1993 Legislative Session: 2nd Session, 35th Parliament
THIRD READING
The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.
Certified correct as passed Third Reading on the 6th day of May, 1993
Ian D. Izard, Law Clerk.
HONOURABLE GLEN CLARK
MINISTER OF FINANCE AND
CORPORATE RELATIONS
Contents
HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:
1 In this Act "committee" means the Committee on Building British Columbia's Future established under Part 2;
"authority" means the BC Transportation Financing Authority established under Part 4;
"special account" means the Build BC Special Account established under Part 3.
2 The purpose of this Act is to facilitate the expansion and diversification of the British Columbia economy by
(a) coordinating the government's activities to achieve overall economic development and job creation goals,
(b) ensuring that all regions of the Province benefit from economic expansion and diversification,
(c) encouraging public and private sector investment and job creation activities in an innovative manner,
(d) promoting training and investment in people as a significant component of public sector investment activity, and
(e) targeting activities under this Act toward traditionally disadvantaged individuals and groups.
3 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may establish a Committee on Building British Columbia's Future consisting of the minister and other members of the Legislative Assembly designated by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
(2) The minister is the chair of the committee.
4 A member of the committee may be paid an allowance for reasonable travelling and incidental expenses necessarily incurred in carrying out the business of the committee.
5 The committee may do the following:
(a) provide advice to the Executive Council respecting appropriate economic, regional, sectoral, equity, employment and training goals for government spending;
(b) develop criteria for reviewing, monitoring and evaluating expenditures from the special account;
(c) review expenditure proposals for the special account on the basis of the criteria developed under paragraph (b) and make recommendations to Treasury Board and the Executive Council on proposed funding allocations;
(d) develop new initiatives that fulfil the purposes of this Act;
(e) carry out other functions that may be assigned to it by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
6 An account called the Build BC Special Account is established as a special account of the consolidated revenue fund.
7 The special account consists of
(a) an opening balance of $100 million, and
(b) any money transferred to the special account from a vote, as defined in the Financial Administration Act.
8 (1) Subject to the approval of Treasury Board, and on the recommendation of the chair of the committee, money may be paid out of the special account for projects and initiatives that are consistent with the purpose of this Act including without limitation
(a) community level capital projects,
(b) employment and job training initiatives,
(c) resource enhancement initiatives,
(d) infrastructure initiatives, and
(e) costs associated with the administration of the special account and committee.
(2) Subsection (1) applies notwithstanding section 18 (3) of the Financial Administration Act.
9 In this Part "board" means the board of directors of the authority;
"director" means a member of the board;
"minister" means the Minister of Transportation and Highways.
10 (1) There is hereby established a corporation known as the BC Transportation Financing Authority consisting of a board of directors made up of the minister and not more than 4 other members appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
(2) The minister is the chair of the board.
(3) The authority shall have a corporate seal, which may be engraved, lithographed, printed or otherwise mechanically reproduced.
11 The purpose of the authority is to plan, acquire, construct, improve or cause to be constructed or improved transportation infrastructure throughout British Columbia and to do such other things as the Lieutenant Governor in Council may authorize.
12 (1) The authority is an agent of the Crown.
(2) All property of the authority is deemed to be the property of Her Majesty in right of the Province for all purposes, including exemption from taxation.
(3) Subject to this Act and the regulations, the authority has the power and capacity of a natural person of full capacity.
(4) Without limiting subsection (3) but subject to this Act and the regulations, the authority may for the purposes of this Act
(a) plan, acquire, construct, improve or cause to be constructed or improved transportation infrastructure,
(b) acquire property by expropriation or otherwise,
(c) hold and maintain property acquired under paragraph (b),
(d) dispose of property acquired under paragraph (b) by sale, lease or otherwise,
(e) subject to the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations, provide financial assistance by way of grant, loan or guarantee,
(f) subject to the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, enter into agreements with the government of Canada, the government of a province or the government of a jurisdiction outside Canada, or with an official or agency of any of those governments,
(g) create subsidiary corporations to carry out the purposes of this Act, and
(h) do such other things as the Lieutenant Governor in Council may authorize.
