Category: Alerts

Bill 197 – Safer Roads and Communities Act, 2024 contains sweeping amendments to the Highway Traffic Act of Ontario. While its stated intent is to improve road safety and crack down on impaired driving, street racing, and vehicle theft, certain clauses dramatically expand government authority—particularly in ways that could intrude onto private property and open the door to abuse.

Source: https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-43/session-1/bill-197

Here’s a breakdown of how this bill potentially extends government authority onto private property and what risks it carries:

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🔍 1. Expanded Definition of “Driver” & “Operator”

• Clause 48 (18) redefines “driver” to include “a person who has care, charge or control of a motor vehicle while the vehicle is on or off a highway.”
  
• Section 216 (8) also includes those with control of a vehicle that has “recently travelled from or off the highway.”
  

🚨 Danger:

These broadened definitions allow police to enforce Highway Traffic Act violations on private driveways, parking lots, and even rural or private land—not just on public roads.

This opens the door for:

• Increased surveillance and enforcement actions without a warrant on private property.
  
• Vehicle stops and document demands in places previously beyond regular traffic jurisdiction.
  
• Ambiguity around “recently travelled from a highway”, which can be broadly interpreted.
  

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🔍 2. Police Powers to Demand Documents & Stop Vehicles

• Section 2, Clause (f) authorizes police officers to:
  
  
  “require a driver or operator of a vehicle to stop the vehicle and surrender documents.”
  
  

🚨 Danger:

This section does not restrict where this stop can occur. In combination with the expanded “driver” definition, it allows off-highway enforcement, potentially:

• At your home, if your vehicle is idling or just parked.
  
• On private roads, farms, or driveways.
  
• Creating potential for abusive stops or targeted enforcement, especially where no public danger exists.
  

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🔍 3. New Regulation-Making Powers Override the Act

• Section 2(2):
  
  
  “In the event of a conflict between a regulation made under this section and this Act, the regulation prevails.”
  
  

🚨 Danger:

This allows Cabinet (not elected legislators) to create regulations that override the Act itself, bypassing parliamentary debate. This can be used to:

• Expand enforcement zones without public accountability.
  
• Create new vehicle classifications or obligations for private vehicle use.
  
• Mandate equipment, insurance, or inspections for vehicles used on private land.
  

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🔍 4. Indefinite Licence Suspensions Without Court Oversight

• Several sections (e.g., 41.0.1, 41.0.2) introduce automatic, indefinite licence suspensions upon convictions, including:
  
  • Impaired driving causing death.
    
  • Vehicle theft (10, 15 years, or indefinitely for repeated offenses).
    

🚨 Danger:

While harsh penalties for serious crimes are understandable, automatic and indefinite suspensions without independent tribunal oversight may result in:

• Disproportionate punishment without room for context.
  
• Lifetime bans for offenses years in the past with no pathway for appeal beyond a strict 25-year benchmark.
  
• Permanently affecting livelihood of individuals who may rely on vehicles for work—especially in rural Ontario.
  

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🔍 5. Ministry Enforcement Vehicles Given Police-Like Powers

• Section 23(d) adds “ministry vehicles” to the definition of emergency vehicles authorized to:
  
  • Speed
    
  • Stop traffic
    
  • Use flashing lights
    

🚨 Danger:

Non-police ministry staff may now act with emergency enforcement powers, with fewer checks and balances, including potential action on private property under enforcement of vehicle-related rules.

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❗Summary: What This Means for Private Property Owners

Bill 197 significantly expands the Ontario government’s authority over vehicles and drivers, even when they’re on private land. It does so by:

• Broadening definitions of driver and operator.
  
• Empowering police to act beyond highways.
  
• Allowing off-highway stops and document checks.
  
• Granting regulation power that can override statutes.
  
• Removing barriers to indefinite licence suspension.
  

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⚠️ Dangers of Abuse:

• Harassment of individuals on their own property.
  
• Increased targeting of marginalized or rural communities.
  
• Loss of due process through regulatory changes that bypass elected debate.
  
• Unintended criminalization of private behavior involving vehicles not used on public roads.