On the recommendation of the undersigned, the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, by and with the advice and concurrence of the Executive Council of Ontario, orders that:

Whereas Ontario has several business risk management programs aimed at helping producers manage business risks associated with agriculture beyond the producers’ control;

And whereas some of the business risk management programs are jointly funded by Canada and Ontario;

And whereas some of the business risk management programs are funded solely by Ontario;

And whereas some of the jointly-funded business risk management programs between Canada and Ontario require a review by an independent third party;

And whereas Ontario believes it is important decisions made under its business risk management programs be open and transparent as well as subject to third-party reviews;

And whereas Ontario established the Business Risk Management Review Committee pursuant to Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario’s prerogative power under OIC 1310/2011;

And whereas Ontario would like to make amendments to the operation of the Business Risk Management Review Committee to create further administrative efficiencies;

Now therefore and pursuant to the prerogative of Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario to establish bodies to advise and assist Her Majesty’s Government of Ontario, as well as make changes to those bodies, and to provide for the appointment of advisors to serve Her Majesty’s Government of Ontario in the discharge of its executive obligations and responsibilities, the

Business Risk Management Review Committee

as established under OIC 1310/2011, is continued as set out under this Order.

Part I – Interpretation

Interpretation

  1. For the purposes of interpreting this Order:
    1. Words in the singular include the plural and vice versa;
    2. Words in one gender include all genders;
    3. The headings do not form a part of this Order – they are for reference purposes only and will not affect the interpretation of this Order;
    4. Any reference to dollars or currency in this Order will be to Canadian dollars and currency;
    5. Any reference to a statute means a statute of the Province of Ontario, unless the context indicates otherwise;
    6. Any reference to a statute is to that statute and to the regulations made pursuant to that statute as they may be amended from time to time and to any statute or regulations that may be passed that have the effect of supplanting or superseding that statute or regulation unless a provision of this Order provides otherwise; and
    7. The words “include”, “includes” and “including” denote the subsequent list is not exhaustive.

Definitions

  1. For the purposes of this Order, including its recitals, the following terms will have the meanings set out below:
    “Chair”
    means the Chair of the BRMRC;
    “Administrator”
    means the person or entity, as the case may be, responsible for making the decision subject to the request for review;
    “Administrator Representative”
    means a representative of the Administrator, and may include the Administrator;
    “Applicant”
    means a person who applied to a Designated Program;
    “BRMRC”
    means the Business Risk Management Review Committee, as established under OIC 1310/2011 and amended by this OIC;
    “Business Day”
    means any working day, Monday to Friday inclusive, but excluding statutory and other holidays on which the Government of Ontario has elected to be closed for business;
    “Canada”
    means Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, unless the context indicates otherwise;
    “Deputy Minister”
    means the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs or any such other Minister who may be designated from time to time as the responsible Deputy Minister in relation to this Order in accordance with the Executive Council Act.
    “Designated Program”
    means a program assigned to the BRMRC for hearing requests for review in accordance with section 4 of this Order;
    “LGIC”
    means the Lieutenant Governor in Council;
    “Minister”
    means the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs or any such other Minister who may be designated from time to time as the responsible Minister in relation to this Order in accordance with the Executive Council Act;
    “Ministry”
    means the ministry of the Minister;
    “OIC 1310/2011”
    means Order-in-Council 1310/2011;
    “Ontario”
    means Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario, unless the context indicates otherwise;
    “Order”
    means this Order-in-Council;
    “Participant”
    means a person currently enrolled in a Designated Program;
    “Program Guidelines”
    means any written document setting out the requirements, terms and conditions governing the operation of a Designated Program; and
    “Vice-Chair”
    means the Vice-Chair of the BRMRC.

Purpose of the Risk Management Program Review Committee

  1. The BRMRC is responsible for reviewing an Applicant or Participant’s request for review, as the case may be, of an Administrator’s decision under a Designated Program.

Part II – Jurisdiction of the Risk Management Program Review Committee

  1. The Minister or the LGIC may designate a program as being a Designated Program via an order issued pursuant to sections 6.2 or 7 of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Act, as the case may be.
  2. The BRMRC has the authority to consider requests for reviews made under any Designated Program.

Part III – Funding For the Business Risk management review committee

  1. Funding for the BRMRC will come from the monies allocated to the Ministry for the purposes of the Designated Program. Funding for the BRMRC will be deemed to be administrative in nature.

