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ARTICLE · 17 JULY 2014

The Accountability & Transparency Act – How It Might Impact School Boards

Miller Thomson
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The government has re-introduced the Public Sector and MPP Accountability and Transparency Act (formerly Bill 179), now Bill 8.

CanadaConsumer Protection
Nadya Tymochenko
Nadya Tymochenko
Gillian Tuck Kutarna
Gillian Tuck Kutarna
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The government has re-introduced the Public Sector and MPP Accountability and Transparency Act (formerly Bill 179 covered in our March 2014 Client Alert), now Bill 8.  Comprised of 11 Schedules, Bill 8 addresses various issues relating to public accountability, and of particular note are the publication of expense claims and an increase in the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman to include school boards. 

The new omnibus statute also includes a schedule which expands the reach of the province's wage restraint measures. As with its predecessors Bill 179, and Part II.I of the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act currently in effect, Schedule 1 of the new Act (the Broader Public Sector Compensation Act, 2014) prohibits "designated employers", including school boards, from increasing the compensation paid to their designated executives. 

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