At a human rights workshop in the co-op, we learned that\u00a0Ontario has an Apology Act, which came into force in Ontario on April 23, 2009. It allows us to express sorrow or regret without worrying that the comments can later be used against us in a civil lawsuit.<\/p>\n
Yes, that means that you can say you are sorry, and this apology can\u2019t be used to prove you are responsible for whatever you apologized for.
\nAn apology:
\n\u2022 is not an admission of liability,
\n\u2022 does not void or impair an insurance contract, and
\n\u2022 is not taken into account in determining liability<\/p>\n
But don\u2019t admit liability. If you run into someone else\u2019s car, you can say you are terribly sorry that this happened, but don\u2019t say it was all your fault. \u00a0An admission of liability is still an admission of liability.<\/p>\n
An apology is often key to the healing process; it can promote accountability and transparency\u00a0and shorten\u00a0or avoid\u00a0litigation.<\/p>\n
Here’s the legislation:<\/p>\n
Apology Act, S.O. 2009, c3.<\/strong> Definition<\/p>\n 1.\u00a0In this Act,<\/p>\n \u201capology\u201d means an expression of sympathy or regret, a statement that a person is sorry or any other words or actions indicating contrition or commiseration, whether or not the words or actions admit fault or liability or imply an admission of fault or liability in connection with the matter to which the words or actions relate. 2009, c.\u00a03, s.\u00a01.<\/p>\n Effect of apology on liability<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0(1)\u00a0An apology made by or on behalf of a person in connection with any matter,<\/p>\n (a) does not, in law, constitute an express or implied admission of fault or liability by the person in connection with that matter;<\/p>\n (b) does not, despite any wording to the contrary in any contract of insurance or indemnity and despite any other Act or law, void, impair or otherwise affect any insurance or indemnity coverage for any person in connection with that matter; and<\/p>\n (c) shall not be taken into account in any determination of fault or liability in connection with that matter. 2009, c.\u00a03, s.\u00a02\u00a0(1).<\/p>\n Exception<\/p>\n (2)\u00a0Clauses (1) (a) and (c) do not apply for the purposes of proceedings under the\u00a0Provincial Offences Act. 2009, c.\u00a03, s.\u00a02\u00a0(2).<\/p>\n Evidence of apology not admissible<\/p>\n (3)\u00a0Despite any other Act or law, evidence of an apology made by or on behalf of a person in connection with any matter is not admissible in any civil proceeding, administrative proceeding or arbitration as evidence of the fault or liability of any person in connection with that matter. 2009, c.\u00a03, s.\u00a02\u00a0(3).<\/p>\n Exception<\/p>\n (4)\u00a0However, if a person makes an apology while testifying at a civil proceeding, including while testifying at an out of court examination in the context of the civil proceeding, at an administrative proceeding or at an arbitration, this section does not apply to the apology for the purposes of that proceeding or arbitration. 2009, c.\u00a03, s.\u00a02\u00a0(4).<\/p>\n Criminal or provincial offence proceeding or conviction<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0Nothing in this Act affects,<\/p>\n (a) the admissibility of any evidence in,<\/p>\n (i) a criminal proceeding, including a prosecution for perjury, or<\/p>\n (ii) a proceeding under the\u00a0Provincial Offences Act; or<\/p>\n (b) the use that may be made in the proceedings referred to in subsection 2 (3) of a conviction for a criminal or provincial offence. 2009, c.\u00a03, s.\u00a03.<\/p>\n Acknowledgment,\u00a0Limitations Act, 2002<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0For the purposes of section 13 of the\u00a0Limitations Act, 2002,\u00a0nothing in this Act,<\/p>\n (a) affects whether an apology constitutes an acknowledgment of liability; or<\/p>\n (b) prevents an apology from being admitted in evidence. 2009, c.\u00a03, s.\u00a04.<\/p>\n 5.\u00a0Omitted (provides for coming into force of provisions of this Act). 2009, c.\u00a03, s.\u00a05.<\/p>\n 6.\u00a0Omitted (enacts short title of this Act). 2009, c.\u00a03, s.\u00a06.<\/p>\n Source: \u00a0https:\/\/www.ontario.ca\/laws\/statute\/09a03<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At a human rights workshop in the co-op, we learned that\u00a0Ontario has an Apology Act, which came into force in Ontario on April 23, 2009. It allows us to express sorrow or regret without worrying that the comments can later be used against us in a civil lawsuit. Yes, that means that you can say … Continue reading “Ontario’s Apology Act”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[644],"tags":[101],"class_list":["post-2973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conflict-problems-and-mediation","tag-membereducation"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woodsworthcoop.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woodsworthcoop.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woodsworthcoop.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woodsworthcoop.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woodsworthcoop.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.woodsworthcoop.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2973\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woodsworthcoop.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woodsworthcoop.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woodsworthcoop.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nConsolidation Period:\u00a0From April 23, 2009 to the\u00a0e-Laws currency date.\u00a0No Amendments.<\/p>\n