Part IV – the Business Risk Management Review Committee

Size Of The Business Risk Management Review Committee

  1. The BRMRC will consist of a minimum of three (3) persons.

Establishment Of Specialized Rosters Within The Business Risk Management Review Committee

  1. An order designating a program as a Designated Program may require one or more specialized rosters be formed within the BRMRC to hear requests for review in relation to that Designated Program.

Appointments To The Business Risk Management Review Committee

    1. The Minister will be responsible for appointing all persons to the BRMRC.
    2. Ministerial appointments to the BRMRC will be for a term of up to three (3) years for the initial appointment that can then be renewed for another term of up to three years (3) at the Minister’s sole and absolute discretion.
    3. Individuals appointed to the BRMRC will sit at the pleasure of the Minister.
    4. Despite sections 9(2) and 9(3) of this Order, an individual’s appointment to the BRMRC will remain valid and in force if that individual is seized of one or more requests for review until a decision has been made in relation to that request for review or those requests for review, as the case may be.
    5. Where one or more specialized rosters within the BRMRC is established, the Minister will appoint a sufficient number of individuals for that specialized roster to meet any quorum requirements set out in the rules the BRMRC establishes pursuant to section 20(1) of this Order to process a request for review in relation to that Designated Program.
    6. The Minister will not appoint an individual to a specialized roster within the BRMRC if that individual does not meet all of the criteria to be appointed to that specialized roster.

Selection Of The Chair And Vice Chairs For The Business Risk Management Review Committee

  1. The Minister will select a Chair for the BRMRC.
  2. The Minister will select at least one Vice-Chair for the BRMRC. The Minister may select more than one Vice-Chair for the BRMRC.
  3. If an order designating a program as being a Designated Program requires a specialized roster within the BRMRC, the Minister will appoint at least one member of that specialized roster as a Vice-Chair.

Compensation For Appointees To The Business Risk Management Review Committee

    1. Appointees to the BRMRC may receive a per diem in accordance with any applicable directives issued by the Government of Ontario.
    2. Appointees to the BRMRC may also receive reasonable travel and meal expenses in accordance with the Government of Ontario’s Travel, Meal and Hospitality Expenses Directive, as amended.
  2. Should the Minister decide members of the BRMRC are to receive a per diem or travel expenses, such a per diem or travel expenses will be provided for via an Order-in-Council.

Part V – operation of the business risk management review committee

Meeting Of The Business Risk Management Review Committee

    1. The BRMRC will meet on an as needed basis.
    2. The BRMRC will primarily meet at 1 Stone Road, Guelph, Ontario when considering a Participant’s request for review in person.  Other locations may be considered by the BRMRC, if appropriate.

Making A Request For Review To The Business Risk Management Review Committee

  1. An Applicant or Participant who is not satisfied with the Administrator’s decision may submit a written request to the entity identified in the order establishing the Designated Program to have the BRMRC conduct a review of the Administrator’s decision.
  2. When an Applicant or Participant submits a written request for review of the Administrator’s decision, the written request for review will include, at a minimum, the following:
    1. The nature of the request for review;
    2. The grounds on which the Applicant or Participant intends to rely upon during the request for review; and
    3. Whether the Applicant or Participant wants the BRMRC to conduct the request for review in writing or in person, as per the Designated Program.

Manner Of Hearing The Request For Review

  1. The BRMRC may conduct a hearing in writing and/or in person, as per the Designated Program.
  2. Where an Applicant or Participant has requested the BRMRC to conduct a request for review either in writing or in person, the BRMRC will conduct the request for review in accordance with the choice of the Applicant or Participant.

Rules Of Procedure Governing Requests For Review

    1. The BRMRC may make rules governing the procedures in which a request for review will be conducted.
    2. The BRMRC may make additional rules of procedure pursuant to section 20(1) of this Order in relation to different Designated Programs.
    3. Where the BRMRC makes rules pursuant to section 20(1) of this Order, the BRMRC will make those rules publicly available.
    1. In the event of a conflict between any rules of procedure the BRMRC made pursuant to section 20(1) of this Order and this Order or an order establishing a Designated Program, the conflict will be resolved as follows:
      1. This Order;
      2. The rules of procedure established pursuant to section 20(1) of this Order; and
      3. The order establishing the Designated Program.
    2. For greater certainty, a conflict will not exist simply because one document supplements something in another document. A conflict will only be found if one document provides something is not needed when another document provides that something is needed.
    1. The BRMRC may amend, revoke or replace any rules the BRMRC makes pursuant to section 20(1) of this Order.
    2. Any changes the BRMRC makes to its rules pursuant to section 22(1) of this Order will not have a retroactive effect.

