National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians
The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians Act (the “Act”), previously known as Bill C-22, received Royal Assent on June 22, 2017 and is set to come into force on a day to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council. The Act establishes the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (the “Committee”) and makes several amendments to other acts, including the Access to Information Act, the Privacy Act and the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, among others. The mandate of the Committee is to review the existing framework of national security and intelligence and any matter that a minister of the Crown refers to it, while cooperating with each “review body” to avoid duplication of work. “Review body” is defined by the Act as any of the following: i) the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, ii) the Commissioner of the Communications Security Establishment or iii) the Security Intelligence Review Committee. For more information on Bill C-22, see the “Anti-Terrorism & Money-Laundering Update” from the June 2016 Charity & NFP Law Update, and the “Legislation Update” from the November 2016 Charity & NFP Law Update.
PHIPA Regulations Update
Ontario Regulation 329/04, proposed on July 7, 2017 as Proposal 17-HLTC024, will come into effect on October 1, 2017, and specifies when a health information custodian will be required to notify the Information and Privacy Commissioner regarding the theft, loss or unauthorized use or disclosure of personal health information. The new requirement to notify the Commissioner is prescribed by s. 12(3) of the Personal Health Information Protection Act. In addition, the regulation requires each health information custodian to report annually to the Commissioner on the number of times personal health information in the custody or control of the health information custodian was stolen, lost, used or disclosed without authorization in the previous calendar year. The reporting requirement commences March 1, 2019 and continues annually thereafter.
Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017
Bill 89, Supporting Children, Youth and Families Act, 2017 (“Bill 89”) received Royal Assent on June 1, 2017 and came into force on the same day. However, each of the four schedules contained in Bill 89 come into force on dates set by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor. Schedule 1 replaces the Child and Family Services Act with the new Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017; schedules 2 and 3 provide transitional amendments; and schedule 4 provides additional amendments to another thirty-six acts. In particular, schedule 1: Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, which is not yet in force, introduces several changes aimed at the promotion of diversity and inclusion in the provision of services for children and families, including First Nations, Inuk and Métis. For more information on Bill 89, see “Amendments Proposed to Child Protection Laws in Ontario” from the January 2017 Charity & NFP Law Update.
Implementation of Patients First Act, 2016
In the process of implementing the changes introduced by the Patients First Act, 2016, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care published Proposal 17-HLTC029 on July 4, 2017, proposing amendments to the six Ontario Regulations under the Local Health System Integration Act and is accepting comments from the public until September 4, 2017. In addition to several changes regarding the planning of French Language Services by the Local Health Integration Networks (“LHINs”), the proposal includes the establishment of an Audit Committee, Community Nominations Committee and Quality Committee by the board of directors of each LHIN. These committees will be required to report and be accountable to the board of directors of the LHIN and will be mandated to carry out various functions such as risk management, nominations and quality improvement. More information on the Patients First Act, 2016 can be found in our Charity & NFP Law Bulletin No. 401.
Gender Identity or Expression
On June 19, 2017, Bill C-16, An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code received Royal Assent and came into force. The Bill amended the Canadian Human Rights Act to include gender identity and gender expression as prohibited grounds of discrimination, and also amended the Criminal Code to include both terms in the definition of ‘identifiable group’ in relation to offences of hate propaganda. For additional information on this development, see “Gender Identity or Expression Now Prohibited Grounds of Discrimination”, below.