13 (1) The board must meet at least 4 times a year.
(2) A majority of the directors holding office constitutes a quorum at meetings of the board and, subject to section 14 (3), the affirmative votes of the majority of the directors present at a meeting at which a quorum is present are sufficient to pass a resolution of the authority.
14 (1) The directors must manage the affairs of the authority or supervise the management of those affairs and may
(a) exercise the powers conferred on them under this Act,
(b) exercise the powers of the authority on behalf of the authority, and
(c) delegate the exercise or performance of any power or duty conferred or imposed on them to the chief executive officer of the authority or to a person employed by the authority.
(2) The directors may pass the resolutions they consider necessary or advisable for the management and conduct of the affairs of the authority and for the exercise of their powers or performance of their duties including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, resolutions respecting the procedure to be followed at the meetings.
(3) A resolution under this section approved by the required number of directors by telex, telegraph, facsimile transmission, telephone or any other similar means of communication, confirmed in writing or other graphic communication, is as valid and effectual as if it had been passed at a meeting of the directors properly called and constituted.
15 The authority may pay to a director
(a) an allowance for reasonable travelling and incidental expenses necessarily incurred in carrying out the business of the authority, and
(b) if the director is not a member of the Legislative Assembly or a public servant, remuneration at rates fixed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
16 (1) On the recommendation of the minister, the Lieutenant Governor in Council must appoint a person as the chief executive officer of the authority.
(2) The chief executive officer must carry out those functions and perform those duties that are specified in the resolutions of the authority.
(3) The chief executive officer, to the extent authorized by the board, may appoint officers and employees of the authority necessary to carry on the business and operations of the authority and may define their duties and determine their remuneration.
(4) The Public Service Act and the Public Service Labour Relations Act applies to the authority and the officers and employees of the authority.
17 (1) The Public Service Benefit Plan Act applies to the officers and employees of the authority.
(2) The Pension (Public Service) Act applies to the authority and its officers and employees and
(a) the authority shall be deemed to be an employer and the officers and employees of the authority shall be deemed to be employees within the meaning of that Act,
(b) the authority must make deductions from the salaries of the officers and employees as required under that Act and pay the money to the commissioner under that Act, and
(c) the authority must, in addition, pay to the commissioner, employer's contributions in the amounts equivalent to the amounts required under that Act.
18 (1) The authority must establish and maintain an accounting system satisfactory to the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations and must, whenever required by the minister, render detailed accounts of its revenues and expenditures for the period or to the day the minister designates.
(2) All books or records of account, documents and other financial records must at all times be open for inspection by the minister or a person designated by the minister.
(3) The Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations may direct the Comptroller General to examine and report to the Treasury Board on any or all of the financial and accounting operations of the authority.
(4) The accounts of the authority must, at least once in every fiscal year, be audited and reported on by an auditor appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, and the costs of the audit must be paid by the authority.
(5) The authority must, at the times specified by the minister, submit to Treasury Board for review and approval a business plan with respect to projects to be undertaken by or on behalf of the authority that includes
(a) revenue, expenditure, borrowing and lending proposals,
(b) a statement of assets and liabilities, and
(c) such other information as Treasury Board may require.
(6) If a business plan submitted to Treasury Board under subsection (5) contains expenditure proposals, the plan must also include revenue proposals indicating how the expenditures will be funded.
(7) The authority must prepare and deliver to the minister, after the end of the fiscal year of the authority,
(a) a report of the authority on its operations for the preceding fiscal year, and
(b) a financial statement showing the revenues, expenditures, assets and liabilities of the authority at the end of the preceding fiscal year and the operations of the authority for that year in the form required by the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations.
(8) The financial statement referred to in subsection (7) (b) must be prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
(9) The fiscal year of the authority is a period of 12 months beginning on April 1 in each year and ending on March 31 in the next succeeding year.