Decisions Of The Business Risk Management Review Committee

    1. The BRMRC will only make non-binding recommendations to the Administrator in relation to a request for review.
    2. The BRMRC will not make any recommendations having the effect of creating any type of exception or exemption to the eligibility criteria for the applicable Designated Program or any other provisions included in the applicable Guidelines to the Designated Program.
    3. Any recommendations made by the BRMRC will have the support of a majority of the panel members considering the request for review.
    4. Any recommendations made by the BRMRC will be in writing, will include written reasons for the recommendation(s) and will, at a minimum, be provided to the Applicant/Participant and to the Administrator.

Appeals From Business Risk Management Review Committee Decision

  1. No appeal lies from any recommendation made by the BRMRC.

Service Of Documents

    1. Documents in relation to any matter touching upon a request for review by the BRMRC will only be served via personal service, regular mail, courier, email or facsimile.
    2. A document will be deemed to be sufficiently given or served:
      1. If personally served, on the Business Day the document was personally served;
      2. If sent by regular mail, on the fifth (5th) Business Day after the day the document was mailed;
      3. If sent by courier, on the second (2nd) Business Day after the day the document was provided to the courier; or
      4. If sent by email or facsimile, on the next Business Day following the day indicated in the sent mail or proof of facsimile transmission the document was sent via facsimile.
    3. The onus of proving whether a document has been sufficiently served will be on party claiming to have served the document.
    4. Section 25(3) of this Order does not apply to the BRMRC.
    5. In the event of a postal disruption, regular mail will not be a means of valid service until the postal disruption has been resolved.

Part VI – Terms Of Reference For the Business Risk Management Review Committee

    1. The BRMRC will have a terms of reference.
    2. The terms of reference will set out, at a minimum, the following:
      1. The administrative roles and responsibilities for the Chair, Vice-Chair and other members of the BRMRC;
      2. The management of any conflicts of interest;
      3. The process and procedures to maintain the confidentiality of information; and
      4. The administrative support available to the BRMRC.
    3. The terms of reference, and any amendments thereto, will not be binding without the Minister’s prior written approval.
  2. In the event of a conflict between this Order, the terms of reference and any applicable Guidelines for a Designated Program, that conflict will be resolved in the following order:
    1. This Order;
    2. The terms of reference; and
    3. The applicable Guidelines for the Designated Program.
  3. For the purposes of determining whether a conflict exists pursuant to section 27 of this Order, a conflict will be found where the terms or reference or the applicable Guidelines for the Designated Program (as the case may be) provide for something that is prohibited under this Order or if the terms of reference or the applicable Guidelines for the Designated Program (as the case may be) provide something is not needed which is strictly required under this Order. A conflict will not exist if the terms or reference or the applicable Guidelines for the Designated Program set out additional requirements that must be followed.

Part VII – Administrative Support For The Business Risk Management Review Committee

    1. The Deputy Minister will arrange for the administrative, financial and other support of the BRMRC.  This support will be equal to the level of support other advisory agencies within the Ministry receive.
    2. The administrative support for the BRMRC will, at a minimum, consist of a secretariat.
    3. The secretariat may consist of persons employed by the Ministry or the Administrator, provided those persons are not involved in the decision-making process in respect of the Designated Programs in which the BRMRC is responsible for considering requests for review under.

Part VIII – General

Waiver Of Timing Requirements

    1. The BRMRC may waive any timing requirements set out in this Order or the BRMRC’s rules made pursuant to section 20 of this Order if an Applicant or Participant is unable to meet the timing requirements as a result of a disability or extenuating circumstances beyond the Applicant or Participant’s control.
    2. Where the BRMRC waives a timing requirement pursuant to section 30(1) of this Order, the BRMRC may set out a new timeline that must be met.

    Revocation Of Order-In-Council 1310/2011

    1. Subject to section 31(2) of this Order, OIC 1310/2011 is revoked as of February 1, 2019.
    2. The following rules will apply to any requests for review pending before the BRMRC at the time OIC 1310/2011 is revoked:
      1. The BRMRC will consider the request for review under the process set out in OIC 1310/2011 as if OIC 1310/2011 had not been revoked; and
      2. The appointments for appointees to the BRMRC who are currently seized of a request for review will remain valid until those members have dealt with the request for review at the time OIC 1310/2011 is revoked.

This Order is effective as of February 1, 2019.

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Approved and Ordered: December 12, 2018

Amended by: Order in Council 103/2021