Summary#

The Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Amendment Act (Interim Period), 2019 amends the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. It was enacted as Chapter 11 of Ontario’s 2019 statutes. Its stated purpose is to set temporary rules for appointing inspectors and assigning their powers during an interim period.

• The Solicitor General may appoint any person as Chief Inspector for the interim period.
• That Chief Inspector may appoint any person as an inspector for the same period.
• The Act applies to those appointed inspectors as if they were inspectors of the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
• People in classes set by regulation may exercise the same powers as the Society’s inspectors.
• The Solicitor General may make regulations to carry out these rules, including treating references to the Society in specified parts of the Act as references to named people or organizations.
• The interim period began when the bill received Royal Assent and was to end January 1, 2020, unless a regulation set another date.

What it means for you#

• Government: The Solicitor General gets the power to appoint the Chief Inspector and make regulations for the interim rules. The Chief Inspector gets the power to appoint inspectors.
• People or organizations subject to inspection: Appointed inspectors are treated as Society inspectors under the Act. Prescribed classes of people may also use the same inspector powers. The bill does not set out the specific powers inspectors can use; the parent Act was not supplied, so I could not verify them against current law.
• Animal owners and keepers: The bill does not create a new application or review process. It changes who may be appointed or authorized to exercise inspector powers during the interim period.
• The Society: The bill does not create a new independent agency. It allows regulations to redirect certain references to the Society to other specified people or organizations.

Money#

No cost information is in the available material.

• The bill allows appointments and regulations, but gives no estimate of staffing, administration, enforcement, or other costs.
• It does not set fees, fines, benefits, or a funding amount.

What is unclear#

• The materials do not say whether a regulation extended the interim period beyond January 1, 2020.
• The bill does not set qualifications or other criteria for appointing the Chief Inspector or inspectors.
• The classes of people who may use inspector powers depend on regulations; those regulations are not included.
• The parent Act was not supplied, so the exact inspector powers and the effect of applying section 6.1(2) with modifications could not be verified.
• The bill does not explain which people or organizations could be named in regulations to replace references to the Society, or how that would work in practice.

Case for#

• A possible argument for the bill is that it provides a temporary way to appoint inspectors while arrangements for administering the Act are in transition.
• Allowing the Chief Inspector to appoint inspectors could give the system flexibility during that period.
• The power to prescribe classes and name other people or organizations in regulations could let the government adapt the temporary arrangements without another Act.

Case against#

• The bill allows appointments of “any person” and does not set qualifications or criteria in its text.
• Prescribed classes may receive the same powers as Society inspectors, but the bill itself does not identify those classes or explain how they would be overseen.
• It is unclear how changing references to the Society in parts of the Act would affect responsibility and accountability.
• The bill provides no cost estimate or detail about how many people might be appointed.