(10) The report and financial statement referred to in subsection (7) must be laid before the Legislative Assembly by the minister as soon as practicable.
(11) The Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations is the fiscal agent of the authority.
19 (1) If a regulation has been made under subsection (2), the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations must pay out of the consolidated revenue fund, without an appropriation other than this section, to the authority, amounts equivalent to the net revenue collected under section 11.1 of the Motor Fuel Tax Act in the prescribed area.
(2) On request by resolution of the authority, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may, by regulation, for the purposes of this Act, bring into force section 11.1 of the Motor Fuel Tax Act, in a prescribed area of British Columbia and prescribe the amount of the tax to be collected under that section in the prescribed area.
20 The Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations must pay out of the consolidated revenue fund, without an appropriation other than this section, to the authority amounts equivalent to the net revenue collected under section 2.5 of the Social Service Tax Act.
21 (1) In this section "vehicle" means a device in, on or by which a person or thing is or may be transported or drawn on a highway, except a device designed to be moved exclusively by human power or used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks.
(2) Subject to the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, the authority may establish a system of tolls or charges to be paid to the authority in respect of the use of a highway, bridge, structure or other property of the authority.
(3) If a toll station has been established by the authority for the collection of tolls or charges in respect of the use of a highway, bridge or other structure, a person must not take or operate a vehicle, other than a vehicle exempted from this section under the regulations, through the toll station without paying the toll or charge applicable to the vehicle.
22 Subject to the approval of the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations, the authority may invest or loan money of the authority not otherwise required for the purposes of the authority in those investments or loans authorized by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
23 (1) Subject to the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council and the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations, the authority, for the purpose of carrying out any power, right, function or duty conferred or imposed on it under this or any other Act, may borrow the sums of money it considers necessary or advisable and may issue securities in the form and on terms and conditions determined by the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations at or before the time the securities are issued.
(2) The board may, by resolution, delegate any of its powers or the powers of the authority under this section to any director or officer of the authority.
(3) A resolution under this section approved by the required number of directors by telex, telegraph, facsimile transmission, telephone or any other similar means of communication confirmed in writing or other graphic communication, is as valid and effectual as if it had been passed at a meeting of the directors properly called and constituted.
(4) A recital or a declaration in a resolution of the authority authorizing the issue of securities, to the effect that the issue of the securities authorized under subsection (1) is being made for the purposes of the authority and that the amount is necessary to realize the net sum required for those purposes, is conclusive evidence of the fact.
(5) Subject to the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council and the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations, the authority, on terms it considers necessary or advisable, may dispose of the securities of the authority, either at par value or at less or more than par value, and may charge, pledge, hypothecate, deposit or otherwise deal with the securities as collateral security.
(6) The securities, other than notes, may bear the seal of the authority and, together with any coupons attached, shall bear the signatures in writing, as defined in the Interpretation Act, of
(a) the chair and another director or officer, or
(b) those directors or officers of the authority or officers of the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Relations as the authority may determine.
(7) The board may provide that the seal of the authority may be engraved, lithographed, printed or otherwise mechanically reproduced on any security to which it is to be affixed.
(8) The seal of the authority when so mechanically reproduced has the same force and effect as if manually affixed, and the mechanically reproduced signature of a person authorized under subsection (6) is for all purposes valid and binding on the authority, notwithstanding that the person whose signature is so reproduced has ceased to hold office before the date of the security or before its issue.
(9) As the fiscal agent of the authority, the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations may arrange all details and do, transact and execute all deeds, matters and things that are requisite during the negotiation of a loan or for the purpose of placing a loan.
24 If required to do so by the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations, the authority must, on terms and conditions specified by the minister, establish one or more sinking fund accounts or make other arrangements for the repayment of securities issued by the authority.
