1. Application of Rules

1.01 These Rules apply to all hearings before an Advisory Board held under section 393 (Insurance Agent Licences) or 397 (Insurance Adjuster Licences) of the Insurance Act.

2. Interpretation

2.01 These Rules shall be broadly interpreted to produce the quickest, most just and least expensive determination of the issues before an Advisory Board.

2.02 Where procedures are not provided for in these Rules, an Advisory Board may do whatever is necessary and permitted by law to effectively determine the matter before it.

2.03 An Advisory Board may exercise any of its powers under these Rules on its own initiative or at the request of a party.

2.04 A defect in form or other technical breach will not make a proceeding invalid.

2.05 The Superintendent may issue Practice Directions pertaining to any matter the Superintendent deems appropriate, at any time, including before and during a proceeding.

3. Definitions

3.01 In these Rules,

"Advisory Board" means a panel appointed by the Superintendent under section 393 or 397 of the Insurance Act to hold a hearing and report to the Superintendent on the licensing status of an insurance agent or an insurance adjuster;

"Commission" means the Financial Services Commission of Ontario;

"document" includes a written document, sound recording, videotape, file, photograph, chart, graph, map, plan, survey, book of account, and information recorded or stored by means of any device;

"day" means a business day and does not include a holiday;

"electronic hearing" means a hearing held by conference telephone call or some other form of electronic technology allowing persons to hear one another;

"hearing" means the opportunity to present one's case before an Advisory Board;

"holiday" means

(a) any Saturday or Sunday
(b) New Year's Day,
(c) Good Friday,
(d) Easter Monday,
(e) Victoria Day,
(f) Canada Day,
(g) Civic Holiday,
(h) Labour Day,
(i) Thanksgiving Day,
(j) Remembrance Day,
(k) Christmas Day,
(l) Boxing Day, and
(m) any special holiday proclaimed by the Governor General or the Lieutenant Governor, and where New Year's Day, Canada Day or Remembrance Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday is a holiday, and where Christmas Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday and Tuesday are holidays, and where Christmas Day falls on a Friday, the following Monday is a holiday;

"motion" means a request for a decision, order or direction of an Advisory Board made during a proceeding;

"oral hearing" means a hearing at which the parties and their representatives attend in person before an Advisory Board;

"party" means an operating unit of the Commission, a person specified as a party by law, and any person who has been given party status by an Advisory Board;

"proceeding" means a matter brought before an Advisory Board for a hearing;

"Registrar" means the Registrar of the Superintendent;

"Rules" mean these rules and include any practice directions issued and procedural orders made by an Advisory Board;

"Superintendent" means the Superintendent of Financial Services;

4. To calculate time under these Rules:

(a) where there is reference to a number of days between two events, they shall be counted by excluding the day on which the first event happens and including the day on which the second event happens;

(b) where the time for doing an act under these Rules expires on a holiday, the act may be done on the next day that is not a holiday; and

(c) where a document is filed or served after 4:45 p.m. or on a holiday, the document shall be deemed to have been filed or served on the next day that is not a holiday.

5. Extending or Abridging Time

5.01 An Advisory Board may, before or after the expiration of a prescribed time period and on such conditions as he, she or it considers just, extend or abridge the time prescribed for the performance of anything required under the Rules.

5.02 Where a party cannot meet a time limit prescribed by the Rules, the party shall promptly notify the Registrar and apply for an extension by motion.

6. French Language Services

6.01 A person has the right to communicate in French, and to receive available services in French from an Advisory Board, as provided in the French Language Services Act.

6.02 If a person intends to communicate in French as a party in a proceeding, or wishes to make an oral presentation to an Advisory Board in French, the person shall indicate this intention in a letter filed with the Registrar.

7. Notice of Constitutional Question

7.01 A party who intends to raise questions on the constitutional validity or constitutional applicability of the Act, of a statute, or of a Regulation of the Parliament of Canada or of the Ontario Legislature, a rule of common law, or claim a remedy under section 24(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, shall file and serve notice of a constitutional question on the Attorney General of Canada, the Attorney General of Ontario and the other parties to the proceeding at least 15 days before the day on which the question is to be heard by an Advisory Board.

7.02 The notice referred to in Rule 7.01 must clearly set out the reasons for the question and any evidence that the party intends to rely upon must be attached to the notice.

8. Composition of Advisory Board

8.01 An Advisory Board panel shall be appointed by the Superintendent and shall consist of:

(a) a representative of insurers;

(b) a representative of agents or adjusters, as the case may be; and,

(c) a representative of the Superintendent who shall act as Chair of the Advisory Board.