1. I live in Ontario and I have a question about whether I was given a lie passed down from above, I was told by a nurse at Toronto Public Health that only a lawyer can sign the Statement of Conscience or Religious Belief Affidavit section titled: Sworn or Solemnly Affirmed before me, etc.. However, if you look at the bottom of that area, it states: A Commissioner, etc. When I seen the etc….I felt that its purpose was to conceal what the Immunization of School Pupils Act, 1990 allows so I asked that nurse can a doctor sign it. She responded, No, only a notary. I said, is that a law?
   She responded, “Its in the Immunization of School Pupils Act, 1990.” How do you know, did you read it? She responded, “No, I was told it was. You can also get your MPP to sign it at no cost.” I said, “I have to go now to a Dr.’s appt. but I will read the Act.” I am unable to find in the act, what profession the person signing it must be in. I think the law does not support that it can only be an notary, can you?
   http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_90i01_e.htm

   Reply ↓

   • Thanks, James for linking to the law and for bringing up this question.

     This is my understanding after looking it up:

     To summarize what I’ve written below, this law specifies affidavits, and affidavits are a general thing defined outside of this law. Certain officials can witness your oath. So looking into the rules for affidavits, it isn’t just lawyers (she’s just simplifying I guess), and it isn’t just notaries, it’s also commissioners. And there are rules for who can be accepted as a notary or a commissioner. (People may think of passports and professionals signing the form, but that’s to do with identity and not an oath). There are certain types of businesses and government situations listed below where they can get this authority. One of the government pages below mentions para-legals. And I didn’t try to include every detail. But it looks like you have some choices.

     ———————
     The waiver form I found I linked to on this post: https://canadianliberty.com/?p=7843 and the link is https://www.canadianliberty.com/documents/form2-statement%20of%20conscience%20or%20religious%20belief%20affidavit.pdf

     Looking at the law,
     http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_90i01_e.htm

     17.1 says “The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,” (b) prescribing forms and providing for their use and requiring that statements of conscience or religious belief be in the form of affidavits;

     Definitions section: ““statement of conscience or religious belief” means a statement by affidavit in the prescribed form by a parent of the person named in the statement that immunization conflicts with the sincerely held convictions of the parent based on the parent’s religion or conscience; (“déclaration de conscience ou de croyance religieuse”)”

     So it requires an affidavit. So I would just look outside of that law to what laws and rules define affidavits in Ontario. And there are certain people who have the authority to witness your oath. You can see information about affidavits on these pages:
     http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/courts/notary_public/faqs.asp
     http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/courts/notary_public/default.asp
     https://www.hamiltonjustice.ca/affidavits-notary-services.php

     And the first two pages should be interesting to you about who can witness oaths, and people can apply to be commissioners for taking affidavits or apply to be non-lawyer notary publics, but it looks like they have to be in certain kinds of businesses ( it’s worth reading).

     Quoting from the first one, “A commissioner for taking affidavits is a person who can legally administer an oath, affirmation or declaration, for example, to a person making an affidavit.”

     “A non-lawyer notary public has all the powers of a commissioner for taking affidavits, and can also verify that signatures, marks and copies of documents are true or genuine.”

     From the second link, just one example: “As of July 1, 2013, the regulation will designate all licensed paralegals in Ontario as commissioners for taking affidavits by virtue of office. For further information, please review the frequently asked questions for officeholders granted this commissioner status and refer to the regulation.”

     (One of the relevant laws: http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_90c17_e.htm)

     So there are certain categories of people who can get this authority when they apply.
     From the first link:
     From point 2 under commissioner for taking affidavits: “Successful applicants typically work for a registered Ontario business or organization that is required to take affidavits as part of its regular business (e.g. law firms, manufacturers, contractors etc.).”
     From point 2 under non-lawyer notary public appointments: “Non-lawyer notary applicants will only be appointed if their employment requires the notarizing of documents for one of the following:

     Senior government officials
     Ontario-registered or federally-registered corporations engaged in international or inter-provincial trade and/or commerce
     Patent and trade-mark agents
     Head offices of national or provincial trade unions engaged in out-of-province business.”

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     -Alan

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