The ''Apology Act, 2009'' (Bill 108; ) is a law in the province of Ontario that provides that an apology made by a person does not necessarily constitute an admission of guilt.

Summary

The law contains several exceptions, including apologies made while testifying at a civil proceeding and to allow some apologies to be used as admission of guilt under the Provincial Offences Act.

Legislative history

The bill was originally introduced in April 2008 as a private member's bill by

David Orazietti David Michael Orazietti (born 12 November 1968) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2016 who represented the northern Ontario riding of Sault Ste. Marie. He se ...

, Liberal backbench MPP for

Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie may refer to: People * Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, a Native American tribe in Michigan Places * Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada ** Sault Ste. Marie (federal electoral district), a Canadian federal electora ...

. The bill was re-introduced in October that year by Attorney General Chris Bentley, stating that "we see fewer and fewer acknowledgments, demonstrations of regret, demonstrations of remorse, until the lawsuit." The passage of the bill was supported by the

Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC; ), often shortened to the Ontario PC Party, or simply the PCs, colloquially known as the Tories, is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Ontario, Canada. During its uninterr ...

, despite some original opposition from critic

Christine Elliott Christine Janice Elliott (born April 13, 1955) is a retired Canadian politician in Ontario who served as the 11th deputy premier of Ontario and the Ontario minister of health from 2018 to 2022. Elliott was elected to represent the riding of ...

, but opposed by the Ontario NDP.

Public perception

The law has attracted a level of popular commentary, often focused on the

stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

of Canadian usage of the word "sorry", even though most American states have similar laws. Several other

Canadian provinces Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North America—New Brunswick, N ...

, such as British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba have similar laws in place. The law received support from the Ontario Hospital Association, the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, and the Ontario Medical Association, as well as the Ontario Bar Association.

References

{{reflist

External links

Text of the Act in English
Ontario provincial legislation 2009 in Canadian law 2009 in Ontario