Modernizing
the Practice
of Veterinary
Medicine
INVESTIGATIONS
& RESOLUTIONS
•Publicizing Notices
of Hearings•
Existing Provisions
Under the current provisions of the Veterinarians Act, the College is not
permitted to publish members’ names until there is a discipline finding. As
a result, the College cannot publicize a notice of hearing, nor a member’s
name prior to a hearing.
What Change is Proposed?
It is proposed that hearings of the Discipline Committee and the Accredita-
tion Committee, which are already open to the public, will be clearly made
known prior to a hearing.
Information concerning a hearing by a panel of the Discipline Committee
or the Accreditation Committee will be publicly available at least 30 days
before the intended date of the hearing. The information will include the
name of the member against whom allegations have been made, the
intended date, time and place of the hearing and a summary of the allega-
tions against the member.
Exclusion of public
The panel may make an order that the public be excluded from a hearing
or any part of it if the panel is satisfied that:
• matters involving public security may be disclosed;
• financial or personal or other matters may be disclosed at the
hearing of such a nature that the harm created by disclosure
would outweigh the desirability of adhering to the principle that
hearings be open to the public;
• a person involved in a criminal proceeding or in a civil suit or
proceeding may be prejudiced; or
• the safety of a person may be jeopardized.
Orders preventing public disclosure
In situations in which the panel makes an order excluding the public from
a hearing, the panel may make orders it considers necessary to prevent the
public disclosure of matters disclosed at the hearing, including orders ban-
ning the publication or broadcasting of those matters.
Why is the College Considering Changes to this Concept?
The lack of transparency related to the current provisions in the Act is not
in keeping with more modern legislation nor with Ontario’s legal system.
Further, it does not allow interested parties to be aware of, nor attend,
hearings which may concern them. Not allowing for public hearings may
lead to the appearance of bias and secrecy on the part of the regulator.
The new proposed provisions relating to hearings would modernize the
Act, ensure that it is in line with other professions, and allow for increased
transparency.
34 Achieving a Modern Approach to the Regulation of Veterinary Medicine in Ontario