1996 Legislative Session: 1st Session, 36th Parliament
FIRST READING


The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.


MR. WEISGERBER

BILL M 204 -- 1996

FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION AMENDMENT ACT, 1996
(SPECIAL WARRANT ABOLITION)

Interpretation

1 Section 1 of the Financial Administration Act, S.B.C. 1981, c. 15, is hereby amended by deleting 1 (1) (c) and inserting the following:

an appropriation by supplementary supply under section 21;

Special Warrant

2 Section 21 of the Financial Administration Act, S.B.C. 1981, c. 15, is hereby deleted and the following section inserted:

Supplementary Supply

21 (1) If, while the Legislature is not in session, a matter arises for which an expenditure not foreseen or provided for or insufficiently provided for is urgently and immediately required for the public good, the Lieutenant Governor in Council,

(a) on the report of the appropriate minister that there is no appropriation for the expenditure or that the appropriation is exhausted or insufficient, and that the expenditure is urgently and immediately required for the public good, and

(b) on the recommendation of the Treasury Board,

may request the Lieutenant Governor to summon the Legislative Assembly for the purpose of enabling the appropriate minister to present supplementary supply.

(2) For the purpose of subsection (1), the Legislature is not in session where it is prorogued or dissolved, or is adjourned following a resolution to adjourn.

(3) Where supplementary supply is passed by the Legislative Assembly in respect of an expenditure for which there is no appropriation, the supplementary supply shall be deemed to be an appropriation for the fiscal year in which the supplementary supply is approved by the Legislative Assembly.

(4) Where supplementary supply is granted by the Legislative Assembly under this section in respect of an expenditure where an appropriation for that expenditure is exhausted or insufficient, the supplementary supply shall be added to and deemed part of the appropriation for the fiscal year in which the supplementary supply is approved by the Legislative Assembly.

(5) In this section

"appropriate minister" means, in relation to

(a) an Act or a ministry, the minister charged with its administration,

(b) an appropriation, the minister having charge of the appropriation, or

(c) any other matter

(i) the minister in whose portfolio the matter falls in the usual course of government business, or

(ii) in any case where there is doubt, the minister specified by the Lieutenant Governor in Council,

and "appropriate minister" includes a minister acting in the place of the appropriate minister, but does not include a deputy minister;

"supplementary supply" is a request for funds by the appropriate minister arising from a situation outlined in 21 (1) (a) and 21 (1) (b) thus requiring the summoning of the Legislative Assembly and the approval of that body prior to the expenditure of those funds.

 
Explanatory Note

This Bill abolishes the use of special warrants and introduces supplementary supply which requires the summoning of the Legislative Assembly and the approval of that body prior to the appropriate minister expending any funds not already passed during the Estimates process.


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