REPEALED
Date: January 1, 2014
R.S.M. 1990, c. 101
The Manitoba Speech and Hearing Association Act
WHEREAS there exists in Manitoba a group of persons who practice speech and hearing therapy and who have associated themselves for their mutual improvement and the raising of the standards of practice of the members of the group;
AND WHEREAS the group is known as The Manitoba Speech and Hearing Association;
AND WHEREAS it is customary for the members of that association to work under the direction of, and in co-operation with, duly qualified medical practitioners;
AND WHEREAS the members hereinafter named, on behalf of the association, by their petition prayed that The Manitoba Speech and Hearing Association should be incorporated: Muriel Lyons, Idell Brady and Angela Murphy, all of The City of Winnipeg, in Manitoba, and Isabel Richard and Mary Jane Cairns, both of the Rural Municipality of Fort Garry, in Manitoba, speech and hearing therapists;
AND WHEREAS their prayer was granted, and resulted in the enactment of An Act respecting the Practice of Speech and Hearing Therapy assented to April 15, 1961;
AND WHEREAS the Minister of Justice has caused the Act to be prepared in English and French for re-enactment in accordance with a judgment dated June 13, 1985 and an order dated November 4, 1985 of the Supreme Court of Canada;
THEREFORE HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, enacts as follows:
In this Act,
"association" means The Manitoba Speech and Hearing Association; (« Association »)
"board" means The Board of Speech and Hearing Therapists for which provision is made herein; (« conseil »)
"registered speech and hearing therapist" means a person who is registered as a member of the association; (« orthophoniste inscrit et audiologiste inscrit »)
"regulations" means the regulations made by the board under this Act; (« règlements »)
"speech and hearing therapy" means the diagnosis, examination, and therapeutic treatment of defects of speech, voice, and symbolic linguistic formulation. (« orthophonie et audiologie »)
PART I
THE ASSOCIATION
The association is continued as a corporation consisting of those persons who are members on the coming into force of this Act together with such other persons as may become registered as members of the association.
The head office of the association shall be in Winnipeg, or such other place in Manitoba as may be determined by the by-laws of the association.
The association may purchase or otherwise acquire, hold, and alienate such real property and such interest in real property as may be necessary for the purposes of the association within Manitoba, and may do and perform all such acts and things as bodies corporate generally can do and perform, and shall have the general capacity which the common law ordinarily attaches to corporations incorporated by royal charter under the great seal.
There shall be a board elected or appointed as provided in the regulations, which shall consist of five persons and which shall be known as The Board of Speech and Hearing Therapists.
The members of the board shall hold office until their successors are appointed or elected under this Act and the regulations.
The presence of at least three members of the board is necessary at any meeting of the board to constitute a quorum.
The board may, subject to all other provisions of this Act, make regulations,
(a) for the regulation of speech and hearing therapists as members of the association, and as to the terms and conditions upon which the members shall be entitled to practise speech and hearing therapy in Manitoba;
(b) prescribing the qualifications as to education, character, and experience that a speech and hearing therapist must have before he or she may be so registered;
(c) for maintaining a register of persons so entitled to practise; and providing for the fees payable by a speech and hearing therapist,
(i) on being so registered, and
(ii) for the annual renewal of his registration;
(d) prescribing the discipline and control of registered speech and hearing therapists, including the prohibition or control of advertising by or on behalf of any registered speech and hearing therapist;
(e) for the investigation of any complaint of unprofessional conduct, incompetency, or want of skill, on the part of any registered speech and hearing therapist;
(f) for the cancellation or suspension of the registration of any registered speech and hearing therapist found by the board to be guilty of such unprofessional conduct, incompetency or lack of skill as to render it desirable in the public interest that his registration should be cancelled or suspended;
(g) for the reinstatement of any speech and hearing therapist whose registration has been cancelled or suspended;
(h) fixing the maximum fees or charges that a speech and hearing therapist may receive or make for professional services rendered by him;
(i) respecting the calling of meetings of the board as well as the association, the procedure to be followed at meetings, and the right to vote thereat;
(j) concerning the election or appointment, and the term of office, of the members of the board, and the creation of offices, and the duties to be performed by persons holding those offices;
(k) as to the application of funds of the association; and
(l) generally for the better carrying out of this Act.
Regulations made by the board do not come into force until they have been published in one issue of The Manitoba Gazette.
The board may at any time amend or revoke any regulation; but no such amendment or revocation has effect until it is published in one issue of The Manitoba Gazette.
No action shall be brought against the board or against any member of the board for anything done in good faith under this Act and within the powers of the board, notwithstanding any want of form in the proceedings.
Any person whose application for registration has been refused, or whose registration has been cancelled or suspended, may, at any time within one month from the date of the decision or order of the board, appeal from the decision or order of the board to a judge of the Court of Queen's Bench, in chambers.
Ten days' notice of every appeal shall be served on the secretary of the board and a copy thereof filed with the prothonotary of the court.
The judge shall deal with the appeal in a summary manner; and the cost of the appeal shall be in the discretion of the judge.
Regulations as to examinations
The board shall make regulations concerning the examinations of applicants for registration as members of the association and the conduct of the examinations, and also regulations respecting the age, moral character, and academic standing, of the applicants for membership and also as to examination fees.
There shall be an examining committee appointed from the members of the association by the board for the purpose of examining the qualifications of every person who applies to be registered as a member of the association.
