1994 Legislative Session: 3rd Session, 35th Parliament
FIRST READING
The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.
HONOURABLE ELIZABETH CULL
MINISTER OF FINANCE AND
CORPORATE
RELATIONS
HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:
1 Section 8 of the Financial Administration Act, S.B.C. 1981, c. 15, is repealed and the following substituted:
8 The Comptroller General shall, subject to any direction of the Treasury Board,
(a) develop and issue policies and guidelines and establish procedures for the financial management and recording of the revenues, expen ditures, assets, liabilities and equity of the government,
(b) issue directives respecting the methods by which the accounts of the government are kept,
(c) administer and maintain the central accounts of government,
(d) provide functional control over all financial transactions entered into the central accounting system,
(e) evaluate financial management throughout the government and recommend to the Treasury Board improvements considered necessary,
(f) prepare the public accounts and the financial statements of the government, and any other financial statements and reports required by the Minister of Finance or the Treasury Board, and
(g) perform other duties assigned to the Comptroller General by the Treasury Board or under this or any other Act.
8.1 The financial statements of the government for each fiscal year shall be prepared in accordance with the government's accounting policies as established by the Treasury Board and shall
(a) contain the government's accounting policies as established by the Treasury Board,
(b) contain statements of
(i) the financial position of the government as at the end of the fiscal year,
(ii) the revenues and expenditures of the government for that fiscal year, and
(iii) changes in the financial position of the government for that fiscal year,
(c) contain statements, prepared in a form directed by the Treasury Board, of
(i) appropriations for the fiscal year compared to the actual expenditures and the amount unexpended for that fiscal year,
(ii) the debt guaranteed by the government as at the end of that fiscal year,
(iii) other accounts and information that are necessary to show the financial position of the government with respect to that fiscal year,
(iv) assets, debts and obligations written off in that fiscal year,
(v) debts and obligations extinguished in that fiscal year, and
(vi) remissions made in that fiscal year, and
(d) be transmitted by the Comptroller General to the Treasury Board and the Auditor General by September 30 next following the end of the fiscal year.
8.2 (1) The public accounts for each fiscal year shall be prepared in a form the Treasury Board directs and shall
(a) contain
(i) the financial statements of the government required by section 8.1,
(ii) the report of the Auditor General on the financial statements of the government as required by section 7 of the Auditor General Act,
(iii) the statements required by sections 22 (2), 54 (2) and (3) and 58 (3) of this Act, and
(iv) supplementary schedules, financial statements of government corporations and trust funds and other information required, by the Treasury Board or by this or any other Act, to be included in the public accounts, and
(b) be transmitted by the Comptroller General to the Minister of Finance not later than December 31 following the end of the fiscal year and be laid before the Legislative Assembly by the Minister of Finance within 15 days of the first available sitting thereafter.
(2) The Comptroller General shall prepare and submit to the Minister of Finance a further statement, prepared in accordance with the government's established accounting policies, of the revenue and expenditure of the government from the end of the last fiscal year to the most recent date practicable.
(3) The Minister of Finance shall present the statement referred to in subsection (2) to the Legislative Assembly when the annual estimates of revenue and expenditure are presented.
2 Section 20 is amended
(a) by repealing subsections (2) to (4) and substituting the following:
(2) No sum appropriated by a Supply Act shall be spent for any purpose other than those described in the estimates of revenue and expenditure, or in excess of the amounts contained in the estimates of revenue and expenditure.
(3) Where a vote in the estimates of revenue and expenditure that is approved by the Legislature shows an item as a credit or a recovery, the vote shall be deemed to authorize expenditures equal to the aggregate of
(a) the amount appropriated,
(b) the estimated credits or recoveries set out in the details related to that appropriation, and
(c) on the approval of the Treasury Board, the amount by which the credits or recoveries actually payable to or received by the government exceed the estimated credits or recoveries set out in the details related to that appropriation.
(4) Money allocated in a vote may be spent for any activity or standard object of expenditure that is within the general purposes of the vote. , and
(b) by repealing subsection (7) and substituting the following:
(7) Where a Supply Act appropriates an amount for recoverable disbursements required for a purpose referred to in the estimates of revenue and expen diture, the appropriation shall be deemed to authorize the expenditure equal to the aggregate of
(a) the amount appropriated, and
(b) on the approval of Treasury Board, the amount by which the receipts actually payable to or received by the government exceed the estimated receipts set out in the details related to that appropriation.
3 Section 23 is repealed and the following substituted:
23 (1) No part of the money appropriated for a fiscal year shall be paid out after the end of the fiscal year except as permitted by subsection (2).
(2) After the end of a fiscal year a payment may be made from an appropriation to discharge a liability incurred before the end of the fiscal year if the liability is recorded by the Comptroller General in accordance with the government's accounting policies as established by Treasury Board.
(3) Where the liabilities recorded for an appropriation under subsection (2) exceed the unexpended balance of the appropriation at the end of the fiscal year, the excess
(a) may be charged against a suitable appropriation for the following fiscal year, and
(b) shall be reported in the financial statements for the fiscal year in which the expenditure occurred.
4 Section 28 (4) is repealed and the following substituted:
(4) No person other than the following can authorize a payment or give a certificate under section 29:
(a) a minister or deputy minister;
(b) the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly;
(c) the Auditor General;
(d) the Ombudsman;
(e) a person authorized by a directive of Treasury Board;
(f) a person authorized by a person referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d) in accordance with directives of the Treasury Board.
(4.1) A person referred to in subsection (4) may authorize a payment or give a certificate under section 29 by written or electronic signature.
5 Section 32 is repealed and the following substituted:
32 Subject to directives of the Treasury Board, an advance may be made out of the consolidated revenue fund to prepay expenses that will be charged against an appropriation in the current or future fiscal year.
Auditor General Act
6 Section 7 (1) of the Auditor General Act, R.S.B.C. 1979, c. 24 , is amended by striking out "including those required by section 8 (2) of the Financial Administration Act," and substituting "including those required by section 8 of the Financial Administration Act,".
7 This Act comes into force on April 1, 1995.
SECTION 1: repeals and replaces section 8 to place the duties of the Comptroller General, the financial statements and the public accounts in separate provisions and to more clearly set out the duties performed by the Comptroller General.
SECTION 2: amends section 20 to reflect accrual accounting procedures.
SECTION 3: repeals and replaces section 23 to remove redundant language and reflect accrual accounting procedures.
SECTION 4: repeals and replaces section 28 (4) to authorize electronic signatures and to clarify the intent of the provision.
SECTION 5: repeals and replaces section 32 to allow advances to be made that relate to a future appropriation.
SECTION 6: is consequential to section 1 of this Bill.
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