On May 17, 2007, the Government of Ontario passed legislation, which took effect in early 2008, providing for broad information sharing between various ministries. The legislation is meant to create regulatory efficiency in a number of ways, ranging from verification of accuracy of records to making available information that would assist in determining whether an organization may be entitled to an approval.
The Regulatory Modernization Act permits field staff to notify other ministries of issues that are likely to be relevant to a statute administered or enforced by that ministry. It allows ministries to share use-specific compliance-related information for specified regulatory compliance purposes under a designated piece of legislation. It also enables ministers responsible for designated legislation to create special teams of field staff from different ministries to work together on specific compliance projects such as targeting serious repeat offenders. The legislation provides ministers with the power to publish information about an organization's compliance record as a deterrent to future violations, broaden the scope for consideration of other offences by authorizing prosecutors to request that a court consider relevant prior convictions under any provincial law in sentencing of a defendant, and require courts to provide reasons when prior convictions raised by prosecutors are not found to justify more severe penalties.
The Act also provides for sharing of information respecting public complaints, inspection and audit information, and compliance histories. The information will also be available for consideration when issuing licences, permits and certificates; and to assist in planning and conducting examinations, tests, inspections or audits.
The Regulatory Modernization Act is expected to be the first in a broader scheme meant to "modernize" business compliance in Ontario by which the government intends to facilitate enforcement of approximately 85 statutes and almost 600 regulations across the Province.
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