Membership of examining committee
The examining committee shall be composed of three members of the association, one of whom shall be a member of the board, and each of whom shall hold office for such term as the board shall fix.
Where a member of the examining committee resigns, or is unable or unwilling to act, or dies, the board shall appoint another member to act in his place for the residue of the term for which he was appointed.
Subject to subsection 2(1), only those persons are entitled to apply for registration as members of the association who,
(a) file with the examining committee a certificate or other evidence satisfactory to the examining committee, showing that they have passed at least junior matriculation examinations or an examination equivalent thereto;
(b) have attended a school or college of speech and hearing therapy that is approved by the board, for at least the number of years prescribed by the board, and passed unconditionally the examinations required by that school or college during those years with such standing therein as is prescribed by the board;
(c) pass an examination, prepared or approved by the examining committee, that may, in the discretion of the committee, include questions or tests on each of the following subjects: anatomy, physiology, neurology, psychology, general diagnosis including symptomatology, and the principles and practice of the methods of speech and hearing therapy; and
(d) comply with those provisions of the regulations that concern admission and registration.
In a written report to the board the examining committee shall indicate the results of its investigation and examination of every person who applies for registration as a member of the association.
Where the board is satisfied that an applicant is duly qualified to practice as a speech and hearing therapist and that he is a person of integrity and good moral character, it shall, subject to this Act and the regulations, grant him a certificate of registration which shall entitle him to all the rights and privileges conferred by this Act.
PART II
OFFENCES AND PENALTIES
Prohibition of unregistered practice
Subject to section 19, no person other than a registered speech and hearing therapist shall engage in the practice of speech and hearing therapy, or use the title "Speech and Hearing Therapist" or any word, title, or designation, abbreviated or otherwise, to imply that he is engaged in the practice of speech and hearing therapy.
Subject to section 19, every person who practises speech and hearing therapy, either alone or in conjunction with any other method of treatment of the human body for vocal or auditory disease or ailments and the causes of disease or ailments, for hire, gain, reward, or remuneration, or the hope or expectation thereof, unless he is a registered speech and hearing therapist, is guilty of an offence.
Subject to section 19, every person who is not a registered speech and hearing therapist and who practises, or holds himself out as practising, speech and hearing therapy, either alone or in conjunction with any other method of treatment of the body for vocal or auditory disease, ailments, and disorders and the causes of disease, ailments, or disorders, or advertises, or uses any prefix or suffix to his name signifying, that he is qualified to practise speech and hearing therapy, either alone or in conjunction with any other method of treatment of the human body for such disease, ailments, or disorders and the causes of such disease, ailments, or disorders, is guilty of an offence.
Use of title "doctor" forbidden
No registered speech and hearing therapist shall, in conjunction with his name, and to designate his profession or calling, display, or make use of, the prefix or title "Doctor" or the abbreviation "Dr.", or any other words or letters commonly used to designate a legally qualified medical practitioner, or which suggest that he is a graduate or licentiate in medicine or surgery of any university or other diploma-granting body.
Fraudulent registration an offence
It is an offence for any person wilfully to procure, or attempt to procure, himself to be registered under this Act by making any false or fraudulent representation or declaration, either orally or in writing; and every person knowingly aiding or assisting him therein is guilty of an offence.
In any prosecution under this Act it is sufficient proof of an offence under this Act if it is proved that the accused has done or committed a single act of unlicensed practice, or has committed on one occasion any act prohibited by this Act.
Every prosecution under this Act shall be commenced within two years from the date of the alleged offence.
Every person who commits an offence against any provision of this Act, is liable, on summary conviction,
(a) for the first offence, to a fine not exceeding $100.;
(b) for a second offence, to a fine not exceeding $250.; and
(c) for a third or subsequent offence, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months without the option of a fine.
All penalties recoverable under this Act shall be paid to the convicting magistrate and by him be paid to the association, and shall form part of the funds thereof.
PART III
RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF MEMBERS
Every registered speech and hearing therapist is entitled to demand from any person by whom he is consulted or employed, and to recover as a debt in any court of competent jurisdiction, the proper charges for the consultation and employment, or either of them.
Limitation on action for malpractice
No registered speech and hearing therapist is liable in any action for negligence or malpractice by reason of professional services requested and rendered, unless the action is commenced within one year from the date when, in the matter complained of, those professional services terminated.
Exemptions from application of Act
Nothing in this Act applies to or affects,
(a) the practice of any profession or calling by any person practising it under authority of a general or special Act of the Legislature;
(b) any nurse acting under the prescription or direction of, a legally qualified medical practitioner;
(c) the furnishing of first aid or temporary assistance in cases of emergency;
(d) persons treating human ailments by prayer or spiritual means as an enjoyment or exercise of religious freedom;
(e) any teacher giving instructions on elocution, public speaking or debating or music and music appreciation.
Any registered speech and hearing therapist who has reason to believe that any person whom he may be treating has any contagious or infectious disease, or any other disease dangerous to public health, shall immediately give notice in writing to the officer of health of the municipality in which that person resides.
Nothing in The Medical Act prohibits a registered speech and hearing therapist from practising speech and hearing therapy for hire, gain, or hope of reward.
Practice of medicine prohibited
Nothing in this Act or the regulations authorizes any person to prescribe or administer drugs for use internally or externally or to use or direct or prescribe the use of anaesthetic for any purpose whatsoever, or to practise surgery or midwifery.
NOTE: This Act replaces S.M. 1961 (1st sess.), c. 105.