25 (1) The outstanding debt of the authority arising from borrowings, as calculated under subsection (2), must not exceed the amount established for the purpose of this section by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
(2) The outstanding debt of the authority arising from borrowings must be calculated by taking the aggregate of the principal value of the outstanding debt of the authority arising from borrowings, and
(a) adding the amounts of any unamortized premiums in relation to the debt,
(b) subtracting the amounts of any unamortized discounts in relation to the debt,
(c) subtracting the value, as determined by the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations, of
(i) any sinking funds established under section 24 for the retirement of the debt, and
(ii) the balances attributable to the authority in any sinking funds established by the government under the Financial Administration Act in relation to the debt, and
(d) adding or subtracting other amounts as prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
(3) For the purpose of this section, if any outstanding debt of the authority arises from borrowings in currencies other than Canadian dollars, the outstanding debt in respect of these borrowings must be determined by calculating the Canadian dollar equivalent of these borrowings on the basis of
(a) the Bank of Canada Canadian dollar noon spot exchange rate for the currency borrowed as quoted on the day of the borrowing, or
(b) if there is no Bank of Canada Canadian dollar noon spot exchange rate quoted for the currency borrowed on the day of the borrowing, the noon spot exchange rate for the currency borrowed on the day of the borrowing at a Canadian chartered bank which the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations considers appropriate.
26 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Company Act and the Company Clauses Act do not apply to the authority.
(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may by order declare that certain provisions of the Company Act apply to the authority.
27 No director, officer or employee of the authority shall disclose information obtained under this Act except to the extent necessary for carrying out the authority's purposes or as required by law.
28 A person who contravenes section 21 (3) commits an offence.
29 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the system of tolls or charges referred to in section 21.
30 The Financial Information Act, S.B.C. 1985, c. 8, is amended by adding the following section:
2.1 Every corporation shall provide to the minister, Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations or a committee of the Executive Council that is designated by the Executive Council, strategic plans, business plans, capital and operating budgets and other information requested by the minister or committee.
31 Schedule 2 is amended by adding the following:
BC Transportation Financing Authority .
32 Section 57 (4) of the Ministry of Transportation and Highways Act, R.S.B.C. 1979, c. 280, is amended by adding the following paragraph:
(a.1) the BC Transportation Financing Authority established under the Build BC Act; .
33 The Motor Fuel Tax Act, S.B.C. 1985, c. 76, is amended by adding the following section:
11.1 In addition to the tax payable under sections 4, 9 and 11, a person who is a purchaser of gasoline or motive fuel from a retail dealer within an area prescribed under the Build BC Act shall pay to the government, at the time of purchase, for the raising of revenue for purposes of the BC Transportation Financing Authority established under that Act a prescribed tax not exceeding 1¢/litre on each litre of gasoline or motive fuel purchased by the purchaser and to which a regulation under section 19 of the Build BC Act applies.
34 The Social Service Tax Act, R.S.B.C. 1979, c. 388, is amended by adding the following section:
2.5 (1) A lessee who leases a passenger vehicle shall, in addition to any tax payable under section 2.1, pay to Her Majesty in right of the Province for the raising of revenue for the BC Transportation Financing Authority established under the Build BC Act a tax of $1.50 for each day or portion of a day that the lessee leases the vehicle.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply where the passenger vehicle that is the subject matter of the lease is leased to the lessee for a period of more than 28 consecutive days.
(3) The tax imposed under this section is payable at the time of each payment of the lease price.
35 Section 23 (a) is repealed and the following substituted:
(a) tangible personal property that is taxable under section 2, 2.1, 2.2 or 2.5, .
36 Section 33 (1.1) is amended by adding "2.5," after "2.4,".
37 Section 37 (2) is amended by adding the following paragraph:
(n) exempting one or more classes of persons from the passenger vehicle rental tax under section 2.5, subject to the terms and conditions the Lieutenant Governor in Council specifies.
38 This Act shall be deemed to have come into force on April 1, 1993 and is retroactive to the extent necessary to give it effect on and after that date.
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