hearing
Things to do this Weekend
40 things to do in Toronto this weekend